Micah O Mazurek1, Coleen Carlson2, Mary Baker-Ericzén3, Eric Butter4, Megan Norris5, Christopher Barr6, Stephen Kanne7. 1. Department of Human Services, School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA. 2. Department of Psychology, Texas Institute for Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistics, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, USA. 3. Child and Adolescent Services Research Center, Autism Discovery Institute, Rady Children's Hospital, San Diego, California, USA. 4. Department of Pediatrics and Psychology, The Ohio State University, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, USA. 5. Child Development Center, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, USA. 6. Texas Institute for Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistics, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, USA. 7. Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, USA.
Abstract
The Autism Impact Measure (AIM) was designed specifically for treatment-outcome assessment in children with ASD, focusing on treatment-relevant aspects of symptom presentation and efficient detection of short-term improvement. The AIM demonstrated strong reliability and validity in initial psychometric studies. The current study evaluated the AIM's sensitivity to change across well-established treatments. The sample included 471 children with ASD (ages 2-14) participating in one of six treatments. The AIM was administered at baseline and 6-week intervals and a battery of domain-specific concurrent measures was also administered. A longitudinal repeated measures design examined the degree to which: (a) AIM domain scores changed over time in response to treatment and (b) change in AIM domains was associated with change in measures of similar constructs. Results across growth curve models indicated that AIM domains are sensitive to change in symptoms across treatment. Across all models, symptoms decreased over time, with some deceleration in rate of improvement. For all AIM domains except Repetitive Behavior, symptoms improved as a function of treatment group. Correlations of change between AIM and other measures varied across domains (from 0.01-0.43 across measures). This was the first large-scale study to systematically evaluate sensitivity to change in a measure of core ASD symptoms. The results provide support for the AIM's ability to detect short-term improvement across symptom domains and indicate that AIM domains are sensitive to change overall and as a function of different treatment conditions. The brief repeated assessment window also highlights the AIM's utility for detecting improvements across short-term treatments. Autism Res 2020, 13: 1867-1879.
The Autism Impact Measure (AIM) was designed specifically for treatment-outcome assessment in children with ASD, focusing on treatment-relevant aspects of symptom presentation and efficient detection of short-term improvement. The AIM demonstrated strong reliability and validity in initial psychometric studies. The current study evaluated the AIM's sensitivity to change across well-established treatments. The sample included 471 children with ASD (ages 2-14) participating in one of six treatments. The AIM was administered at baseline and 6-week intervals and a battery of domain-specific concurrent measures was also administered. A longitudinal repeated measures design examined the degree to which: (a) AIM domain scores changed over time in response to treatment and (b) change in AIM domains was associated with change in measures of similar constructs. Results across growth curve models indicated that AIM domains are sensitive to change in symptoms across treatment. Across all models, symptoms decreased over time, with some deceleration in rate of improvement. For all AIM domains except Repetitive Behavior, symptoms improved as a function of treatment group. Correlations of change between AIM and other measures varied across domains (from 0.01-0.43 across measures). This was the first large-scale study to systematically evaluate sensitivity to change in a measure of core ASD symptoms. The results provide support for the AIM's ability to detect short-term improvement across symptom domains and indicate that AIM domains are sensitive to change overall and as a function of different treatment conditions. The brief repeated assessment window also highlights the AIM's utility for detecting improvements across short-term treatments. Autism Res 2020, 13: 1867-1879.
Authors: Stephen M Kanne; Micah O Mazurek; Darryn Sikora; Jayne Bellando; Lee Branum-Martin; Benjamin Handen; Terry Katz; Brian Freedman; Mary Paige Powell; Zachary Warren Journal: J Autism Dev Disord Date: 2014-01
Authors: Deborah L Christensen; Deborah A Bilder; Walter Zahorodny; Sydney Pettygrove; Maureen S Durkin; Robert T Fitzgerald; Catherine Rice; Margaret Kurzius-Spencer; Jon Baio; Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsopp Journal: J Dev Behav Pediatr Date: 2016-01 Impact factor: 2.225
Authors: Rebecca Grzadzinski; Themba Carr; Costanza Colombi; Kelly McGuire; Sarah Dufek; Andrew Pickles; Catherine Lord Journal: J Autism Dev Disord Date: 2016-07