Is the Autism-Spectrum Quotient a Valid Measure of Traits Associated with the Autism Spectrum? A Rasch Validation in Adults with and Without Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Lars-Olov Lundqvist, Helen Lindner
PMID 28425021WHAT IT FOUND
The AQ does not measure one single autism trait, though it separates adults with and without autism on average.
Some items worked poorly, especially detail-focused ones, and only a subset worked as one trait.
Key findings
01The full 50-item AQ did not meet the study's criteria for measuring one underlying autistic trait, and only a 12-item cluster met them.
02An AQ sum score cut-off of 118 classified 85.2% of people correctly, with positive predictive value 0.85 and negative predictive value 0.85.
03Three items scored in the opposite direction to the autism trait measure, five items did not fit the model, and five items behaved differently in the ASD and non-ASD groups.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The ASD and non-ASD groups were not matched for sex and age; the non-ASD students were younger and had a larger proportion of women. The subgroups were too small to draw definite conclusions about sex- or age-related differential item functioning. Some adults with ASD found completing many questions challenging, and the results apply only to adults able to complete the AQ. The non-ASD group completed the questionnaire anonymously, so the researchers could not verify that they had no ASD diagnosis or would not fall within that category. The full AQ did not meet the criteria for measuring one underlying trait, so a total score may not represent a single autism trait. The Attention to detail domain had AUC 0.57, sensitivity 0.48, and specificity 0.66. The non-ASD group was university students, and the paper says Rasch analyses are needed before using the AQ on other populations.
Declared interests
Funded by the Research Committee of Region Örebro County.
The easy way to misread this
Do not use a high AQ total score as a diagnosis or as evidence that one autism trait was measured. The study found the full scale did not measure one underlying trait, and some domains performed much less well than others.