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Type of Measure: The Subthreshold Autism Trait Questionnaire (SATQ) is a 24-item self-report questionnaire that asesses a range of subthreshold autism traits in the general population. The measure was developed to study individuals with various degrees of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) phenotypic expression, and reflect five subdomains: social interaction and enjoyment, oddness, reading facial expressions, expressive language, and rigidity.

Target Population: Young adults (target population age range unspecified)

Measurement properties and previous use: The SATQ developers examined the tool’s psychometric properties in a sample of N=1709 participants by assessing its structural validity, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, criterion-related validity, and convergent validity. Structural validity was examined by interpreting item-to-total correlations, and correlations ranged from r = 0.04–0.46. Four items with item-total correlations lower than r = 0.10 were identified and subsequently removed, resulting in a 24-item instrument. Results from an exploratory factor analysis indicated a 5-factor solution, which was labeled as the following: social interaction and enjoyment, oddness, reading facial expressions, expressive language, and rigidity. Chronbach’s alpha for the entire measure was 0.73, suggesting acceptable internal consistency. Test-retest reliability was acceptable, at r = 0.79.

To assess criterion-related validity, the SATQ was given to two subsamples of participants, i.e. those with ASD and those without ASD. ASD participants also completed the Broader Autism Phenotype Questionnaire (BAPQ) and the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ). Results from a MANCOVA analysis indicated that the groups were significantly different from each other on each measure (p < .001 in all cases). The SATQ successfully differentiated between the ASD group and the student group, with the ASD group having a higher mean score.

The SATQ demonstrated convergent validity with other measures that have been used to assess ASD traits (i.e. BAPQ and AQ), correlating strongly with both the AQ and the BAPQ in both the ASD and non-ASD group.

Languages: English

Authors and Citation: Kanne, S. M., Wang, J., & Christ, S. E. (2012). The Subthreshold Autism Trait Questionnaire (SATQ): Development of a brief self-report measure of subthreshold autism traits. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 42(5), 769-780.

Licence: This measure is freely available online, and may be used along with proper citiation.

Link to measure: Request access to the full-text article using www.ReachGate.net here. Items and scoring information is available in text, and can be found on pages 773-775.

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