The validity and reliability study of the autism spectrum quotient-adolescent version Turkish form

Objective: The Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) Adolescent is a parent-report screening instrument for measuring the degree to which an individual of normal intelligence shows autistic traits. The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of the Turkish version of the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) in adolescents with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism (AS/HFA) compared to healthy controls and adolescents with psychiatric disorders (PDs). Method: 400 adolescents aged between 11 and 18 enrolled to the study. A total of 151 adolescents, including 80 HFA and 71 PD patients (35 major depressive disorder, 18 obsessive compulsive disorder, 18 social fobia) whom were admitted to our clinic, consisted the study group. 249 healthy subjects selected as control group. OSA-Adolescent was re-administered to the parents of 40 adolescents from the AS / YIO group and the test-retest was evaluated. Factor analysis was used to test the construct validity of the scale. Correlations between the subscales of OSA and adolescent scale were evaluated. The criterion validity were evaluated by comparing with Turkish version of the Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ-TR). Cut-off score was determined by ROC analysis Results: OSA-adolescent Cronbach α value was found to be 0,829. In the test-retest results of OSA-Ergen scores and subscale scores, a very strong correlation was found. In the factor analysis of construct validity; a construct with four components which define 30.31% of the total variants. AQ-adolescent has a strong correlation with ASSQ-TR. The most appropriate sensitivity (0.975) and specificity (0.991) values were determined for 24 points. In our study, OSA-adolescent total score and all subscale scores were significantly higher in males than females. Conclusion: In this study, the validity and reliability characteristics of AQ-Adolescent were evaluated and the findings of the AQ-Adolescent Turkish version were found to be a valid and reliable tool in adolescents. Keywords: Autism Spectrum Questionnaire-Adolescent version, validity and reliability, asperger syndrome, high-function autism, broad autism phenotype.