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Health-Related Quality of Life and Cognitive Functioning from the Perspective of Parents of School-Aged Children with Asperger’s Syndrome Utilizing the PedsQL™

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Abstract

HRQOL as a multidimensional construct has not been previously investigated in children with Asperger’s Syndrome. The objective of the present study was to examine the initial feasibility, reliability, and validity of the PedsQL™ 4.0 Generic Core Scales and PedsQL™ Cognitive Functioning Scale parent proxy-report versions in school-aged children with Asperger’s Syndrome. The PedsQL™ evidenced no missing responses (0.0%), achieved excellent reliability for the Generic Core Total Scale score (α = 0.82) and Cognitive Functioning Scale (α = 0.92), distinguished between children with Asperger’s Syndrome and a matched sample of healthy children, and was related to similar constructs on the Asperger Syndrome Diagnostic Scale. The results demonstrate the initial measurement properties of the PedsQL™ in school-aged children with Asperger’s Syndrome.

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Correspondence to James W. Varni.

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Dr. Varni holds the copyright and the trademark for the PedsQL™ and receives financial compensation from the Mapi Research Trust, which is a nonprofit research institute that charges distribution fees to for-profit companies that use the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™.

The PedsQL™ is available at http://www.pedsql.org.

Appendices

Appendix 1

See Table 4.

Table 4 PedsQL™ 4.0 Generic Core Scales Parent Proxy-Report Item Content

Appendix 2

See Table 5.

Table 5 PedsQL™ Cognitive Functioning Scale Parent Proxy-Report Item Content

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Limbers, C.A., Heffer, R.W. & Varni, J.W. Health-Related Quality of Life and Cognitive Functioning from the Perspective of Parents of School-Aged Children with Asperger’s Syndrome Utilizing the PedsQL™. J Autism Dev Disord 39, 1529–1541 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-009-0777-5

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