Adaptation and validation of parental behavioral scale for children with autism spectrum disorders to Kannada

Background: Assessment of parenting behaviors in parents of children with autism is crucial in the assessment and treatment processes. Efficient tools and instruments with known psychometric properties are needed to assess parenting behaviors in parents of children with autism. Given the lack of such tools in the Indian context, there is a need to develop and/or adapt tools/scale to assess the parenting behaviors in regional languages. Aim of the Study: To adapt, translate and validate the Parental behavioral scale for Autism spectrum disorder (PBS-A) to Kannada. Materials and Methods: The original version of PBS-A was given to three healthcare professionals to examine the sociocultural suitability of items. The linguistic adaptation was performed through a forward-backward translation scheme. It was then administered on 50 parents of children with autism. Further, the psychometric properties of PBS-A Kannada version were examined, viz. acceptability, test-retest reliability and internal consistency. Results: Kannada version of PBS-A showed an excellent test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.993) and an overall high level of internal consistency (α = 0.93). The acceptability was found to be good among the Speech-language pathologists (SLP) ratings (k = 0.485). Conclusions: Kannada version of PBS-A is a valid and reliable scale that can be useful for assessing the parenting behavior.