Development and Validation of a Novel Self-Report Measure of Monotropism in Autistic and Non-Autistic People: The Monotropism Questionnaire

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Garau, V., Murray, A. L., Woods, R., Chown, N., Hallett, S., Murray, F., Wood, R., & Fletcher‐Watson, S. (2023). Development and Validation of a Novel Self-Report Measure of Monotropism in Autistic and Non-Autistic People: The Monotropism Questionnaire [Preprint]. Center for Open Science. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/ft73y

Publication date: 14 Jun 2023 Added to AutiHub: 5 Jul 2026 Type: Preprint Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
8
Publication authors identified as autistic
4 / 8 (50.0%)
  1. Valeria Garau
  2. Aja Louise Murray
  3. Richard Woods *
  4. Nicholas Chown *
  1. Sonny Hallett *
  2. Fergus Murray *
  3. Rebecca Wood
  4. Sue Fletcher‐Watson

Abstract

Monotropism seeks to explain autism in terms of attention distribution and interests. Despite having strong subjective validity to autistic people, and potential to explain the overlap between autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), it has been little investigated formally. This is in large part due to lack of reliable and valid measures to capture the construct. In this study, we aimed to develop and validate a novel self-report measure, the Monotropism Questionnaire (MQ), in autistic and non-autistic people. The MQ consists of 47 items, which were generated by a group of autistic adults based on their lived experience and academic expertise. A sample of 1,110 participants (756 autistic, 354 non-autistic) completed the MQ online, as well as two established, short measures of autism, the Ritvo Autism Asperger Diagnostic Scale-14 (RAADS-14) and the Autism Quotient-10 (AQ-10). Exploratory factor analyses suggested an 8-dimensional structure was optimal and the subscale scores showed high internal consistency reliability. The measure had very good convergent validity with the RAADS-14 and AQ-10 (all rs >.61). Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism status were both significantly associated with higher mean monotropism scores. Overall, the MQ had good psychometric properties. Future research should be undertaken to test this finding, particularly across demographic and diagnostic groups, and apply the MQ to predictions of Monotropism theory.

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Cited references
36
Total cited references integrated for this publication.
Cited references with an identified autistic author
11 / 36 (30.6%)
Cited author occurrences identified as autistic
16 / 114 (14.0%)
Among occurrences linked to AutiHub author records: 16 / 50 (32.0%). Distinct cited authors identified as autistic: 11 / 107 (10.3%).
Cited author occurrences linked to AutiHub author records
50 / 114 (43.9%)
Distinct linked cited authors: 43 / 107 (40.2%)
Linked cited-author occurrences not identified as autistic
34 / 50 (68.0%)
Among linked cited-author occurrences only. Across all cited-author occurrences: 34 / 114 (29.8%). Distinct linked cited authors not identified as autistic: 32 / 43 (74.4%).
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