Abstract
Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS) data were examined in a large sample of young children with ASD (n = 290) of varying cognitive levels. IQ was higher than VABS composite score among high functioning children only; the opposite pattern was found in lower IQ subgroups. Profile analysis of VABS domains across cognitive levels demonstrated different profiles in different subgroups. A characteristic “autism profile” was found for most subgroups for Age Equivalents but not Standard Scores. In a small set of matched pairs (n = 28) of children with autism versus MR, significantly different profiles were found, with Socialization and Communication lower in autism, but no differences were found between matched pairs of children with autism and PDD-NOS (n = 48). Correlations between age, cognitive level, and adaptive level were also reported, and regression analyses indicated that autism severity accounts for a modest amount of unique variance in Socialization and Daily Living Skills.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: 4th ed., text revision. Washington, DC: Author.
Bayley, N. (1993). The Bayley scales of infant development (2nd ed.). San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
Bolte, S., & Poustka, F. (2002). The relation between general cognitive level and adaptive behavior domains in individuals with autism with and without co-morbid mental retardation. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 33, 165–172. doi:10.1023/A:1020734325815.
Carpentieri, S., & Morgan, S. B. (1996). Adaptive and intellectual functioning in autistic and nonautistic retarded children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 26, 611–620. doi:10.1007/BF02172350.
Carter, A. S., Volkmar, F. R., Sparrow, S. S., Wang, J. J., Lord, C., Dawson, G., et al. (1998). The Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales: Supplementary norms for individuals with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 28, 287–302. doi:10.1023/A:1026056518470.
Cattell, P. (1940). Infant intelligence scale. New York: Psychological Corporation.
Chadwick, O., Cuddy, M., Kusel, Y., & Taylor, E. (2005). Handicaps and the development of skills between childhood and early adolescence in young people with severe intellectual disabilities. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 49, 877–888. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2788.2005.00716.x.
De Bildt, A., Kraijer, D., Sytema, S., & Minderaa, R. (2005). The psychometric properties of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales in children and adolescents with mental retardation. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 35, 53–62. doi:10.1007/s10803-004-1033-7.
DiLalla, D. L., & Rogers, S. J. (1994). Domains of the Childhood Autism Rating Scale: Relevance for diagnosis and treatment. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 24, 115–128. doi:10.1007/BF02172092.
Eaves, R. C., & Milner, B. (1993). The criterion-related validity of the Childhood Autism Rating Scale and the Autism Behavior Checklist. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 21, 481–491. doi:10.1007/BF00916315.
Fenton, G., D’Ardia, C., Valente, D., Vecchio, I., Fabrizi, A., & Bernabei, P. (2003). Vineland Adaptive Behavior profiles in children with autism and moderate to severe developmental delay. Autism, 7, 269–287. doi:10.1177/13623613030073004.
Filipek, P. A., Accardo, J. P., Baranek, G. T., Cook, E. H., Dawson, G., Gordon, B., et al. (1999). The screening and diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 29, 439–484. doi:10.1023/A:1021943802493.
Fombonne, E. (2005). Epidemiological studies of pervasive developmental disorders. In F. R. Volkmar, R. Paul, R. A. Klin, & D. Cohen (Eds.), Handbook of autism and pervasive developmental disorders (3rd ed., pp. 42–69). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.
Freeman, B. J., Del’Homme, M., Guthrie, D., & Zhang, F. (1999). Vineland adaptive behavior scale scores as a function of age and initial IQ in 210 autistic children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 29, 379–384. doi:10.1023/A:1023078827457.
Freeman, B. J., Rahbar, B., Ritvo, E. R., Bice, T. L., Yokota, A., & Ritvo, R. (1991). The stability of cognitive and behavioral parameters in autism: A twelve-year prospective study. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 30, 479–482. doi:10.1097/00004583-199105000-00020.
Garfin, D. G., & McCallon, D. (1988). Validity and reliability of the Childhood Autism Rating Scale with autistic adolescents. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 18, 367–378. doi:10.1007/BF02212193.
Gillham, J. E., Carter, A. S., Volkmar, F. R., & Sparrow, S. S. (2000). Towards a developmental operational definition of autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30, 269–278. doi:10.1023/A:1005571115268.
Klin, A., Saulnier, C. A., Sparrow, S., Cicchetti, D. V., Volkmar, F. R., & Lord, C. (2007). Social and communication abilities and disabilities in higher functioning individuals with autism spectrum disorders: The Vineland and the ADOS. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37, 748–759. doi:10.1007/s10803-006-0229-4.
Kraijer, D. (2000). Review of adaptive behavior studies in mentally retarded persons with autism/pervasive developmental disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30, 39–47. doi:10.1023/A:1005460027636.
Liss, M., Harel, B., Fein, D., Allen, D., Dunn, A., Dunn, M., et al. (2001). Predictors and correlates of adaptive functioning in children with developmental disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 31, 219–230. doi:10.1023/A:1010707417274.
Loveland, K. A., & Kelley, M. L. (1991). Development of adaptive behavior in preschoolers with autism or Down syndrome. American Journal of Mental Retardation, 96, 13–20.
Magyar, C. I., & Pandolfi, V. (2007). Factor structure evaluation of the Childhood Autism Rating Scale. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37, 1787–1794. doi:10.1007/s10803-006-0313-9.
Mandell, D. S., Novak, M. M., & Zubritsky, C. D. (2005). Factors associated with age of diagnosis among children with autism spectrum disorders. Pediatrics, 116, 1480–1486. doi:10.1542/peds.2005-0185.
