Autism Awareness of Mothers Scale (AAMS): A Study of Validity and Reliability

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the autism awareness of mothers having typically developing children at preschool age and to investigate the validity and reliability of the Autism Awareness of Mothers Scale (AAMS). This methodological study was conducted with 136 mothers applying to a family health center in Istanbul, Türkiye. Data were collected in July-August 2021. The AAMS was a 4-point Likert-type scale and consisted of a total of 23 items. The factor structure of the scale was extracted by performing exploratory factor analysis. The median age of the participants was 32 years. Almost all the participants (91.9%) stated that they have heard the word ‘autism’ before. One-third of the mothers defined autism as a “social interaction problem” (33.1%). As a result of factor analysis, the AAMS had a two-factor structure, with Eigenvalues of 7.480 for Factor 1 and 4.978 for Factor 2 and explained 54.17% of total variance. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was found to be 0.947 for AAMS (0.933 and 0.876 for subscales, respectively). According to our results AAMS is a valid and reliable measurement tool. It can be used in Türkiye and in Turkish to determine autism awareness of mothers of typically developing preschool children.