Development and Psychometric Validation of the Questionnaire for Social Communication in Young Autistic Learners (Q-SoCiAL)-Verbal Version.
Katherine M Walton, Alayna Borowy, Jolynn Pek and 2 others
PMID 42479077WHAT IT FOUND
A new 46-item parent questionnaire for autistic children ages 2–6 (using more than 10 words) showed strong reliability and reasonable validity.
It is not yet proven to detect treatment change, so do not use it as a sole outcome measure in intervention studies.
Key findings
01The 46-item measure showed excellent internal consistency (α = 0.98) and high test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.96) over a 12-day interval.
02The one-factor solution showed acceptable model fit (RMSEA = 0.079, CFI = 0.948), supporting a simple sum score for clinical use.
03After controlling for age, non-autistic children scored significantly higher than autistic children (p < .001), with the gap smallest in the highest language group where non-autistic scores approached ceiling.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Sensitivity to change has not been tested in any longitudinal or treatment study, so it cannot yet be confirmed as an intervention outcome measure. Convergent and divergent validity evidence rests on only 19 children, which is too small to draw firm conclusions about what the measure overlaps with or distinguishes from other tools. The sample is limited to children using more than 10 spontaneous words; preverbal children (about 23% of those recruited) were excluded, and a separate version for them is still in development. The online sample was predominantly white (73% of parents, 80% of non-autistic caregivers) and non-Hispanic, and measurement invariance across racial, ethnic, and language subgroups has not been tested. The 46 items cover 21 facets but only 1–2 items per facet, so the measure would need to be paired with curricular or more detailed tools for full treatment planning.
The easy way to misread this
Do not adopt the Q-SoCiAL as a primary outcome measure in your next intervention study. The authors state that its ability to capture change over time has not been tested directly, and the convergent validity evidence rests on only 19 children. It is a promising new tool, but it has not yet been shown to move when a child's skills move.