Development of an Autism Subtyping Questionnaire Based on Social Behaviors.

Area of Science:

• Child Psychology
• Neurodevelopmental Disorders
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by social interaction deficits.
• The Wing Subgroups Questionnaire (WSQ) categorizes ASD into aloof, passive, and active-but-odd subtypes.
• Existing instruments like the WSQ may have limitations in item-total score correlations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To translate and modify the WSQ into Chinese.
• To validate the modified questionnaire in Chinese children with and without ASD.
• To establish the Beijing Autism Subtyping Questionnaire (BASQ) for precise ASD subtype differentiation.

Main Methods:

• Translation and cultural adaptation of the WSQ.
• Psychometric validation in a cohort of Chinese autistic and typically-developing children.
• Reliability and validity analyses of the new questionnaire.

Main Results:

• The Beijing Autism Subtyping Questionnaire (BASQ) demonstrated improved validity and reliability.
• The BASQ precisely differentiated autistic children into aloof, passive, and active-but-odd subtypes.
• Autistic symptom severity correlated with subtypes: severe in aloof, moderate in passive, mild in active-but-odd.

Conclusions:

• The BASQ is a reliable and valid instrument for ASD subtyping in Chinese children.
• The refined questionnaire offers precise differentiation of ASD social behavior subtypes.
• The BASQ can aid etiological research and guide therapeutic interventions for ASD.