Performance of the Social Responsiveness Scale-2 for the Assessment of Autistic Behaviors in a Sample of Canadian Preschool-Aged Children

Behavioral traits of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) typically present in early childhood, underscoring the importance of screening tools for the early identification of ASD. The current study compared scores on the Social Responsiveness Scale-Second Edition (SRS-2) Preschool Form between the US standardization sample (n = 247) and a Canadian cohort of preschool-aged children (n = 595) recruited from the Maternal-Infant Research on Environmental Chemicals (MIREC) study. In the MIREC sample, we examined whether ASD-like traits are correlated with sociodemographic characteristics and child intellectual abilities, and how maternal ratings of social skills assessed by the SRS-2 are associated with maternal ratings of general problem behaviors. Mean total SRS-2 raw score was significantly lower in the MIREC sample (mean = 29.7, SD = 15.8) compared to the US standardization sample (mean = 41.9, SD = 26.0). Total raw score in the US standardization sample did not significantly differ between males (mean = 40.6, SD = 23.1) and females (mean = 42.8, SD = 28.7), whereas in the MIREC sample the total raw score was significantly higher among males (mean = 33.0, SD = 17.1) than females (mean = 26.6, SD = 13.9). A significantly larger proportion of the MIREC sample was White, younger in age, and had more educated parents compared to the US standardization sample. ASD-like traits were correlated with lower intellectual abilities, a less enriched home environment, more behavioral problems, and poorer adaptive skills. SRS-2 Preschool Form scores were significantly lower in the Canadian sample compared to the US standardization sample, which may reflect demographic differences between the two groups. Girls may be under-identified when SRS-2 Preschool Form norms are used for screening ASD.