The Knowledge of Autism Questionnaire-UK: Development and Initial Psychometric Evaluation.
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| Title: | The Knowledge of Autism Questionnaire-UK: Development and Initial Psychometric Evaluation. |
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| Authors: | Langhorne, Sophie, Uglik-Marucha, Nora, Broadhurst, Charlotte, Lieven, Elena, Pearson, Amelia, Vitoratou, Silia, Leadbitter, Kathy |
| Source: | Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders. Jul2025, Vol. 55 Issue 7, p2436-2451. 16p. |
| Subjects: | Health literacy, Medical personnel, Research funding, Autism, Questionnaires, Research methodology evaluation, Research evaluation, Public opinion, Experimental design, Research methodology, Psychometrics, Test validity, Asperger's syndrome, Expertise, Factor analysis, Inter-observer reliability |
| Geographic Terms: | United Kingdom |
| Abstract: | Tools to measure autism knowledge are needed to assess levels of understanding within particular groups of people and to evaluate whether awareness-raising campaigns or interventions lead to improvements in understanding. Several such measures are in circulation, but, to our knowledge, there are no psychometrically-validated questionnaires that assess contemporary autism knowledge suitable to the UK context. We aimed to produce a brief measure to assess between-respondent variability and within-respondent change over time. A pool of questionnaire items was developed and refined through a multi-stage iterative process involving autism experts and a lay sample. Attention was paid to face validity, clarity, consensus on correct responses, and appropriate difficulty levels. Initial validation data was obtained from a lay sample of 201 people. Difficulty and discrimination ability were assessed using item response theory and low-performing items were removed. Dimensionality was evaluated with exploratory factor analysis, which revealed a one-factor structure of the questionnaire. Further items were removed where they did not load strongly on their main factor. This process resulted in a final 14-item questionnaire called the Knowledge of Autism Questionnaire-UK. Internal consistency was satisfactory, and the final questionnaire was able to distinguish between parents of autistic people and those without an affiliation to autism. The KAQ-UK is a new, freely-available measure of autism knowledge that could be used to assess between-respondent variability and within-respondent change over time. Further evaluation and validation of its measurement properties are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Abstract: | Tools to measure autism knowledge are needed to assess levels of understanding within particular groups of people and to evaluate whether awareness-raising campaigns or interventions lead to improvements in understanding. Several such measures are in circulation, but, to our knowledge, there are no psychometrically-validated questionnaires that assess contemporary autism knowledge suitable to the UK context. We aimed to produce a brief measure to assess between-respondent variability and within-respondent change over time. A pool of questionnaire items was developed and refined through a multi-stage iterative process involving autism experts and a lay sample. Attention was paid to face validity, clarity, consensus on correct responses, and appropriate difficulty levels. Initial validation data was obtained from a lay sample of 201 people. Difficulty and discrimination ability were assessed using item response theory and low-performing items were removed. Dimensionality was evaluated with exploratory factor analysis, which revealed a one-factor structure of the questionnaire. Further items were removed where they did not load strongly on their main factor. This process resulted in a final 14-item questionnaire called the Knowledge of Autism Questionnaire-UK. Internal consistency was satisfactory, and the final questionnaire was able to distinguish between parents of autistic people and those without an affiliation to autism. The KAQ-UK is a new, freely-available measure of autism knowledge that could be used to assess between-respondent variability and within-respondent change over time. Further evaluation and validation of its measurement properties are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 01623257 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s10803-024-06332-3 |
