Validation of the Italian version of the Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q) in a University population

Liliana Dell'Osso; Ivan Mirko Cremone; Dario Muti; Gabriele Massimetti; Primo Lorenzi; Claudia Carmassi; Barbara Carpita

doi:10.1016/j.comppsych.2022.152295

Validation of the Italian version of the Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q) in a University population

Compr Psychiatry. 2022 Jan 7:114:152295. doi: 10.1016/j.comppsych.2022.152295. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Liliana Dell'Osso¹, Ivan Mirko Cremone¹, Dario Muti¹, Gabriele Massimetti¹, Primo Lorenzi¹, Claudia Carmassi¹, Barbara Carpita²

Affiliations

¹ Department of clinical and experimental medicine, University of Pisa, Italy.
² Department of clinical and experimental medicine, University of Pisa, Italy. Electronic address: barbara.carpita1986@gmail.com.

PMID: 35042086
DOI: 10.1016/j.comppsych.2022.152295

Abstract

The Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q) is an instrument recently developed and validated in English for measuring social camouflaging. While increasing research is focusing on camouflaging behaviours often used for masking autistic traits in social contexts, the CAT-Q remains the only self-report instrument in this field. We aimed to validate the Italian version of the CAT-Q, further testing its validity and reliability in a large Italian University population (N = 2439). We employed the Adult Autism Subthreshold Spectrum (AdAS Spectrum) for assessing autism spectrum conditions. The CAT-Q demonstrated excellent internal consistency and test-retest reliability, as well as strong correlations with the AdAS Spectrum. Our results confirm that the CAT-Q is a valuable instrument for evaluating social camouflaging.

Keywords: Autistic traits; CAT-Q; Camouflaging; Gender difference; Psychometric instrument; Validation.