Mervis, C. B., & Klein-Tasman, B. P. (2004). Methodological issues in group-matching designs: α levels for control variable comparisons and measurement characteristics of control and target variables. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 34, 7–17. doi:10.1023/B:JADD.0000018069.69562.b8.
Mullen, E. M. (1995). Mullen scales of early learning. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.
Njardvik, U., Matson, J. L., & Cherry, K. E. (1999). A comparison of social skills in adults with autism, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified, and mental retardation. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 29, 287–295. doi:10.1023/A:1022107318500.
Paul, R., Miles, S., Cicchetti, D., Sparrow, S., Klin, A., Volkmar, F., et al. (2004). Adaptive behavior in autism and pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified: Microanalysis of scores on the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 34, 223–228. doi:10.1023/B:JADD.0000022612.18116.46.
Perry, A., Condillac, R. A., & Freeman, N. L. (2002). Best practices and practical strategies for assessment and diagnosis of autism. Journal on Developmental Disabilities, 9, 61–75.
Perry, A., Condillac, R. A., Freeman, N. L., Dunn Geier, J., & Belair, J. (2005). Multi-site study of the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) in five clinical groups of young children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 35, 625–634. doi:10.1007/s10803-005-0006-9.
Perry, A., Dunn Geier, J., Penn, H., & Freeman, N.L. (2006, June). Validity of the Vineland “autism profile”. Poster presentation at the International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR), Montreal, QB.
Perry, A., & Factor, D. C. (1989). Psychometric validity and clinical usefulness of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales and the AAMD Adaptive Behavior Scale for an autistic sample. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 19, 41–55. doi:10.1007/BF02212717.
Roid, G. H. (2003). Standford-Binet intelligence scales (5th ed.). Itasca, NY: Riverside.
Roid, G. H., & Miller, L. J. (1997). The Leiter international performance scale-revised edition. Lutz, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
Sattler, J. M. (2001). Assessment of children: Cognitive applications (4th ed.). San Diego, CA: Jerome Sattler Publisher Inc.
Schatz, J., & Hamdan-Allen, G. (1995). Effects of age and IQ on adaptive behavior domains for children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 25, 51–60. doi:10.1007/BF02178167.
Schopler, E., Reichler, R. J., & Renner, B. R. (1988). The childhood autism rating scale (CARS). Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.
Sparrow, S., Balla, D., & Cicchetti, D. (1984). Vineland adaptive behavior scales. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.
Sparrow, S. S., Cicchetti, D. V., & Balla, D. A. (2005). Vineland adaptive behavior scales (2nd ed.). Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.
Stone, W., Ousley, O., Hepburn, S., Hogan, K., & Brown, C. (1999). Patterns of adaptive behavior in very young children with autism. American Journal of Mental Retardation, 104, 187–199. doi:10.1352/0895-8017(1999)104<0187:POABIV>2.0.CO;2.
Szatmari, P., Bryson, S. E., Boyle, M. H., Streiner, D. L., & Duku, E. (2003). Predictors of outcome among high functioning children with autism or Asperger syndrome. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 44, 520–528. doi:10.1111/1469-7610.00141.
Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2007). Using multivariate statistics (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
Tachimori, H., Osada, H., & Kurita, H. (2003). Childhood Autism Rating Scale–Tokyo version for screening pervasive developmental disorders. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 57, 113–118. doi:10.1046/j.1440-1819.2003.01087.x.
Thorndike, R. L. (1972). Manual for the Stanford-Binet intelligence scale. Boston, MA: Houghton-Mifflin.
Thorndike, R. L., Hagen, E. P., & Sattler, J. M. (1986). Stanford-Binet intelligence scale (4th ed.). Itasca, IL: Riverside Publishing.
VanMeter, L., Fein, D., Morris, R., Waterhouse, L., & Allen, D. (1997). Delay versus deviance in autistic social behavior. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 27, 557–569. doi:10.1023/A:1025830110640.
Vig, S., & Jedrysek, E. (1995). Adaptive behavior of young urban children with developmental disabilities. Mental Retardation, 33, 90–98.
Volkmar, F., Carter, A., Sparrow, S., & Cicchetti, D. (1993). Quantifying social development in autism. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 32, 627–632. doi:10.1097/00004583-199305000-00020.
Volkmar, F. R., Sparrow, S. S., Goudreau, D., Cicchetti, D., Paul, R., & Cohen, D. J. (1987). Social deficits in autism: An operational approach using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 26, 156–161. doi:10.1097/00004583-198703000-00005.
Wechsler, D. (2002). Wechsler preschool and primary scale of intelligence (3rd ed.). San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to the following people who assisted in the data entry and checking for this study: Sally Bond, Ryan Chang, Kelly Geier, Carol Haddad, Bharathy Kavallappa, Megan Mak, Catherine Munns, and Alice Prichard. We appreciate the support of the TRE-ADD Program at Thistletown Regional Centre in conducting this study. The views expressed are, however, those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of Thistletown Regional Centre or the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services. A preliminary version of these data was presented in poster format at: the Ontario Association on Developmental Disabilities Research Day in April 2006 in Barrie, ON, the International Meeting for Autism, Research (IMFAR) in June 2006 in Montreal, QB, and the Society for Research in Child Development in Boston, MA in March 2007.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Perry, A., Flanagan, H.E., Dunn Geier, J. et al. Brief Report: The Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders at Different Cognitive Levels. J Autism Dev Disord 39, 1066–1078 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-009-0704-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-009-0704-9