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Validating Regulatory Sensory Processing Disorders Using the Sensory Profile and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL 1½–5)

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Abstract

The objective was to validate Regulatory Sensory Processing Disorders’ criteria (DC:0-3R, 2005) using empirical data on the presence and severity of sensory modulation deficits and specific psychiatric symptoms in clinical samples. Sixty toddlers who attended a child mental health unit were diagnosed by a clinical team. The following two groups were created: toddlers with RSPD (N = 14) and those with “other diagnoses in Axis I/II of the DC:0-3R″(OD3R) (N = 46). Independently of the clinical process, parents completed the Infant Toddler Sensory Profile (as a checklist for sensory symptoms) and the Achenbach Behavior Checklist for ages 1½–5 (CBCL 1½–5). The scores from the two groups were compared. The results showed the following for the RSPD group: a higher number of affected sensory areas and patterns than in the OD3R group; a higher percentage of sensory deficits in specific sensory categories; and a higher severity of behavioral symptoms such as withdrawal, inattention, other externalizing problems and pervasive developmental problems in CBCL 1½–5. The results confirmed our hypotheses by indicating a higher severity of sensory symptoms and identifying specific behavioral problems in children with RSPD. The results revealed convergent validity between the instruments and the diagnostic criteria for RSPD and supported the validity of RSPD as a unique diagnosis. The findings also suggested the importance of identifying sensory modulation deficits in order to develop an early intervention to enhance the sensory capacities of children who do not fully satisfy the criteria for some DSM-IV-TR disorders.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported in part by grant SFRH/BD/38992/2007 from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, POCI 2010 and European Social Grant. The authors gratefully acknowledges the clinical team of UPI of CHCL-Hospital Dona Estefânia for their participation and implementation of the research protocol and are grateful to the parents of the child for participate in this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departament of Clinical and Health Psychology, Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), 08193, Bellaterra, Spain

    Ruth Pérez Robles & Ma. Claustre Jané Ballabriga

  2. Departament of Biopsychology and Health Sciences Metodology, Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra, Spain

    Eduardo Doval Diéguez

  3. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, CHLC-Hospital Dona Estefânia, Lisbon, Portugal

    Pedro Caldeira da Silva

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  1. Ruth Pérez Robles
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  2. Ma. Claustre Jané Ballabriga
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  4. Pedro Caldeira da Silva
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Correspondence to Ruth Pérez Robles.

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Pérez Robles, R., Ballabriga, M.C.J., Diéguez, E.D. et al. Validating Regulatory Sensory Processing Disorders Using the Sensory Profile and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL 1½–5). J Child Fam Stud 21, 906–916 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-011-9550-4

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