Are Autistic Traits Measured Equivalently in Individuals With and Without An Autism Spectrum Disorder? An Invariance Analysis of the Autism Spectrum Quotient Short Form
Are Autistic Traits Measured Equivalently in Individuals With and Without An Autism Spectrum Disorder? An Invariance Analysis of the Autism Spectrum Quotient Short Form
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DOI：
10.1007/s10803-013-1851-6
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发表时间：
2014-01-01
影响因子：
3.9
通讯作者：
O'Donnell, Michael
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Murray, Aja L.;Booth, Tom;O'Donnell, Michael
对没有自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的人进行自闭症特征的测量是常见的，例如，目的是了解非自闭症个体中的自闭症人格特征。很少有研究调查自闭症特征的测量在多大程度上实际上以相同的方式测量了患有和没有ASD的人的相同特征。我们使用自闭症商简表的多组验证性因素不变性分析（AQ-S：Hoekstra et al. in J Autism Dev Disord 41（5）：589-596，2011）在患有（n = 148）和没有（n = 168）ASD的人群中解决了这个问题。度量方差（因子载荷相等），但不是标量不变性（阈值相等），表明AQ-S测量两组中相同的潜在性状，但在估计性状水平的方式上存在偏差。因此，我们认为AQ-S可以用来分别调查两组自闭症特征的可能原因和后果，但在结合或比较两组自闭症特征的水平时应谨慎。
It is common to administer measures of autistic traits to those without autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) with, for example, the aim of understanding autistic personality characteristics in non-autistic individuals. Little research has examined the extent to which measures of autistic traits actually measure the same traits in the same way across those with and without an ASD. We addressed this question using a multi-group confirmatory factor invariance analysis of the Autism Quotient Short Form (AQ-S: Hoekstra et al. in J Autism Dev Disord 41(5):589-596, 2011) across those with (n = 148) and without (n = 168) ASD. Metric variance (equality of factor loadings), but not scalar invariance (equality of thresholds), held suggesting that the AQ-S measures the same latent traits in both groups, but with a bias in the manner in which trait levels are estimated. We, therefore, argue that the AQ-S can be used to investigate possible causes and consequences of autistic traits in both groups separately, but caution is due when combining or comparing levels of autistic traits across the two groups.