The Internal Structure of the Aberrant Behavior Checklist Irritability Subscale: Implications for Studies of Irritability in Treatment-Seeking Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorders.

ABSTRACT: Given the prominence of the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC), Irritability Subscale (ABC-I), in treatment outcome studies, we conducted a critical examination of its internal consistency and relationship to other measures of irritability in 758 psychiatrically hospitalized youth with autism spectrum disorder. In exploratory and confirmation samples, we conducted factor and bifactor analyses to describe the internal structure of the ABC-I. Our results suggest that the ABC-I roughly represents a unidimensional construct of irritability, as indicated by a general factor in bifactor analysis. In addition to irritability, subordinate factors are presented that represent tantrums, verbal outbursts, self-harm, and negative affect. Notably, self-harm items explain a large proportion of variance i

SUBMITTER: Stoddard J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7080324 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature