Assessing Social Identity in Autistic Individuals: Evaluating A Self-Report Questionnaire in the Netherlands.
The 14-item Dutch SIAQ is a valid, invariant tool to measure four facets of autistic social identity and links higher identity satisfaction to better mental health.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Krijnen et al. (2026) built a 14-item Dutch questionnaire that asks autistic adults how they feel about being autistic.
They tested it with a group of Dutch-speaking autistic adults to see if the four parts held steady.
The team also checked whether higher identity satisfaction tied to better mental health scores.
What they found
The Dutch SIAQ stayed solid across gender and age groups.
People who felt better about their autistic identity also reported fewer mental-health problems.
How this fits with other research
The new tool joins a line of Dutch checks: McGeown et al. (2013) already showed the Dutch Mini PAS-ADD works for psychiatric screening in adults with ID.
It also keeps the four-factor habit seen in Taylor et al. (2017) ASK-Q and Dachez et al. (2015) French MAS, but shifts the lens from stigma or attitudes to personal identity.
Block et al. (2026) warn that culture changes how people mark autism traits on self-reports; the SIAQ now gives Dutch clinicians a culture-tuned identity gauge to pair with those trait screens.
Why it matters
You now have a quick, free Dutch tool that measures how clients feel about being autistic. Run it at intake, track changes after peer-group nights or self-advocacy training, and watch the satisfaction score—it predicts mental-health risk without extra paperwork.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
People with autism often face mental health difficulties at rates far exceeding those of the general population. How autistic individuals relate to their autism classification and the autistic community, also known as social identity, may form a protective factor for mental health. However, validated tools to assess social identity in autistic populations are lacking. This study aims to evaluate the Dutch version of the 14-item Social Identity in Autism Questionnaire (SIAQ) and examine associations between social identity and demographic, autism-related, and mental health variables. A total of 1443 autistic individuals from the Netherlands (mean age = 47 years, 54% women, 98% Dutch) completed the SIAQ and measures assessing demographics, autism characteristics, and mental health. Factor analyses revealed a four-factor structure: solidarity (three items, feelings of connection to people with autism), satisfaction (four items, positive feelings about being autistic), centrality (three items, the importance of autism to one's sense of self), and self-definition (four items, perceived similarity to other autistic people and within the autistic community). Internal consistency was acceptable to excellent. Measurement invariance (scalar level) was found across age, gender, education level, ethnicity, and autism traits. Furthermore, the four factors of social identity were differentially related to age, gender, language preference, time since diagnosis, and autism traits. Higher satisfaction and lower centrality were related to better mental health. To conclude, the SIAQ forms a robust tool to assess social identity in autistic individuals in the Netherlands.Lay AbstractPeople with autism experience mental health challenges much more often than people in the general population. Understanding how autistic people relate to their autism and the autistic community - called autistic social identity - may form an important factor for mental health. However, the lack of reliable tools to measure social identity in autistic people led to this study evaluating the Dutch version of the Social Identity in Autism Questionnaire (SIAQ). Associations between social identity and demographics, autism traits, and mental health were studied. Autistic individuals from the Netherlands (n = 1443, average age = 47 years; 54% women; 98% Dutch) completed the SIAQ. The results showed that the questionnaire captures four key aspects of social identity: solidarity (feeling connected to other autistic people), satisfaction (positive feelings about being autistic), centrality (how central autism is to one's identity), and self-definition (seeing oneself as similar to other autistic people and perceiving the autistic community as relatively similar). The questionnaire was reliable as well as suitable to use across diverse groups, including variations in age, gender, education level, ethnicity, and autism traits. Several aspects of social identity were related to gender, age, language preference, time since diagnosis, and autism traits. Importantly, higher satisfaction and lower centrality were associated with better mental health. These findings suggest that in the Netherlands, the SIAQ is a useful tool for understanding how autistic people relate to their autism and the autistic community, and how this relates to wellbeing.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2026 · doi:10.1177/13623613261431269