Previous research has found that children with Autistic Disorder, who are identified and treated before 5 years old, appear to benefit more from intensive treatment than those children treated after age 5 (Fenske, Zalenski, Krantz, & McClannahan, 1985). Although children with Autistic Disorder show deficits in pointing, showing objects, looking at others, and orienting to name early in their development (Osterling & Dawson, 1994), they are generally diagnosed between 3 (Kabot, Masi, & Segal, 2003) to 5 years old (Rhoades, Scarpa, & Salley, 2007) when their expressive and receptive language are notably delayed. In an attempt to decrease the age of diagnoses, the M-CHAT, a screening tool, has been used to screen toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorders (Robins, Fein, Barton, & Green, 2001). However, to the authors' knowledge, no research has been conducted with Spanish-speaking populations and the utility of the M-CHAT.
Objectives:
To examine differences in response patterns on English and Spanish M-CHATs administered to English- and Spanish-speaking mothers of toddlers from an at risk population.
Methods:
Data were collected from 431 toddlers between 17 and 30 months of age (105 Spanish, 326 English). Because no previous research has been done with the Spanish M-CHAT, no hypotheses are made regarding response patterns between the English-speaking and Spanish-speaking populations.
Results:
Preliminary Pearson Chi-Square analyses showed that English-speaking and Spanish-speaking mothers demonstrated significantly different response patterns in 5 of the 23 items of the M-CHAT. Chi-Square analyses revealed that Spanish-speaking mothers were more likely to report higher levels of symptomatology on M-CHAT number 1, c2(1, N = 460) = 7.28, p > .01, number 11, c2(1, N = 460) = 54.658, p > .01, and number 18, c2(1, N = 460) = 24.56, p > .01 than English-speaking mothers. However, English-speaking mothers were more likely to report higher level of symptomatology than Spanish-speaking mothers on item number 13, c2(1, N = 460) = 3.61, p = .058, and number 22, c2(1, N = 460) = 5.15, p > .05.
Conclusions:
This study found differences in response patterns between English-speaking and Spanish-speaking mothers of toddlers on five items of the M-CHAT, including a critical item (number 13). Spanish-speaking mothers reported higher levels of symptomatology on three items while English-speaking mothers reported higher levels of symptomatology on two items from the 23-item M-CHAT. Our findings suggest differences in screening information provided between English- and Spanish-speaking populations. As a result, Spanish and English M-CHATs might be confounded by language differences; therefore, potentially producing erroneous conclusions about the presence or absence of a child's symptoms. To reduce the confounding effects of these language differences, future research should determine whether the results are due to language differences in interpretation or in the translation of the measure.