Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Department of Psychology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
Autism Res. 2022 Sep;15(9):1710-1718. doi: 10.1002/aur.2763. Epub 2022 Jun 4.
The Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) is a popular instrument used to assess the degree to which individuals exhibit features of autism spectrum conditions (ASC). The current study aimed to develop a theory-driven factor structure of the AQ that would fit as well across samples as the 12 previously proposed factor structures, all of which, except for the original Baron-Cohen model, had been developed on the basis of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) or principal component analysis. We first proposed a six-factor solution: (1) social anhedonia; (2) interest in details/patterns; (3) imagination ability; (4) desire for predictability/routine; (5) social cognition; and (6) social discourse convention. We tested the six-factor structure and made final item selections (27 items) with EFA using data from college students (n = 503). Then, we empirically tested alternative factor structure models in three other independent samples (ns = 503; 1263; 1641) using confirmatory factor analysis. Results indicated that our model fit as well, if not better, than all of the other models across samples, regardless of parameter estimation methods and software packages. Overall, the theory-driven replicable six-factor structure that we report holds the potential to be used to measure the six domains of features that we identified in the AQ. LAY SUMMARY: Questionnaire measures of autism spectrum conditions have typically been used to measure approximately four broad dimensions. Our study suggests that the Autism-Spectrum Quotient can be used to measure six more narrowly defined dimensions: social anhedonia, interest in details/patterns, imagination ability, desire for predictability/routine, social cognition, and social discourse convention. Additional work is needed to develop measures of a much wider variety of autism spectrum features.
孤独症谱系商数（AQ）是一种常用于评估个体表现出自闭症谱系障碍（ASC）特征程度的流行工具。本研究旨在开发一种基于理论的 AQ 因子结构，该结构在样本间的拟合程度与之前提出的 12 种因子结构一样好，除了原始的 Baron-Cohen 模型外，其余所有模型都是基于探索性因子分析（EFA）或主成分分析开发的。我们首先提出了一个六因子解决方案：（1）社交快感缺失；（2）对细节/模式的兴趣；（3）想象力能力；（4）对可预测性/常规的渴望；（5）社会认知；和（6）社会话语规范。我们使用大学生（n=503）的数据进行 EFA 测试了六因子结构并进行了最终项目选择。然后，我们使用验证性因子分析在另外三个独立样本（n=503、1263、1641）中检验了替代因子结构模型。结果表明，无论参数估计方法和软件包如何，我们的模型在所有样本中的拟合程度都与其他模型一样好，如果不是更好的话。总的来说，我们报告的这种基于理论的可复制六因子结构有可能用于测量我们在 AQ 中确定的六个特征领域。
