National Institute for Health and Care Research

Measure

Children’s Social Behavior Questionnaire (CSBQ)

Age range 4 — 18
Completion time 10 Minutes
Respondent Parent / Carer
Problem areas
Behaviour Problems

Overview

The Children’s Social Behavior Questionnaire (CSBQ) is a 49-item parent/caregiver questionnaire designed to assess a broad range of social and behavioural difficulties associated with autism spectrum conditions, particularly milder presentations. It provides a differentiated profile across six domains: behaviour/emotions not optimally tuned to the social situation, reduced contact and social interest, orientation problems, difficulties understanding social information, stereotyped behaviour, and fear of and resistance to change. The CSBQ is intended as a dimensional measure for describing and screening social-behavioural difficulties rather than establishing an autism diagnosis.

Scoring & Interpretation

Each of the 49 items is rated: 0 = Does not apply; 1 = Sometimes or somewhat applies; 2 = Clearly or often applies. Items are summed to produce a total score, with higher scores indicating greater social/behavioural difficulties. Subscale scores are also calculated for the six domains. The total score therefore ranges from 0–98. CSBQ scores are intended to be interpreted using relevant normative groups rather than as a diagnostic cut-off. No universally established diagnostic cut-score for ASD has been identified in the published literature.

Psychometric Properties

Internal Consistency

The revised 49-item CSBQ demonstrated good internal consistency in the large Dutch validation sample. Cronbach's alpha was .94 for the total score, with subscale alpha values ranging from .76 to .90. These findings indicate high internal consistency for the total scale and acceptable-to-good consistency across the six subscales.

Test-Retest Reliability

Test–retest reliability was good in the revised CSBQ validation study. The correlation for the total score was r = .90, with subscale correlations ranging from r = .80 to .88 over an interval of approximately four weeks.

Factor Structure

The revised CSBQ was reduced from 96 to 49 items using conceptual evaluation and factor-analytic procedures. Six factors were identified: • Behaviour/emotions not optimally tuned to the social situation • Reduced contact and social interest • Orientation problems in time, place or activity • Difficulties in understanding social information • Stereotyped behaviour • Fear of and resistance to changes The six-factor structure was subsequently shown to remain stable when CSBQ and Child Behavior Checklist items were analysed together. The six domains provide differentiated information about the nature of children's social and behavioural difficulties.

Validity

The revised CSBQ demonstrated convergent, divergent and criterion-related validity. In the original development work, CSBQ scores were related to established measures including the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC) and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). The total CSBQ score showed a strong association with the ABC, supporting convergent validity.
The measure also demonstrated discriminative validity across clinical groups. Children with high-functioning autism and PDD-NOS generally showed higher CSBQ scores than children in comparison groups, although some domains—particularly “not tuned” and orientation—were less specific to ASD and were also elevated in ADHD.
In a subsequent study of children with intellectual disability, the CSBQ was compared with the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R), Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) and clinical DSM-IV-TR classification. The Contact and Stereotyped subscales showed particularly strong associations with ASD classifications, while the total CSBQ score and several subscales contributed significantly to distinguishing children with and without ASD.
The CSBQ should therefore be viewed as a screening, signalling and descriptive measure rather than a stand-alone diagnostic instrument.

Measurement Invariance

No formal must-group measurement invariance testing reported

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Citation

Original Reference

Hartman, C. A., Luteijn, E., Serra, M., Minderaa, R., & Luteijn, F. (2006). Refinement of the Children's Social Behavior Questionnaire (CSBQ): An instrument that describes the diverse problems seen in milder forms of PDD. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36(3), 325–342.

References

Luteijn, E., Luteijn, F., Jackson, S., Volkmar, F., & Minderaa, R. B. (2000). The children's Social Behavior Questionnaire for milder variants of PDD problems: Evaluation of the psychometric characteristics. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30(4), 317–330. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005527300247

de Bildt, A., Mulder, E. J., Hoekstra, P. J., van Lang, N. D. J., Minderaa, R. B., & Hartman, C. A. (2009). Validity of the Children's Social Behavior Questionnaire (CSBQ) in children with intellectual disability: Comparing the CSBQ with ADI-R, ADOS, and clinical DSM-IV-TR classification. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 39(10), 1464–1470. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-009-0764-x

Excoffier, E., Vila, G., Taupiac, E., Mouren-Simeoni, M.-C., & Bouvard, M.-P. (2007). Dimensional approach of social behaviour deficits in children: Preliminary validation study of the French version of the Children's Social Behavior Questionnaire (CSBQ). L'Encéphale, 33(4), 585–591. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0013-7006(07)92057-6

Hartman, C., Luteijn, E., Moorlag-Jonker, H., de Bildt, A., & Minderaa, R. (2008). VISK, herziene handleiding 2007. Vragenlijst voor inventarisatie van sociaal gedrag van kinderen [CSBQ, revised manual 2007. Children's Social Behavior Questionnaire]. Amsterdam: Harcourt Test Publishers.

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