Autistic Burnout Severity Items – French Translation (ABSI-Fr)

Authors

Abstract

Autistic burnout is increasingly recognized in the literature as a state of profound physical and mental exhaustion, distinct from occupational burnout and depression, experienced by autistic adults. The Autistic Burnout Severity Items (ABSI), developed by Arnold et al. (2023), is among the few tools designed to capture the severity and multidimensional nature of this experience. Here we present the ABSI-Fr, a French-language translation and cultural adaptation of the ABSI. The translation followed a structured process: an initial French translation was produced and reviewed by an independent translator, then examined for clarity and acceptability by two successive panels of autistic adults (n = 12 and n = 8), whose feedback informed revisions to wording and phrasing. The finalized version was back-translated into English and compared to the original by an independent translator to verify conceptual equivalence. The ABSI-Fr comprises 26 items distributed across six dimensions (emotional and somatic distress, social withdrawal and communication, cognitive dysfunction and slowing, general exhaustion, autistic self-awareness and self-regulation, and memory disruption), plus three additional items assessing meltdown-related behaviours, reported separately and excluded from the total score. Items are rated on a 7-point Likert scale, with a "not applicable" option for items that do not apply to the respondent's situation. This preprint provides the instrument, administration instructions, and scoring guidelines to make the ABSI-Fr available to French-speaking researchers and clinicians. A separate psychometric validation study, examining the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the ABSI-Fr, is currently underway and will be reported elsewhere.

No cited bibliography is currently integrated for this reference. This does not necessarily mean that no bibliography exists.