Reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the camouflaging autistic traits questionnaire.

Minako and her team translated the Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire into Japanese. They gave it to 400 college students and the adults diagnosed with autism.

Each person filled out the 25-item form twice, two weeks apart. The researchers also gave them two other autism-trait forms to check if the new scale lines up with older ones.

The Japanese CAT-Q scores were steady across time and matched the English total score well. The full-scale number was reliable, but the three subscales did not line up perfectly.

People with an autism diagnosis scored higher on the questionnaire than the college group, showing the tool can spot differences.

Kunihira et al. (2006) did the same kind of work eighteen years earlier with the Autism-Spectrum Quotient in Japan. Their AQ subscales also shifted a bit after translation, so the CAT-Q pattern is not a surprise.

Xia et al. (2020) and Congiu et al. (2016) both checked translated autism tools in Asia and Europe. All three studies, including this one, found good total scores even when subscales wobble.

Low et al. (2024) link high autism-trait scores to stress in Malaysian students. If you use the Japanese CAT-Q and see a high score, you may want to screen for stress just like Min’s team did.

You now have a psychometrically sound Japanese tool for measuring camouflaging in adults. Use the total score for decisions; treat subscale scores as rough guides only. If you serve Japanese-speaking clients, add the CAT-Q to your intake packet and pair it with a brief mental-health screener.