Factor structure of autistic traits in children with ADHD.

The team gave the Social Communication Questionnaire to children who already had an ADHD diagnosis.

They ran a factor analysis to see if the same two autism clusters—social-communication and repetitive-restrictive—show up in this group.

The SCQ still split into the same two factors: one for social-communication gaps and one for rigid, repetitive behaviors.

Some hyperactive-impulsive items loaded on the rigidity factor, so the domains touch but stay separate.

Mandell (1984) did the same math on mothers’ reports of disabled children and also found tidy factors, showing parent data can hold stable structure across decades.

Verbecque et al. (2025) repeated the check on the MABC-2 motor test and saw the assumed three-factor model collapse into four, reminding us to test, not trust, every scale.

Waite et al. (2025) built a brand-new seven-factor parent scale for autistic teens; together these papers prove factor shape depends on the tool and the kids you give it to.

If you screen for autism traits in kids with ADHD, score social and repetitive items separately—don’t lump them. Watch for overlap when hyperactivity looks like rigidity; probe further instead of counting it as one domain.