Psychometric properties of the Autism- Spectrum Quotient in both clinical and non-clinical samples: Chinese version for mainland China

Background The Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) is widely used to quantify autistic traits, which have been evaluated in the parents of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and in the general population. This paper’s objective was to investigate the AQ's psychometric properties of the Chinese version for mainland China and to establish whether the pattern of sex differences in the quantity of autistic traits exists. We also examined the usefulness of the AQ in differentiating between individuals with ASD, schizophrenia (SCH), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and healthy controls (HC).