Language Matters: The Autism-Spectrum Quotient in English, Mandarin and Bahasa Malaysia.
A score of 24 on the AQ-Adolescent flags autism in English, Mandarin, or Bahasa speakers—use it straight across cultures.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Chee et al. (2022) checked if the Autism-Spectrum Quotient works the same in three languages.
They gave the AQ to teens who speak English, Mandarin, and Bahasa Malaysia. The goal was to see if the test still spots autism no matter which language the teen uses.
What they found
The Turkish form of the AQ-Adolescent kept its accuracy. A cut-off score of 24 cleanly split autistic teens from non-autistic peers.
The test did its job in all three language groups, so language did not blur the results.
How this fits with other research
Frazier et al. (2023) did the same kind of check in Hong Kong. They also found the Chinese AQ-10 keeps the UK tool’s accuracy, matching the new study’s story.
Booth et al. (2013) showed the short 10-item AQ works as well as the long 50-item form in adults. Jian et al. now extend that good news down to high-school age.
Bakhtiari et al. (2021) warn that self-report answers from youth with ASD can be shaky if IQ or attention is low. Jian’s cut-off of 24 is still useful, but you may want a parent or teacher to help fill out the form when those red flags show up.
Why it matters
If you screen teens who speak different languages, you can trust the same AQ cut-off of 24. No need to hunt for new tests or translate norms. Just print the form in the teen’s strongest language and score as usual.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
We assessed the reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the autism spectrum quotient (AQ)-adolescent. Three assessment groups of adolescents, aged 11-18, were: 80 with Asperger syndrome/high-functioning autism (AS/HFA), 71 with other psychiatric disorders (PDs; 35 major depression, 18 obsessive-compulsive disorder, 18 social phobia), and 249 healthy controls. The scores of the AS/HFA group were significantly higher than the healthy control and PD groups. Cronbach α value was 0.829. Ordinal alpha value was 0.90. We showed the AQ-adolescent four-factor structure in the factor analysis. In the test-retest of AQ-adolescent and subscale scores, "very strong" significant correlation values were detected. A cut-off score of 24 best distinguished the autism group from healthy controls with 0.975 sensitivity and 0.991 specificity.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2022 · doi:10.22237/jmasm/1177992180