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Gender bias in autism screening: measurement invariance of different model frameworks of the Autism Spectrum Quotient

BACKGROUND: The Autism Spectrum Quotient is a popular autism screening tool recommended for identifying potential cases of autism. However, many women with autism demonstrate a different presentation of traits to those currently captured by screening measures and assessment methods, such as the Auti...

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Autores principales: Belcher, Hannah L., Uglik-Marucha, Nora, Vitoratou, Silia, Ford, Ruth M., Morein-Zamir, Sharon
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Cambridge University Press 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10594186/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37781848
http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2023.562
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author Belcher, Hannah L.
Uglik-Marucha, Nora
Vitoratou, Silia
Ford, Ruth M.
Morein-Zamir, Sharon
author_facet Belcher, Hannah L.
Uglik-Marucha, Nora
Vitoratou, Silia
Ford, Ruth M.
Morein-Zamir, Sharon
author_sort Belcher, Hannah L.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: The Autism Spectrum Quotient is a popular autism screening tool recommended for identifying potential cases of autism. However, many women with autism demonstrate a different presentation of traits to those currently captured by screening measures and assessment methods, such as the Autism Spectrum Quotient. AIMS: Different models of the Autism Spectrum Quotient have been proposed in the literature, utilising different items from the original 50-item scale. Within good-fitting models, the current study aimed to explore whether these items assess autistic traits similarly across men and women. METHOD: Seventeen Autism Spectrum Quotient models were identified from the literature. Using the responses of a large sample of adults from the UK general population (5246 women, 1830 men), confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate the fit of each model. Measurement invariance with respect to gender, adjusting for age, was explored in the 11 model frameworks that were found to have satisfactory fit to our data. RESULTS: It emerged that only two items were gender invariant (non-biased), whereas for the remaining items, the probability of endorsement was influenced by gender. In particular, women had a higher probability of endorsing items relating to social skills and communication. CONCLUSIONS: If the items of the Autism Spectrum Quotient indeed reflect autism-related traits, those items should be rephrased to ensure they do not present a gender-related bias. This is vital for ensuring more timely diagnoses and support for all people with autism.
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spelling pubmed-105941862023-10-25 Gender bias in autism screening: measurement invariance of different model frameworks of the Autism Spectrum Quotient Belcher, Hannah L. Uglik-Marucha, Nora Vitoratou, Silia Ford, Ruth M. Morein-Zamir, Sharon BJPsych Open Paper BACKGROUND: The Autism Spectrum Quotient is a popular autism screening tool recommended for identifying potential cases of autism. However, many women with autism demonstrate a different presentation of traits to those currently captured by screening measures and assessment methods, such as the Autism Spectrum Quotient. AIMS: Different models of the Autism Spectrum Quotient have been proposed in the literature, utilising different items from the original 50-item scale. Within good-fitting models, the current study aimed to explore whether these items assess autistic traits similarly across men and women. METHOD: Seventeen Autism Spectrum Quotient models were identified from the literature. Using the responses of a large sample of adults from the UK general population (5246 women, 1830 men), confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate the fit of each model. Measurement invariance with respect to gender, adjusting for age, was explored in the 11 model frameworks that were found to have satisfactory fit to our data. RESULTS: It emerged that only two items were gender invariant (non-biased), whereas for the remaining items, the probability of endorsement was influenced by gender. In particular, women had a higher probability of endorsing items relating to social skills and communication. CONCLUSIONS: If the items of the Autism Spectrum Quotient indeed reflect autism-related traits, those items should be rephrased to ensure they do not present a gender-related bias. This is vital for ensuring more timely diagnoses and support for all people with autism. Cambridge University Press 2023-10-02 /pmc/articles/PMC10594186/ /pubmed/37781848 http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2023.562 Text en © The Author(s) 2023 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
spellingShingle Paper
Belcher, Hannah L.
Uglik-Marucha, Nora
Vitoratou, Silia
Ford, Ruth M.
Morein-Zamir, Sharon
Gender bias in autism screening: measurement invariance of different model frameworks of the Autism Spectrum Quotient
title Gender bias in autism screening: measurement invariance of different model frameworks of the Autism Spectrum Quotient
title_full Gender bias in autism screening: measurement invariance of different model frameworks of the Autism Spectrum Quotient
title_fullStr Gender bias in autism screening: measurement invariance of different model frameworks of the Autism Spectrum Quotient
title_full_unstemmed Gender bias in autism screening: measurement invariance of different model frameworks of the Autism Spectrum Quotient
title_short Gender bias in autism screening: measurement invariance of different model frameworks of the Autism Spectrum Quotient
title_sort gender bias in autism screening: measurement invariance of different model frameworks of the autism spectrum quotient
topic Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10594186/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37781848
http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2023.562
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