The Autism-Spectrum Quotient--Italian version: a cross-cultural confirmation of the broader autism phenotype.

Ruta et al. (2012) gave the Italian Autism-Spectrum Quotient to parents of kids with autism. They also gave it to parents of typically developing kids for comparison.

The team wanted to see if the Italian words caught the same broader autism traits the English version catches.

Parents of children with autism scored higher on the Italian AQ than control parents. More of these parents also met the cutoff for the broader autism phenotype.

The pattern matched earlier English studies, so the Italian form works.

Santos et al. (2014) did a similar cross-cultural check. They showed the Portuguese Adaptive Behavior Scale is reliable for people with intellectual disability. Both studies tell us translated tools can keep their punch.

Duvekot et al. (2015) looked at another parent report, the SRS. They found parent and teacher SRS together screen autism well. Liliana et al. add the Italian AQ to your parent-report toolbox.

Cohen (2003) already showed the PDDBI lines up with other autism scales. The Italian AQ now joins that list of parent measures you can trust.

If you work with Italian-speaking families, you can hand them the AQ without worry. High parent scores may explain subtle social patterns you see in the child. Use the data when you write your behavior-plan rationale or when coaching parents about their own social style.