The Reliability of the Social Responsiveness Scale-2 in an Iranian Typically Developing Group of Children

Abstract

Objective: The Social Responsiveness Scale-2 (SRS-2) is a well-known screening instrument to assess autistic spectrum symptoms quantitatively. This study assessed the different types of reliability of the Farsi translation of the scale. Method: This scale was translated into Farsi and back translated considering all aspects of methodology in translation. Then, based on stratified sampling, 533 7-11-year-old students were randomly selected from the mainstream schools located in the central parts of Tehran, the capital of Iran. For all the students, SRS-2 was completed by both the parents and teachers. To check retest reliability, the test was administered again for 15% of the total participants after a 2-4 week-period. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, split-half” and Gottman” methods, and intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) were used. Results:The mean total raw score was 48.47 (±23.63) and 53.17 (±27.33) in the sequence of the parents and teachers’ reports. The internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha; 0.86 and 0.89), test-retest reliability (ICC; 0.72 and 0.83 for parents and teacher’ ratings, respectively), and interrater reliability (ICC; 0.72) showed well-accepted measurement performance. Conclusion:The findings indicated that the Farsi SRS-2 can be used as a reliable instrument to measure social responsiveness as autistic symptoms in Iranian child population.