M-CHAT Mexican Version Validity and Reliability and Some Cultural Considerations

Abstract

The Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT) questionnaire is a brief measure available in Spanish which needs to be validated for the Mexican population. Parents of children from (1) community with typical development (TD) and (2) psychiatric outpatient unit completed the CBCL/1.5–5 and the Mexican/MM-CHAT-version. The study sample consisted of 456 children (age M = 4.46, SD = 1.12), 74.34% TD children and 26.65% with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The MM-CHAT mean score for failed key items was higher for the ASD group compared with the TD group. Internal consistency for the Mexican/M-CHAT version was .76 for total score and .70 for the 6 critical items. Correlations between the MM-CHAT and the CBCL/1.5: PDD and Withdrawn subscales and with ADI-R dimensions: B non verbal) and A were high, and were moderate with ADI-R dimensions B1 (verbal) and C The failure rate of the MM-CHAT between the groups did not reproduce all the critical items found in other studies. Although the instrument has good psychometric properties and can be used for screening purposes in primary settings or busy specialized psychiatric clinics, these results support evidence for cultural differences in item responses, making it difficult to compare M-CHAT results internationally.