Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 May;49(5):1853-1862.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-018-03870-5.

Cross-Cultural Content Validity of the Autism Program Environment Rating Scale in Sweden

Hampus Bejnö  1 , Lise Roll-Pettersson  2 , Lars Klintwall  3 , Ulrika Långh  4   5   6 , Samuel L Odom  7 , Sven Bölte  4   5   8   9
Affiliations

Cross-Cultural Content Validity of the Autism Program Environment Rating Scale in Sweden

Hampus Bejnö et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2019 May.

Abstract

Increasing rates of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and younger age at diagnosis pose a challenge to preschool intervention systems. In Sweden, most young autistic children receive intervention service in community-based preschool programs, but no tool is yet available to assess the quality of the preschool learning environment. This study adapted the Autism Program Environment Rating Scale Preschool/Elementary to Swedish community context (APERS-P-SE). Following translation and a multistep modification process, independent experts rated the content validity of the adaptation. Findings indicate high cross-cultural validity of the adapted APERS-P-SE. The cultural adaption process of the APERS-P-SE highlights similarities and differences between the American and Swedish preschool systems and their impact on early ASD intervention.

Keywords: Assessment; Autism spectrum disorder; Content validity; Cultural adaption; Preschool; Scale.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest

Ulrika Långh discloses that she receives royalties for a textbook chapter from Natur & Kultur. Sven Bölte discloses that he has in the last 5 years acted as an author, consultant or lecturer for Shire, Medice, Roche, Eli Lilly, Prima Psychiatry, GLGroup, System Analytic, Kompetento, Expo Medica, and Prophase. He receives royalties for text books and diagnostic tools from Huber/Hogrefe, Kohlhammer and UTB. The authors have no competing interests to declare in relation to this article.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The study was approved by the regional ethical vetting board in Stockholm (2016/2498-31/5).

References

    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2018). Identified prevalence of autism spectrum disorder. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved May 15, 2018, from http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html.
    1. Dal, H., Kosidou, K., & Dalman, C. (2013). Neuropsykiatri bland barn och unga vuxna i Stockholms län. Centrum för Epidemiologi och Samhällsmedicin. Stockholms läns landsting. Retrieved October 15, 2018, from https://www.uppdragpsykiskhalsa.se/stockholmslan/wp-content/uploads/2017....
    1. Daniels AM, Mandell DS. Explaining differences in age at autism spectrum disorder diagnosis: A critical review. Autism: The International Journal of Research and Practice. 2014;18(5):583–597. doi: 10.1177/1362361313480277. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Davis LL. Instrument review: Getting the most from your panel of experts. Applied Nursing Research. 1992;5:194–197. doi: 10.1016/S0897-1897(05)80008-4. - DOI
    1. Eikeseth S, Smith T, Jahr E, Eldevik S. Intensive behavioral treatment at school for 4- to 7-year-old children with autism: A 1-year comparison controlled study. Behavior Modification. 2002;26(1):49–68. doi: 10.1177/0145445502026001004. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

Grants and funding