TITLE:
Validation of the Italian Version of the Developmental Disability-Child Global Assessment Scale (DD-CGAS)
AUTHORS:
Diego F. M. Mugno, Manuela Strano, Mara Collini, Andrea Gemma, Lavinia De Peppo, Laura Reale, Veronica Micalizio, Luigi Mazzone
KEYWORDS:
Assessment, Autism, Children, Functioning, Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Italian
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Psychiatry,
Vol.4 No.3,
July
21,
2014
ABSTRACT: Objective: The aim of this
study is to validate the Italian version of the Developmental Disability-Child
Global Assessment Scale (DD-CGAS), a scale developed to assess global functioning
in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). Methods: Following the validation procedures used for the English
version of the scale, inter-rater reliability, temporal stability and
convergent validity were assessed in a group of 48 children with ASD and
temporal stability in a subset of 42 subjects. Results: Inter-rater reliability and temporal stability (ICC) were
respectively 0.78 and 0.79; effect size for convergent validity were moderate
to large; the pre-post DD-CGAS change had an effect size of 0.59. Conclusions: The Italian version of the
DD-CGAS is a reliable instrument for measuring global functioning of children
with ASD.