VALIDATING THE STRESS SURVEY SCHEDULE FOR PERSONS WITH AUTISM AND OTHER DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES

Background:  

Despite a growing appreciation for the role stress plays in the behavior of persons with autism, little work has been done to develop tools that assess reactions to stressors in this population.

Objectives:  

To validate the Stress Survey Schedule for Persons with Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities (SSS; Groden et al., 2001) in a large sample of individuals with autism, varying in gender, verbal ability, and age.

Methods:

86 staff (22 men and 64 women) ranging in age from 20 to 52 years (M = 27.2) rated the perceived intensity of reactions to each of the 49 items on the SSS for clients with whom they were familiar. The 180 individuals with DSM-IV diagnoses of autism being rated (142 males and 38 females) ranged in age from 3 to 41 years, with a mean age of 17.4 years. Of the 180 individuals, 128 (71%) were reported to be verbal and 52 (29%) nonverbal.

Results:

One-way MANOVAs, univariate ANOVAs, Tukey tests, and effect size estimates (h²) were computed to evaluate whether there were group differences on mean stress scale scores for the overall sample as a function of gender, verbal ability, or age group. There were no differences in any of the eight stress scale scores for males and females. There were moderately large differences in two stress scales, Unpleasant and Pleasant Events, for verbal and nonverbal persons. There were also moderately large differences in mean stress scale scores for Anticipation/Uncertainty, Sensory/Personal Contact, and Food Related Activity as a function of age.

Conclusions:

The SSS was able to identify dimensions of stressors that are perceived to be the most and least stressful for subgroups of persons with autism, suggesting that the SSS is a valid tool for assessing perceived stress reactions in persons with autism.