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. 2020 Mar;51(2):310-319.
doi: 10.1016/j.beth.2019.09.006. Epub 2019 Nov 26.

The Internal Structure of the Aberrant Behavior Checklist Irritability Subscale: Implications for Studies of Irritability in Treatment-Seeking Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Joel Stoddard  1 , Jodi Zik  2 , Carla A Mazefsky  3 , Briar DeChant  2 , Robin Gabriels  2
Affiliations

The Internal Structure of the Aberrant Behavior Checklist Irritability Subscale: Implications for Studies of Irritability in Treatment-Seeking Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Joel Stoddard et al. Behav Ther. 2020 Mar.

Abstract

Given the prominence of the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC), Irritability Subscale (ABC-I), in treatment outcome studies, we conducted a critical examination of its internal consistency and relationship to other measures of irritability in 758 psychiatrically hospitalized youth with autism spectrum disorder. In exploratory and confirmation samples, we conducted factor and bifactor analyses to describe the internal structure of the ABC-I. Our results suggest that the ABC-I roughly represents a unidimensional construct of irritability, as indicated by a general factor in bifactor analysis. In addition to irritability, subordinate factors are presented that represent tantrums, verbal outbursts, self-harm, and negative affect. Notably, self-harm items explain a large proportion of variance independent of irritability. Therefore, their contribution in analyses of treatment effects should be considered. Further study or revision of the ABC-I may improve convergent validity with transdiagnostic formulations of irritability as well as prevent confound from self-harm in treatment studies for irritability in ASD.

Keywords: Aberrant Behavior Checklist; autism spectrum disorder; irritability.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Statement The authors declare there are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The internal structure of the ABC-I in the exploration (n=379) and confirmation (n=379) analyses. The ABC-I is best described by a general factor (g) with four grouping factors representing tantrums (F1), self-harm (F2), verbal outbursts (F3), and negative affect (F4). Arrows represent loadings > .2.
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