The Autism Symptom Dimensions Questionnaire: Development and psychometric evaluation of a new, open-source measure of autism symptomatology.

Scientists created a new, free questionnaire called the ASDQ to help identify autism symptoms in children aged 2-17. They tested it on nearly 1,500 children, including 104 with autism. The questionnaire accurately measured autism symptoms and could reliably tell the difference between children with autism and those without. This new tool could be helpful for parents and professionals, though more research is needed.

Researchers developed the Autism Symptom Dimensions Questionnaire (ASDQ), a new, freely available 39-item measure for assessing autism symptoms in children and adolescents aged 2-17 years. The study involved 1,467 participants, including 104 with autism spectrum disorder. The ASDQ demonstrated good reliability and construct validity, identifying a general ASD factor and nine specific symptom factors with measurement invariance across demographic groups. Preliminary analyses showed good accuracy for distinguishing autism from neurotypical development and other developmental disabilities.

The instrument showed reliable measurement across a continuous range of scores and preliminary evidence of predictive validity, offering a promising alternative to existing autism assessment tools.

The ASDQ offers a free, psychometrically sound alternative to existing autism assessment tools. Its good reliability across demographic groups and preliminary screening accuracy suggest potential utility in clinical and research settings, though additional validation studies are needed before widespread implementation.

The study acknowledges that further research comparing clinical diagnoses using criterion-standard instruments is needed. The predictive validity evidence is preliminary, and validation against gold-standard diagnostic tools has not yet been completed.

To describe the development and initial psychometric evaluation of a new, freely available measure, the Autism Symptom Dimensions Questionnaire (ASDQ). After development and revision of an initial 33-item version, informants completed a revised 39-item version of the ASDQ on 1467 children and adolescents (aged 2-17 years), including 104 with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The initial 33-item version of the ASDQ had good reliability and construct validity. However, only four specific symptom factors were identified, potentially due to an insufficient number of items.

Factor analyses of the expanded instrument identified a general ASD factor and nine specific symptom factors with good measurement invariance across demographic groups. Scales showed good-to-excellent overall and conditional reliability. Exploratory analyses of predictive validity for ASD versus neurotypical and other developmental disability diagnoses indicated good accuracy for population and at-risk contexts. The ASDQ is a free and psychometrically sound informant report instrument with good reliability of measurement across a continuous range of scores and preliminary evidence of predictive validity.

The measure may be a useful alternative to existing autism symptom measures but further studies with comparison of clinical diagnoses using criterion-standard instruments are needed. The Autism Symptom Dimensions Questionnaire (ASDQ) is a new, freely available measure of autism symptoms. The ASDQ showed reliable and accurate measurement of autism symptoms. The measure had good screening efficiency for autism spectrum disorder relative to other developmental conditions.