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. 2025 Jul;30(3):783-799.
doi: 10.1177/13591045251344408. Epub 2025 May 21.

An evaluation of the psychometric properties of the social communication questionnaire in young people with obsessive-compulsive disorder

Ilke Ozcan  1 , Pablo Vidal-Ribas  2 , Ellie Roberts  3 , Amita Jassi  4 , Nicole Clancy  4 , Chiara Causier  5 , Victoria Hallett  4 , Georgina Krebs  1   4   5
Affiliations

An evaluation of the psychometric properties of the social communication questionnaire in young people with obsessive-compulsive disorder

Ilke Ozcan et al. Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2025 Jul.

Abstract

BackgroundObsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often co-occur and have overlapping symptom profiles. Detection and diagnosis of ASD in youth with OCD can therefore be challenging but is crucial to inform care planning.AimThe current study aimed to provide a psychometric evaluation of the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ), a widely used parent-report measure for assessing ASD traits, in youth with OCD.MethodIn total, 484 young people with an ICD-10 diagnosis of OCD completed a battery of measures as part of a specialist clinical assessment.ResultsExploratory factor analyses (EFA) suggested a multidimensional factor solution for the SCQ, although an adequate factor solution was not identified due to cross-loading and/or weak loading items. The SCQ had good internal consistency (KR20 = 0.85), and good convergent validity with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) Prosocial Behaviour subscale (r = -0.52) and Peer Problems subscale (r = 0.48). The SCQ differentiated those with versus without a clinical diagnosis of ASD with reasonable accuracy (area under the curve = .76).DiscussionThe current findings support the use of the SCQ as a measure of ASD traits in youth with OCD, suggesting that this quick and easy-to-administer measure could aid detection of ASD in this population.

Keywords: Obsessive-compulsive disorder; adolescents; autism spectrum disorder; psychometric evaluation; reliability; validity.

Plain language summary

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often occur together and have some similar symptoms. Because of this, identifying ASD in young people with OCD can be difficult but is important for planning their care. This study looked at how well the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ), a parent-completed questionnaire commonly used to identify ASD traits, works for young people with OCD. The study involved 484 young people who had been diagnosed with OCD. Their parents completed different questionnaires as part of a specialist clinical assessment. Scores on the SCQ were related to other measures of social behaviour, and less strongly related to measures of other difficulties, meaning that the SCQ seems to measure what it is supposed to. The SCQ was able to distinguish between those with and without an ASD diagnosis with a reasonable level of accuracy. The findings suggest that the SCQ is a useful tool for detecting ASD traits in young people with OCD. Since it is quick and easy to use, it could help professionals identify ASD in this group more effectively.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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