Assessing Restricted and Repetitive Behaviours in Online-Sampled Autistic and Non-autistic Individuals: Factor Structure of the Repetitive Behaviours Questionnaire for Adults (RBQ-2A).

The university sample was recruited from an undergraduate psychology course and had a mean age of 19.44 years, so it may not represent autistic adults or older clinical populations. The autistic sample was recruited online, reported a diagnosis without independent verification, and was not matched to the university sample. The authors caution against generalising to autistic individuals less likely to be recruited online, such as those with intellectual disability or profound autism. The communication factor of the AQ had poor internal consistency, so social or communication comparisons in the university sample should be interpreted cautiously. Item 9 did not meaningfully load, and item 1 was removed, so the original 20-item scoring may not be appropriate.

The paper names the University of Western Australia as funder. The supplied text does not include an author conflict-of-interest declaration.

Do not assume the RBQ-2A is validated for every autistic adult. The study used online self-report samples, did not independently verify autism diagnoses, and the authors caution against generalising to people with intellectual disability or profound autism.