Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Mar;49(3):819-833.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-018-3792-6.

Development and Validation of the Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q)

Laura Hull  1   2 , William Mandy  3 , Meng-Chuan Lai  4   5   6 , Simon Baron-Cohen  5 , Carrie Allison  5 , Paula Smith  5 , K V Petrides  7
Affiliations

Development and Validation of the Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q)

Laura Hull et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2019 Mar.

Abstract

There currently exist no self-report measures of social camouflaging behaviours (strategies used to compensate for or mask autistic characteristics during social interactions). The Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q) was developed from autistic adults' experiences of camouflaging, and was administered online to 354 autistic and 478 non-autistic adults. Exploratory factor analysis suggested three factors, comprising of 25 items in total. Good model fit was demonstrated through confirmatory factor analysis, with measurement invariance analyses demonstrating equivalent factor structures across gender and diagnostic group. Internal consistency (α = 0.94) and preliminary test-retest reliability (r = 0.77) were acceptable. Convergent validity was demonstrated through comparison with measures of autistic traits, wellbeing, anxiety, and depression. The present study provides robust psychometric support for the CAT-Q.

Keywords: Autism; Camouflaging; Compensation; Coping Strategies; Masking.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Social Camouflaging model
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. American Psychiatric Association . DSM 5. Washington: American Psychiatric Association; 2013.
    1. Baker SL, Heinrichs N, Kim H, Hofmann SG. The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale as a self-report instrument: A preliminary psychometric analysis. Behaviour Research and Therapy. 2002;40:701–715. - PubMed
    1. Bargiela S, Steward R, Mandy W. The experiences of late-diagnosed women with autism spectrum conditions: An investigation of the female autism phenotype. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 2016;46(10):3281–3294. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Begeer S, Mandell D, Wijnker-Holmes B, Venderbosch S, Rem D, Stekelenburg F, Koot HM. Sex differences in the timing of identification among children and adults with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 2013;43:1151–1156. - PubMed
    1. Cage E, Di Monaco J, Newell V. Experiences of autism acceptance and mental health in autistic adults. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 2017;48:473–484. - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms