Background: The Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) is widely used to quantify autistic traits, which have been evaluated in the parents of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and in the general population. This paper's objective was to investigate the AQ's psychometric properties of the Chinese version for mainland China and to establish whether the pattern of sex differences in the quantity of autistic traits exists. We also examined the usefulness of the AQ in differentiating between individuals with ASD, schizophrenia (SCH), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and healthy controls (HC).
Methods: In this study, the psychometric properties of the AQ were assessed in 1037 parents of children with ASD and in 1040 parents of typically developing children (TDC). Additionally, 32 participants with ASD, 37 patients with SCH, 38 OCD patients and 38 healthy controls (matched for age, gender and IQ) were assessed with the AQ.
Results: The internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the AQ and AQ subscales were within an acceptable range. Parents of ASD children scored higher than TDC parents on total AQ and AQ subscales, and TDC parents scored more than parents of ASD children on 2 items of 50. Fathers scored higher than did mothers on total AQ and four subscales, with the sole exception being the subscale attention to detail. The total AQ score of the ASD group was higher than that of the SCH, OCD and HC groups, and the total AQ score of the HC group was significantly lower than that of the SCH and OCD groups, with no differences being observed between the SCH and OCD groups.
Conclusions: The Mandarin AQ demonstrated promising psychometric properties and was a reliable instrument for quantifying autistic traits in both clinical and non-clinical samples in mainland China.
Keywords: Autism spectrum disorders; Autism-spectrum quotient; Broader autism phenotype; Obsessive-compulsive disorder; Psychometric properties; Schizophrenia.