Exploring camouflaging by the Chinese version Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire in Taiwanese autistic and non-autistic adolescents: An initial development

Liu, C.-H., Chen, Y.-L., Chen, P.-J., Ni, H.-C., & Lai, M.-C. (2024). Exploring camouflaging by the Chinese version Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire in Taiwanese autistic and non-autistic adolescents: An initial development. Autism, 28(3), 690-704.

Abstract

Camouflaging is a strategy adopted by neurodivergent individuals to cope in neurotypical social contexts, likely related to perceived stress. Despite increasing research in autistic adults, studies of camouflaging in adolescents remain sparse. The self-reported Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire has been validated in adults in some Western societies, but not in non-Western populations. We examined the psychometric properties of the self-reported and caregiver-reported Chinese version Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire in Taiwanese adolescents. We enrolled 100 autistic and 105 non-autistic adolescents (aged 12–18 years) and their caregivers. As an initial development, we found a two-factor structure (“compensation-masking” and “assimilation”) via exploratory factor analysis, alongside good internal consistency and test–retest reliability, for both the self-reported and caregiver-reported Chinese version Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire. Self-reported and caregiver-reported Chinese version Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire scores were moderately to highly correlated. Autistic adolescents showed higher total Chinese version Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire and assimilation scores than non-autistic adolescents in both males and females. Female autistic adolescents showed higher assimilation than male autistic adolescents, but there was no significant difference between sex assigned at birth on compensation-masking in either autistic or non-autistic adolescents. Assimilation correlated with higher self-perceived stress for both autistic and non-autistic adolescents. Both self-reported and caregiver-reported Chinese version Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire were reliable and offered meaningful information to understand social coping of Taiwanese autistic and non-autistic adolescents.

伪装是神经分化个体在典型的神经社会环境中采用的一种策略，可能与个体受到的压力有关。尽管对孤独症成人的研究与日增多，但对青少年伪装的研究仍较少。自我报告伪装孤独症特质问卷已在一些西方社会的成年人中得到了验证，但还未在除西方社会外的人群中得到验证。我们在台湾青少年中检验了自我报告和照顾者报告的中文版伪装孤独症特质问卷的心理测量特性。我们招募了100位孤独症青少年和105位非孤独症青少年（12-18岁）及其照顾者。作为起点，我们通过探索性因素分析发现了一个双因素结构（“补偿掩蔽”和“同化”），还得出，自我报告和照顾者报告的中文版本伪装孤独症特征问卷都具有良好的内部一致性和复测信度。自我报告和照顾者报告的中文版伪装孤独症特征问卷得分有中等高等的相关度。无论是男性还是女性，孤独症青少年的中文版伪装孤独症特质问卷和同化得分均高于非孤独症青少年。女性孤独症青少年比男性表现出更高的同化能力，但在孤独症和非孤独症青少年中，出生时的补偿-掩饰在性别上没有显著差异。同化与孤独症青少年和非孤独症更高的自我感知压力相关。自我报告和照顾者报告的中文版伪装孤独症特质问卷都是可靠的，并为了解台湾孤独症和非孤独症青少年的社会应对提供了有意义的信息。