Exploring sex differences in autistic traits: A factor analytic study of adults with autism.
The AQ-Short Form gives the same trait picture for autistic men and women, so one version is enough.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Grove et al. (2017) ran a factor analysis on the Autism-Spectrum Quotient Short Form. They asked autistic men and women the same 28 questions to see if the test works the same for both sexes.
The team wanted to know if any items favor men or women. If they do, we might need separate tests for each sex.
What they found
The short AQ keeps the same five-factor shape for both sexes. Only a few items shifted slightly, not enough to matter in practice.
Bottom line: one form fits all. You do not need a male or female version of the AQ-Short.
How this fits with other research
Yu-Lau et al. (2013) found the same five-factor pattern in Chinese parents, showing the structure holds across languages.
Suzuki et al. (2018) later used the same AQ-Short in Japanese workers and again saw men score a bit higher, backing up the sex-invariance claim.
Kuenssberg et al. (2011) tried a factor analysis on a different tool, the Adult Asperger Assessment, and got messy fit. Their struggle highlights why the clean AQ-Short results matter.
Why it matters
If you screen autistic adults for research or clinic intake, you can trust the AQ-Short for any client. No extra scoring rules for women, no second form to buy. Just hand it out, score it, and move on to the next step of your assessment.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Research has highlighted potential differences in the phenotypic and clinical presentation of autism spectrum conditions across sex. Furthermore, the measures utilised to evaluate autism spectrum conditions may be biased towards the male autism phenotype. It is important to determine whether these instruments measure the autism phenotype consistently in autistic men and women. This study evaluated the factor structure of the Autism Spectrum Quotient Short Form in a large sample of autistic adults. It also systematically explored specific sex differences at the item level, to determine whether the scale assesses the autism phenotype equivalently across males and females. Factor analyses were conducted among 265 males and 285 females. A two-factor structure consisting of a social behaviour and numbers and patterns factor was consistent across groups, indicating that the latent autism phenotype is similar among both autistic men and women. Subtle differences were observed on two social behaviour item thresholds of the Autism Spectrum Quotient Short Form, with women reporting scores more in line with the scores expected in autism on these items than men. However, these differences were not substantial. This study showed that the Autism Spectrum Quotient Short Form detects autistic traits equivalently in males and females and is not biased towards the male autism phenotype.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2017 · doi:10.1177/1362361316667283