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Measuring autistic traits in the general population: a systematic review of the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) in a nonclinical population sample of 6,900 typical adult males and females

Overview of attention for article published in Molecular Autism, January 2015
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (96th percentile)
  • Above-average Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (54th percentile)

Mentioned by

news
1 news outlet
blogs
3 blogs
twitter
25 X users
facebook
1 Facebook page
wikipedia
1 Wikipedia page

Citations

dimensions_citation
421 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
618 Mendeley
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Title
Measuring autistic traits in the general population: a systematic review of the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) in a nonclinical population sample of 6,900 typical adult males and females
Published in
Molecular Autism, January 2015
DOI 10.1186/2040-2392-6-2
Pubmed ID
Authors

Emily Ruzich, Carrie Allison, Paula Smith, Peter Watson, Bonnie Auyeung, Howard Ring, Simon Baron-Cohen

Abstract

The Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) is a self-report measure of autistic traits. It is frequently cited in diverse fields and has been administered to adults of at least average intelligence with autism and to nonclinical controls, as well as to clinical control groups such as those with schizophrenia, prosopagnosia, anorexia, and depression. However, there has been no empirical systematic review of the AQ since its inception in 2001. The present study reports a comprehensive systematic review of the literature to estimate a reliable mean AQ score in individuals without a diagnosis of an autism spectrum condition (ASC), in order to establish a reference norm for future studies. A systematic search of computerized databases was performed to identify studies that administered the AQ to nonclinical participant samples representing the adult male and female general population. Inclusion was based on a set of formalized criteria that evaluated the quality of the study, the usage of the AQ, and the population being assessed. After selection, 73 articles, detailing 6,934 nonclinical participants, as well as 1,963 matched clinical cases of ASC (from available cohorts within each individual study), were analyzed. Mean AQ score for the nonclinical population was 16.94 (95% CI 11.6, 20.0), while mean AQ score for the clinical population with ASC was found to be 35.19 (95% CI 27.6, 41.1). In addition, in the nonclinical population, a sex difference in autistic traits was found, although no sex difference in AQ score was seen in the clinical ASC population. These findings have implications for the study of autistic traits in the general population. Here, we confirm previous norms with more rigorous data and for the first time establish average AQ scores based on a systematic review, for populations of adult males and females with and without ASC. Finally, we advise future researchers to avoid risk of bias by carefully considering the recruitment strategy for both clinical and nonclinical groups and to demonstrate transparency by reporting recruitment methods for all participants.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 25 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 618 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
United Kingdom 4 <1%
Canada 3 <1%
Australia 2 <1%
Ireland 1 <1%
Hong Kong 1 <1%
Germany 1 <1%
Mexico 1 <1%
China 1 <1%
Japan 1 <1%
Other 1 <1%
Unknown 602 97%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 120 19%
Student > Bachelor 98 16%
Student > Master 81 13%
Researcher 61 10%
Student > Doctoral Student 44 7%
Other 92 15%
Unknown 122 20%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Psychology 273 44%
Medicine and Dentistry 53 9%
Neuroscience 50 8%
Social Sciences 22 4%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 21 3%
Other 60 10%
Unknown 139 22%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 42. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 30 January 2023.
All research outputs
#978,928
of 25,374,917 outputs
Outputs from Molecular Autism
#86
of 719 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#12,792
of 361,109 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Molecular Autism
#5
of 11 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,374,917 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 96th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 719 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 28.2. This one has done well, scoring higher than 88% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 361,109 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 96% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 11 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 54% of its contemporaries.