Validating the Child Behavior Checklist 1.5-5 as a screening tool for autism spectrum disorder.

Early identification of Autism Spectrum Disorder is very important, especially in low and middle-income countries, where access to resources is often limited. The Child Behavior Checklist 1.5-5 is a tool that has been used to help identify children with autism spectrum disorder through specific behavior patterns.

Executive and motor function in children with autism spectrum disorder.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between executive function, mainly attention and impulse control, and motor function impairment in children with ASD. Fifteen children with ASD (ages 8-14 years) were examined on their executive function using the Conners continuous performance test-3 and motor function using the movement assessment battery for children-2 (MABC-2). It was found that children with ASD were delayed on executive and motor function.

Construct validity of the Motor Development Scale (MDS).

Objective: Construct validity for the Motor Development Scale (MDS) has not been established. The aim of this study was to examine whether the unidimensional model of MDS would be appropriate for children aged 4 to 6 years-old and provide construct validity for the items concerning this age group in Brazil.

Methods: A total of 938 children participated in the study (214 4-year-olds, 643 5-year-olds, and 81 6-year-olds).

Motor skills assessments: support for a general motor factor for the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 and the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency-2.

Objective: To evaluate the construct validity and model-based reliability of general and specific contributions of the subscales of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 (MABC-2) and Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency-2 (BOT-2) when evaluating motor skills across a range of psychiatric disorders.

Methods: Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and bifactor analysis were conducted on BOT-2 data from 187 elementary school students (grades 1 to 6) (mean age: 113 ± 20 months; boys: n = 117, 62.56%) and on MABC-2 data from 127 elementary school students (grade 1) (mean age: 76 ± 2 months; boys: n = 58, 45.

The trajectory of balance skill development from childhood to adolescence was influenced by birthweight: a latent transition analysis in a British birth cohort.

Objective: To identify classes of balance skills and their trajectories from childhood to adolescence and the association of birthweight with these trajectories.

Study Design And Setting: Participants (n = 13,443) from the 1970 British Cohort Study were assessed for four balance skills in childhood and adolescence. Latent class analysis was used to determine classes of balance skills over time, and latent transition analysis was used to explain the association between birthweight and the probabilities of changing classes over time.

A new motor screening assessment for children at risk for motor disorders: construct validity.

Objective: To develop a motor screening assessment and provide preliminary evidence of its psychometric properties.

Methods: A sample of 365 elementary school students was assessed, with structural equation modeling applied to obtain evidence of the adequacy of the factor structure of the motor screening assessment. As well, differential item functioning was used to evaluate whether various identifiable subgroups of children (i.

Influence of birthweight on childhood balance: Evidence from two British birth cohorts.

Background: Birthweight is an important predictor of various fundamental aspects of childhood health and development.

Aim: To examine the impact of birthweight on childhood balance performance classification and verify if this is replicable and consistent in different populations.

Study Design: Prospective birth cohort study.

Assessing Risk of Bias in Randomized Controlled Trials for Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Aim: To determine construct validity and reliability indicators of the Cochrane risk of bias (RoB) tool in the context of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) for autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Methods: Confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate a unidimensional model consisting of 9 RoB categorical indicators evaluated across 94 RCTs addressing interventions for ASD.

Results: Only five of the nine original RoB items returned good fit indices and so were retained in the analysis.

Visual-motor perception in students with attention deficit with hyperactivity disorder.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to characterize and to compare the visual-motor perception of students with Attention Deficit with Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) with students with good academic performance.

Methods: Forty students from 2nd to 5th grades of an elementary public school, male gender (100%), aged between 7 and 10 years and 8 months old participated, divided into: GI (20 students with ADHD) and GII (20 students with good academic performance), paired according to age, schooling and gender with GI. The students were submitted to Developmental Test of Visual Perception (DTVP-2).

Fine motor, sensory and perceptive function of students with attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity.

Purpose: To characterize and compare the fine motor, sensory and perceptive functions of students with Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity (ADHD) and students with good academic performance, without behavior alteration.

Methods: Participants were 22 male students from Elementary School distributed into: GI - 11 children with ADHD; and GII - 11 students with good academic performance and no behavior alteration. Students were submitted to the Protocol for Evaluation of Fine Motor, Sensory and Perceptual Function, and to the Dysgraphia Scale.