Russian Adaptation of the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) for Measuring Autistic Traits in Adults: Psychometric Properties and Factor Structure

The lack of effective psychometric instruments available for both health-care professionals and re-searchers seems to be one of the issues complicating the already unsatisfactory situation with clinical diagnostics of autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) in Russia. This article is devoted to the Russian adaptation (namely, assessment of the psychometric properties and evaluation of the factor structure) of the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ), a brief, self-administered instrument measuring autistic traits in adults with normal intelligence. Participants of the current study included adults with high probability of having ASD (N = 105) and neurotypical adults (N = 630). Internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the total AQ score were good, but in case of the AQ subscales they varied from good to questionable. Criterion and construct validity were high. The results of the factor analysis do not support the correlated 5-factor structure suggested by the developers of the AQ, and thus the further research is needed.