Autism Spectrum Quotient (Adolescent) and Autism Spectrum Quotient (Child)

Author of Tool: 

Baron-Cohen, S., Hoekstra, R. A. Knickmeyer, R. and Wheelwright, S. (2006); Auyeung, B. Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S. and Allison, C. (2008)

Key references: 

Baron-Cohen, S., Hoekstra, R. A. Knickmeyer, R. and Wheelwright, S. (2006). The Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) — Adolescent Version. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 36:343-350
Auyeung, B. Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S. and Allison, C. (2008). The Autism Spectrum Quotient: Children’s Version (AQ-Child). Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

Primary use / Purpose: 

The AQ is designed to measure the degree to which an individual possesses symptoms typical of the autistic spectrum. The adolescent version is for ages 12-15 while the child version is for ages 4-11. Both instruments have 50 likert-type items with responses ranging from “definitely agree” to “definitely disagree”.

Background: 

The Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) was developed due to a need for brief self-administered instruments to determine an individual’s position on the autism-normality continuum. The adolescent and child versions allow parents or therapists to complete this instrument on their behalf to determine the presence or absence of traits typical of autism.

Psychometrics: 

Psychometrics for the adolescent version are discussed in Baron-Cohen, S., Hoekstra, R. A. Knickmeyer, R. and Wheelwright, S. (2006), and for the child version in Auyeung, B. Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S. and Allison, C. (2008). Both have shown favourable outcomes on measures of reliability and validity.

Keywords: 

• Anxiety
• Family

Web link to tool: 

AQ (adolescent) and AQ (child)

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): 

https://dx.doi.org/10.13072/midss.175