Abstract
The Revised Behaviour Summarized Evaluation Scale (BSE-R) was developed for the objective evaluation of autistic behaviours in order to facilitate the recording of the evolution of developmentally disabled children. Among its 29 items, 13 items that precisely describe the degree of autistic behaviours were extracted by Principal Component Analysis. We hypothesised that these relevant behaviours could differentiate autistic behaviour profiles in a population of children previously diagnosed as typically autistic. For this purpose, we used an original multivariate descriptive statistical approach, Correspondence Analysis, which can help in detecting structural relationships among variables. In a population of autistic children initially diagnosed using DSM-III-R criteria, this procedure proved effective in identifying new main dimensions of behaviours among the 13 previously defined core autistic symptoms. Cluster analysis, which followed factorial analysis, allowed the identification of three meaningful behaviour profiles separated principally on the basis of two main functions, perception and imitation, which have been always considered to be fundamentally involved in autistic syndrome. The individualisation of homogeneous subgroups of children on the basis of the behavioural evaluation provides a potentially useful starting point for further biological and therapeutic studies.
Résumé
L'échelle d'évaluation résumée des comportements (BSE-R, version révisée) a été développée pour évaluer de façon objective les comportements autistiques afin de faciliter le suivi d'enfants présentant des troubles graves du développement. Parmi les 29 items composant cette échelle, 13 items décrivant précisemment le degré d'autisme ont été extraits par Analyse en Composantes Principales. Nous avons formulé l'hypothèse que ces 13 items étaient capables de différencier des profils comportementaux dans une population d'enfants préalablement diagnostiqués autistes. Pour cela, nous avons utilisé une approche statistique descriptive originale, l'Analyse Factorielle des Correspondances, qui facilite la recherche de relations structurelles entre les variables. Dans une population d'enfants diagnostiqués autistes suivant les critères du DSMIII-R, cette méthode s'est montrée pertinente pour isoler de nouvelles dimensions comportementales parmi les 13 symptômes d'autisme précédemment décrits. La classification automatique, qui a suivi l'analyse factorielle, a permis d'identifier trois profils de comportements qui different principalement par deux fonctions qui ont toujours été considérées comme impliquées dans le syndrome autistique: la perception et l'imitation. L'individualisation de sous-groupes homogènes d'enfants à partir de ce type d'évaluation est une étape importante avant la mise en oeuvre de nouvelles études biologiques ou thérapeutiques.
Zusammenfassung
Die Revised Behaviour Summarized Evaluations Scale (BSE-R) wurde für die objektive Einschätzung autistischer Verhaltensweisen entwickelt, um die Erfassung des Entwicklungsstandes bei entwicklungsgestörten Kindern zu erleichtern. Unter den 29 Items wurden durch Principal Component Analysis 13 Items extrahiert, die genau den Grad der autistischen Verhaltensweisen beschreiben. Wir verfolgten die Hypothese, daß diese relevanten Verhaltensweisen zwischen verschiedenen autistischen Verhaltensprofilen innerhalb einer Stichprobe von Kindern, die zuvor als typisch autistisch diagnostiziert worden waren, weiter aufdifferenzieren könnten. Zu diesem Zweck benutzten wir einen originalen multivariaten deskriptiven statistischen Ansatz (Correspondence Analysis), der helfen kann, strukturelle Beziehungen zwischen Variablen zu erfassen. In einer Stichprobe von Kindern mit Autismus (nach den Diagnose-Kriterien des DSM-III-R) konnten mit diesem Verfahren neue Hauptdimensionen des Verhaltens unter den zuvor definierten autistischen Kernsymptomen identifiziert werden. Eine Clusteranalyse, die auf die Faktorenanalyse folgte, erlaubte die Identifizierung von drei sinnvollen Verhaltensprofilen, die sich im wesentlichen aufgrund zweier Hauptfunktionen, Wahrnehmung und Nachahmung, trennen ließen. Diesen beiden Funktionen wurde immer eine grundlegende Bedeutung für das autistische Syndrom beigemessen. Die Individualisierung von homogenen Subgruppen von Kindern auf der Basis der Verhaltensevaluation liefert einen potentiell nützlichen Ansatzpunkt für weitere biologische und therapeutische Studien.
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Roux, S., Malvy, J., Bruneau, N. et al. Identification of behaviour profiles within a population of autistic children using multivariate statistical methods. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 4, 249–258 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01980489
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01980489