The present study aims to assess the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in preschool and school-age children following a two-phase procedure. The screening phase was performed on a sample of 5555 children taking into account parent and teacher information. The individual assessment included the ADI-R, ADOS-2 and Wechsler scales. The estimated prevalence was 1.55% in preschoolers and 1.00% in school-age children. Between 1.84 and 2.59% of the children exhibited subclinical diagnosis. The male-to-female ratio was around 4:1. Most of the children exhibited mild and moderate nuclear symptoms, and the girls showed less severe communication problems. Previous diagnosis was found in 62-71% of the children. Prevalence estimates are close to the 1% international ratings and much higher than previous national reports suggested.

Even at early stages of development, ADHD has high rates of comorbidity and a significant impact on school performance and family health.

Ba#ckground/Obje#ctive: To examine the psychometric properties of the Conners 3 ADHD Index (Conners 3 AI) and the Conners Early Children Global Index (Conners ECGI) parents’ form (PF) and teachers’ form (TF) in Spanish schoolers. Method: Two-phase cross-sectional study. In the first phase, information was gathered from teachers (n = 1,796) and parents (n = 882) of 4-5 and 10-11 year-old children. In the second phase (n = 196), children at risk of ADHD and controls were individually assessed. Results: The results confirmed the two-factor structure of the Conners 3 ADHD Index, which contains hyperactive-impulsive and inattentive symptoms, and the two-factor structure of the Conners ECGI PF, consisting of emotional lability and restless-impulsive symptoms. In contrast with the original version, the Conners ECGI TF presented an additional inattentive factor. Moderate-to-high rates of evidence of convergent validity with Child Behavior Checklist and Kiddie-Schedule for Affective Disorders & Schizophrenia, and evidence of external validity (academic achievement) were found. Scores were significantly higher in boys than in girls, for both indexes. Raw scores corresponding to clinical T-scores were higher than the original version. Conclusions: The Conners indexes may be considered reliable and valid instruments for detecting ADHD symptoms in Spanish populations.

Background/ObjectiveTeacher's reports about child psychopathology are often useful because they make it possible to compare children's development within their normative peer group. The EDUTEA questionnaire aims to provide clinicians and researchers with a brief tool that can be used to screen autism spectrum disorders and social communication disorders in school settings. Method: It was designed according to DSM-5 criteria and validated in a sample of 2,660 Spanish schoolers. Results: The EDUTEA showed a two-factor structure with high internal reliability: Social communication impairments (α=.95) and Restricted behaviour patterns (α=.93). The ROC curve showed that the area under the curve was highly predictive (.90). We propose using a cut-off score of 10, which gives high values of sensitivity (87%), specificity (91.2%) and positive predictive value (.87). Moderate correlations were found with the severity score of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-2) and the child pragmatic competence. Conclusions: The EDUTEA could be useful in ASD screening protocols in schools.

The Childhood Autism Spectrum Test (CAST; Scott, Baron-Cohen, Bolton & Brayne, 2002) has proved to be a good test for screening autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and social communication problems. This study provides evidence on its psychometric properties, describe its validity for screening and provides data on its discriminative capabilities in a Spanish sample of 4-12 year-old children from community and clinical settings (N = 1460 and 36, respectively). Factorial and convergent validity is also assessed. The full Spanish version with a cut-off score of 15 presented a high sensitivity (83.9%) and specificity (92.5%), a positive predictive value (PPV) of .63 and an internal consistency (α) of .826. Some items showed low discriminating power and these results led us to propose a reduced version with 28 items and a cut-off score of 13, which presented a high sensitivity (85.7%) and specificity (91.16%), a PPV of .61 and an α of .839. Correlations were high between the Spanish full and reduced versions of the CAST, and ADI-R (Autism Diagnostic Interview Revised) and ADOS-2 (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition). Like previous adaptation studies, a two-factor structure was found. The data show that the CAST can be a valid and reliable questionnaire for ASD screening in Spanish clinical and community populations. Autism Res 2017, 10: 1491-1498. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.