Autism Research and Treatment

Research Article

Factor Structure, Internal Consistency, and Screening Sensitivity of the GARS-2 in a Developmental Disabilities Sample

Table 2

Pattern matrix of factor loadings for GARS-2 three-factor solution.


GARS-2 subscale/item	Factor I	Factor II	Factor III

Stereotyped Behaviors
(1) Avoids eye contact	.08	*.80*	−.03
(2) Stares	*.59*	.27	.07
(3) Flicks fingers	*.79*	.05	−.08
(4) Eat specific foods	.16	*.34*	.22
(5) Licks or eats inedible objects	*.75*	.15	−.23
(6) Smells or sniffs objects	*.63*	.12	.00
(7) Whirls, turns	*.88*	−.14	.06
(8) Spins objects	*.64*	−.04	.08
(9) Rocks back and forth	*.73*	.10	−.12
(10) Lunging Movements	*.82*	−.10	−.03
(11) Prances	*.73*	−.10	.30
(12) Flaps hands or fingers	*.80*	−.04	.00
(13) High-pitched sounds	*.81*	.10	.04
(14) Injures self	*.63*	.11	.09

Communication
(15) Repeats (echoes) words	.43	−.10	*.58*
(16) Repeats words out of context	.14	−.03	*.82*
(17) Repeats over and over	.19	−.01	*.73*
(18) Speaks with flat affect	−.07	*.52*	.39
(19) Responds inappropriately	.31	*.34*	.21
(20) Looks away when name is called	.08	*.77*	.03
(21) Avoids asking	.05	*.70*	−.04
(22) Fails to initiate conversation	.10	*.58*	.14
(23) Uses “yes”/“no” inappropriately	.13	*.31*	.30
(24) Uses pronouns inappropriately	−.13	−.09	*.91*
(25) Uses “I” inappropriately	−.16	.03	*.83*
(26) Repeats unintelligible sounds	*.55*	.22	.07
(27) Uses gestures instead of speech	*.44*	.33	−.17
(28) Inappropriately answers questions	−.10	.12	*.70*

Social Interaction
(29) Avoids eye contact	.15	*.71*	.02
(30) Stares or looks unhappy	.19	*.67*	−.02
(31) Resists physical contact	−.04	*.74*	−.09
(32) Nonimitative of others	.10	*.68*	−.04
(33) Withdrawn, aloof, standoffish	−.01	*.80*	.09
(34) Unreasonably fearful	.05	*.48*	.15
(35) Unaffectionate	−.24	*.82*	.03
(36) Looks through people	.21	*.70*	−.08
(37) Laughs, giggles, cries inappropriately	*.45*	.31	.11
(38) Uses toys/objects inappropriately	*.66*	.11	.09
(39) Does things repetitively	*.55*	.10	.34
(40) Upset when routines change	.24	.19	*.32*
(41) Responds negatively to commands	*.38*	.19	.18
(42) Lines up objects	.30	.07	*.31*

Note. All items are paraphrased to conserve space. Factor loadings ≥.30 are in bold, while the highest factor loading for each item is in italic font.