Turkish adaptation of the behavioral flexibility scale for children with autism spectrum disorder: cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric evaluation

What is it about?

Aim: The aim of this study is to adapt the "Behavioral Flexibility Scale for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder" to Turkish culture and evaluate its psychometric properties. Background: The Behavioral Inflexibility Scale (BIS), developed by Luc Lecavalier and her colleagues, is used in diagnostic tests for autistic children. Design: The research employed a methodological design. Method: Data were collected between March and September 2021. The study included 254 parents of children with autism. Content validity, construct validity, and criterion validity were assessed. Reliability was examined using adjusted item-total correlation, Cronbach's coefficient, composite reliability, and split-second reliability. Results: The Turkish version of the “Behavioral Flexibility Scale for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder” was found to have good content and criterion validity. The single-factor structure of the scale was confirmed for the Turkish version as a result of confirmatory factor analysis. The Cronbach α coefficient of the scale was determined as 0.97 and the item/total correlation coefficients were found to be between 0.544-0.807. In the first factor analysis conducted for BIS, the KMO value was 0.958, and in the BTS test results, it was determined that the scales were suitable for factor analysis (X2=7296.05; df=705; p<0.001). As a result of the explanatory factor analysis, it was found that the items forming the scale were gathered under a single factor and the factor loadings varied between 0.564-0.822. It was found that the items constituting the scale explained 52% of the variance and the Pearson correlation coefficient was r = 0.775, p < 0.001. Conclusions: The Behavioral Flexibility Scale was found to be a valid and reliable tool that can be used in diagnostic testing in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

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