Testing a theory-driven factor structure of the autism-spectrum quotient

Area of Science:

• Psychometrics
• Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Background:

• The Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) is widely used to assess autism spectrum conditions (ASC).
• Previous factor structures of the AQ have shown varying degrees of cross-sample applicability.
• Existing models often rely on exploratory factor analysis, necessitating a theory-driven approach.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a theory-driven, six-factor structure for the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ).
• To ensure the proposed factor structure demonstrates robust fit across multiple independent samples.
• To provide a more nuanced measurement of autism spectrum features.

Main Methods:

• Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to propose an initial six-factor structure with 27 items.
• Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was employed to test the proposed model in three independent samples.
• The study utilized data from college students (N=503) for EFA and three additional samples (N=503, 1641, 1263) for CFA.

Main Results:

• The proposed six-factor structure demonstrated excellent fit across all independent samples.
• The model's performance was comparable to or better than previously proposed AQ factor structures.
• The identified factors include social anhedonia, interest in details/patterns, imagination ability, desire for predictability/routine, social cognition, and social discourse convention.

Conclusions:

• The developed six-factor structure of the AQ is theory-driven, replicable, and offers a more precise measurement of autism spectrum features.
• This validated structure has the potential to improve the assessment of specific domains within ASC.
• Further research is recommended to expand the measurement of a broader range of autism spectrum characteristics.