Psychometric exploration of the RAADS-R with autistic adults: Implications for research and clinical practice.
The RAADS-R and RAADS-14 are accurate adult autism screeners regardless of age, gender, or diagnostic status—switching to a yes/no format may boost precision.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Sturm et al. (2024) checked if the RAADS-R and its short form, RAADS-14, work well for autistic adults.
They looked at men and women, different ages, and people with and without other mental-health labels.
The team also tried a yes/no answer sheet instead of the usual four-choice scale.
What they found
Both forms gave clear, accurate scores across all groups.
Switching to yes/no answers kept the good results and may even sharpen them.
How this fits with other research
Papanikolaou et al. (2009) showed the ADI-R and ADOS-G are solid for kids. Alexandra’s work now says the RAADS-R does the same job for adults.
Fusar-Poli et al. (2017) found the ADOS-2 Module 4 and ADI-R can miss some autistic adults. The new data give you a quick paper form that catches them.
Hesselmark et al. (2015) proved autistic adults can fill out self-reports just fine. Alexandra adds another tool you can hand them with confidence.
Why it matters
You now have a fast, adult-friendly screener that works for any gender, age, or IQ. Give the RAADS-14 first; if you need more detail, use the full RAADS-R. Try the yes/no format to save time and still get clean data.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Surveys used to screen for autism are being used much more by adults. Adults and clinicians want to be confident that the results from their surveys are accurate. If scores are not accurate, it is not possible to compare the scores of different groups of individuals. There are also concerns that these surveys do not accurately identify autistic individuals. This study explored the accuracy of two commonly used autism screening surveys for adults: the RAADS-R and the RAADS-14. The accuracy of these two screening tools was measured using a sample of 839 adults. Adults in the study were in one of the following categories: (1) diagnosed with autism, (2) adults who considered themselves to be autistic but had not been diagnosed, (3) adults who were unsure whether they were autistic, and (4) adults who did not consider themselves to be autistic and had not been diagnosed. The study found that the RAADS-R and the RAADS-14 are accurate. The study also found that a person's age, gender, autism diagnosis, or whether an individual considered themselves to be autistic did not impact how they understood the survey. Survey accuracy could be improved by changing the number of question responses from four to two. Importantly, individuals with a clinical diagnosis of autism and those who considered themselves to be autistic responded to survey items in a very similar way. Individuals with autism diagnoses and those who were unsure whether they were autistic were more different in their responses. Four specific survey items related to sensory experiences and social interaction identified key differences between autistic and non-autistic adults.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2024 · doi:10.1177/13623613241228329