Brief report: reliability and validity of the shared activities questionnaire as a measure of middle school students' attitudes toward autism.

Richman (2008) tested the Shared Activities Questionnaire (SAQ) with middle-school students. The team ran a confirmatory factor analysis to see if the survey truly measures attitudes toward peers with autism. They also checked reliability and validity numbers to be sure the tool is solid.

The SAQ passed the math test. Factor loadings, internal consistency, and validity indices all looked good. In plain words, the survey stably captures how typical students feel about sharing class, lunch, or sports with kids on the spectrum.

Schanding et al. (2012) also worked in middle schools, but they validated teacher forms of the SCQ and SRS for ASD screening. Their work and Richman (2008) together show that questionnaires can be trusted for different jobs in the same hallways—one spots autism, the other gauges peer attitudes.

Nwokolo et al. (2024) later found the SCQ works in Nigerian adolescents. Their positive results line up with Richman (2008): if you translate or tweak a tool for culture or age, psychometric checks still hold.

Liu et al. (2022) moved younger, validating a Chinese SCQ for ages 2–12. Again, the pattern is the same—good alphas, good factors—giving you confidence that well-tested forms travel across languages and ages.

You now have a free, brief yardstick for peer inclusion. Give the SAQ before and after an awareness unit to see if typical students grow more willing to partner with kids with autism. Pair it with the teacher SCQ from Schanding et al. (2012) to track both attitudes and caseload at once.