The Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire: mothers versus fathers of children with an autism spectrum disorder.

Seidman et al. (2012) asked the mothers and the fathers of kids with autism to fill out the Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire.

Each parent also rated their spouse on the same 36-item form.

The team then compared the two reports to see if moms and dads show different autism-like traits.

Fathers scored higher on the “aloof” scale, meaning they seemed more emotionally distant.

Mothers scored higher on “rigidity,” showing more need for sameness.

Husbands and wives agreed on these patterns whether they rated themselves or each other.

Emerson et al. (2007) built the BAPQ first and showed it catches autism-like traits in parents.

Muller et al. (2022) later used the same tool and found parents with high BAP scores over-rate autism symptoms in their kids.

Whitehouse et al. (2014) also compared mom-dad reports, but on sibling problems instead of BAP traits.

Together the papers show mothers and fathers often see things alike on questionnaires, yet their own trait levels can color later ratings.

When you screen parents for BAP, expect sex-specific profiles: dads trend aloof, moms trend rigid.

Use this baseline to avoid misreading a high dad “aloof” score as denial or a high mom “rigidity” score as over-control.

If you later ask these parents to fill out symptom checklists for the child, remember Muller et al. (2022): high parental BAP can inflate reports, so double-check with teacher data when possible.