Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) and Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC) Correspondence and Conflicts with DSM-IV Criteria in Diagnosis of Autism

Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) and Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC) are tests widely used for screening and diagnosis of autism. This study verified their correspondence and conflict with a diagnosis made with DSM-IV criteria. The sample consisted of 65 children, aged 18 months to 11 years. We found complete agreement between DSM-IV and CARS. We show that ABC does not distinguish individuals with autistic disorders from other cases of developmental disorders as well as CARS: the number of false negatives is high (46%) with ABC as opposed to 0% with CARS.