Psychometric Investigation of Preliminary Item-Set for the Self-Assessment of Autistic Traits

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Kenworthy, L., daVanport, S., Bascom, J., Ratto, A. B., Anthony, L. G., Khuu, A., Carel, E., Strang, J. F., Verbalis, A., Pugliese, C. E., Shen, J., Pelphrey, K. A., Yang, J. S., & GENDAAR Autism Center of Excellence Network consortium (2026). Psychometric Investigation of Preliminary Item-Set for the Self-Assessment of Autistic Traits. Autism in Adulthood. https://doi.org/10.1177/25739581251366048

Journal or book title
Autism in Adulthood
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Article number
25739581251366048
Publication date: 2 Feb 2026 Added to AutiHub: 4 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) OpenAlex source

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Authors

Publication authors
14
Publication authors identified as autistic
2 / 14 (14.3%)
  1. Lauren Kenworthy
  2. Sharon daVanport *
  3. Julia Bascom *
  4. Allison B. Ratto
  5. Laura G. Anthony
  1. Alexis Khuu
  2. Elodie Carel
  3. John F. Strang
  4. Alyssa Verbalis
  5. Cara E. Pugliese
  1. Jerry Shen
  2. Kevin A. Pelphrey
  3. Ji Seung Yang
  4. GENDAAR Autism Center of Excellence Network consortium

Abstract

Background: This study presents the preliminary psychometrics of the Self-Assessment of Autistic Traits (SAAT) item pool, which is the first comprehensive self-report tool of autism traits for teens and adults coproduced with autistic people. Two autistic researchers led the SAAT item development and leveraged descriptions of autism by autistic people to generate items designed to encompass the internal experience of autism using strength-based accessible language. Methods: Autistic ( N = 500) and non-autistic ( n = 80) people, 16 years or older, completed the SAAT. The sample included community-ascertained autistic adult participants, as well as participants from a large academic medical center-based research network, which broadened the spectrum of participants studied to include more gender-diverse, older, and nonspeaking individuals. Results: Exploratory factor analysis followed by a unidimensional confirmatory factor analysis revealed four factors as follows: Modulation/Social Communication, Strengths/Passions, Brain–Body Disconnect, and Negative Community Context. Three of these factors are sensitive to autism in comparison with non-autistic people across age, gender identity, assigned gender at birth, and gender diversity status. Discussion: The SAAT shows promise as a multidimensional self-report tool that is reliable and valid with respect to the samples that we examined. The SAAT item-set may yield a useful screening tool for people of different gender identities, assigned gender at birth, and gender diversity status, from 16 years old through adulthood, who are questioning whether they may be autistic. In addition, it has potential as a phenotyping tool that captures individual strengths as well as challenges and could provide information that helps guide the creation of opportunities and supports that enable autistic people to thrive. Given the preliminary nature of the current study, a cross-validation study with respect to larger and diverse groups of the sample is the necessary next step to further develop and refine the set of items as a useful tool.

Bibliography cited by this reference

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Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 2 Oct 2026 17:07.

Cited references
63
With a DOI
58
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
5
17 / 63 (27.0%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
2 / 63 (3.2%)
References with detected author names
61 / 63 (96.8%)
Without detected author names
2
Without a structured title
2
Without a stable identifier
4
References with raw author names still to review
2
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
368
From DOI or external metadata
368
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
2
215 / 368 (58.4%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 153 / 368 (41.6%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
35 / 368 (9.5%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 35 / 215 (16.3%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 29 / 317 (9.1%).
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