The Measurement of Adult Pathological Demand Avoidance Traits.
Vincent Egan, Omer Linenberg, Elizabeth O'Nions
PMID 30140985WHAT IT FOUND
The adult self-report scale for PDA traits gave consistent scores and linked to autism features, but it matched more closely with antagonism and emotional instability.
In community adults, higher scores also tracked more self-reported delinquent acts.
Key findings
01The adult self-report EDA-QA had Cronbach's alpha values of 0.94 and 0.92.
02EDA-QA scores aligned more strongly with antagonism, negative affect, psychoticism, and disinhibition than with autism-related factors.
03EDA-QA scores directly predicted self-reported delinquency and were the only significant predictor after personality and ASD traits.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
Participants were recruited online from autism and PDA forums, so they may not represent people referred to health services. Both samples were highly educated and over-represented females, so the findings may not apply to less educated groups or to men. ASD and PDA traits were largely self-reported, and the paper notes that self-reported ASD is not without difficulties. The EDA-QA was tested as a measure, not as a diagnostic tool or as a therapy target. Study 1 used a brief autism measure that focused more on rigid and systematising features than on social features. In Study 2, some autism questionnaire subscales had poorer reliability, so only the total score was used. The samples were not clinical cohorts with higher diagnosed ASD or more co-existing psychopathology. The scale may be difficult to administer to people with very extreme presentations, poor insight, or unwillingness to engage with assessment. Delinquency was self-reported, and in Study 1 all reported convictions were for minor offences.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read higher EDA-QA scores as proof that PDA traits cause offending or that a person has ASD. The study used self-report in online community samples, did not test treatment, and the authors state the measure needs work in more clinical cohorts.