The CRİTERİON-RELATED VALIDITY of the TURKISH VINELAND – II on CLINICAL GROUPS (Autism, Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified - PDD – NOS, Specific Learning Disability – SLD, and Attention – Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder - ADHD) Başak Alpas 1, Melda Akçakın 1, Gulsen Erden 2, Sait Uluç 3 1 Ankara University, School of Medicine, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, Ankara, TURKEY 2 Ankara University, Faculty of Letters, Psychology Department, Ankara, TURKEY 3 Hacettepe University, Faculty of Letters, Psychology Department, Ankara, TURKEY The aim of this study was investigated the criterion-related validity in 6 clinical groups (autism- verbal / nonverbal, PDD-NOS-verbal / nonverbal, SLD, and SLD with comorbid ADHD). The clinical sample consisted of 84 (20 girls and 64 boys) children with autism, and 101 children (24 girls, 77 boys) with SLD / ADHD. The results showed that the average domain and subdomain scores of Turkish Vineland – II for all clinical groups were lower than the non- clinical group. Vineland –II Survey forms are designed the diagnostic tool in the clinical diagnosis of a variety of disorders (ASD, ADHD, SLD, genetic disorders, developmental delays, emotional and behavioral disturbances, etc.) not limited to Mental Retardation. The objective of this study was to demonstrate the validity of the Vineland – II Turkish version in classification and / or diagnosis of the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS), Attention – Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and the Specific Learning Disability (SLD) sample. The clinical sample selected from among the children who diagnosis and follow up at the Ankara University Medicine School, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. The intellectual levels of the clinical groups were assessed by WISC-R (Savaşır et al. 1995) and the Ankara Developmental Screening Inventory (Savaşır et al. 2005). The DSM – III – R (APA 1987), DSM – IV (APA, 1994), DSM – IV TR (APA, 2000), Turgay’s ADHD Screening Inventory (Turgay, 1995), and the Evaluation Form for Autistic Children (Akçakın et al., 1991) used for the diagnostic tools (See Figure I) The validity of the Vineland – II Turkish version evaluated in two clinical groups: I- Autism Sample: A total of 84 children (20 girls and 64 boys) aged 1 to 8 were included in the study. The children with ASD and PDD-NOS determined by the DSM – III – R and the DSM – IV diagnostic criteria. According to the children’s number of words, those with five or more words and establishing sentences purposefully and meaningfully each day as verbal, those with five or less words are defined as non-verbal, the autism group divided into 4 groups by diagnosis criteria and number of words / sentences: II- Specific Learning Disability (SLD) / Attention – Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHS) Sample: The SLD sample consists of 101 children (24 girls, 77 boys) aged 6 through 13 and from 1 st through 8 th grader who met the criteria of DSM-IV for SLD. 47 children (14 girls, 33 boys) only diagnosed SLD, 54 children (10 girls, 44 boys) also had comorbid ADHD. The mean WISC-R Full Scale IQ scores were normal-range for SLD sample [girls (N=14) : 97.2 ± 9.9; boys N=33 : 97.6 ± 11.8]; SLD + ADHD sample [girls (N=10) : 97.4 ± 12.9; boys N=44 : 98.6 ± 12.1] AUTISM VERBAL (8 girls, 28 boys) Mean Age = 57 months Mean IQ = 27 months AUTISM NONVERBAL (6 girls, 19 boys) Mean Age = 51 months Mean IQ = 16 months Figure I: The General Development Profiles of the Autism Sample by Ankara Development Screening Inventory (ADSI) PDD-NOS VERBAL (4 girls, 10 boys) Mean Age = 50 months Mean IQ = 30 months PDD-NOS NONVERBAL (2 girls, 7 boys) Mean Age = 30 months Mean IQ = 15 months Figure II: Profiles of the Vineland-II mean subdomain raw scores for Verbal and Nonverbal Autism and PDD -NOS groups Nonverbal PDD-NOS N= 9 Verbal PDD-NOS N=14 Verbal Autism N=36 Nonverbal Autism N= 25 Figure III: Profiles of the Vineland-II mean subdomain raw scores for SLD,SLD + ADHD with Comparison to Norm Sample, Ages 6 – 10 – on the US norm profiles of the Vineland -II SLD N=47 Norm Sample N=216 SL D + ADHD N=54 Akçakın, M., Polat, S. & Kerimoğlu, E. (1991). Evaluation Form for Autistic Children by DSM – III – R criteria. Ankara University, School of Medicine, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department. American Psychiatric Association (1987) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3 rd ed.) – revised (DSM – III – R). Washington DC: APA American Psychiatric Association (1994) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4 th ed.) (DSM – IV). Washington DC: APA American Psychiatric Association (2000) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4 th ed.) - revised (DSM – IV TR). Washington DC: APA Savaşır, I., Sezgin, N., & Erol, N. (2005). Ankara Developmental Screening Inventory (ADSI). Ankara: Rekmay. Savaşır, I. & Şahin, N. (1995). Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children. Ankara: Turkish Psychological Association. Sparrow, S. S., Balla, D. A., & Cicchetti, D. V. (2005). Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales - Survey Form (Second Version). Circle Pines, Minn: AGS. Turgay, A. (1995). Turgay DSM – IV Based Child and Adolescent Behavior Disorders Screening and Rating Scales. Integrative Therapy Institute, Toronto, Kanada. Clinical validity evidence of the Turkish Vineland-II will support to use of a major or ancillary diagnostic assessment tool and treatment planning for the fields of the child psychiatry, psychology, in all departments of pediatrics (neurology, developmental, social, endocrinology, etc.) in Turkey. The domain and subdomain average scores of the Turkish Vineland – II of clinical sample were obtained lower than the non-clinical sample ( See Figure II – III). Content Description of