Psychometric Validation of the Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- This is an observational study: the protocol does not assign a study treatment.
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorder. Basic parameters: 13 years — 21 years · All.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- Germany
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
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Official title
Psychometric Validation of the Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q/DE) in a German Population of Autistic and Non-autistic Adolescents.
Overview
For many affected individuals, despite impairment and distress, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is recognized and diagnosed late, in school age, adolescence, or even in adulthood, which could be due, among other things, to the use of compensatory strategies such as so-called "camouflaging" by the respective individual. In order to better investigate and quantify these adaptive and compensatory strategies of individuals with autism, the Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q) has recently been developed and validated in the English-speaking world. The CAT-Q is designed to assess the extent of camouflaging behavior, in which autistic individuals consciously or unconsciously attempt to conceal or attenuate their autistic traits in order to better adapt to social situations. So far, however, there is no German-language questionnaire that can be used to validly assess camouflaging. The aim of the planned research project is to psychometrically validate the CAT-Q in German-speaking adolescents aged 13-21 years. The validation of the CAT-Q represents an important basis for further research on the construct camouflaging and can subsequently contribute to an improvement of diagnostics as well as support the development of individual treatment approaches.
Primary outcome measures
- Camouflaging [Time frame: 3-4 minutes]
Secondary outcome measures (10)
- Autistic Traits [Time frame: 3 minutes]
- Mental health [Time frame: 4 minutes]
- Symptoms of depression [Time frame: 1 minutes]
- Symptoms of anxiety [Time frame: 1 minutes]
- Stress [Time frame: 1 minutes]
- Loneliness [Time frame: 1 minute]
- Mentalizing [Time frame: 1 minute]
- Theory of Mind [Time frame: 3-4 minutes]
- Emotion Regulation [Time frame: 1 minute]
- Parent-Adolescent Communication [Time frame: 2-3 minutes]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion Criteria study group:
\- patients who meet the principal diagnosis of ASD, which includes atypical autism (ICD-10: F84.1) and Asperger syndrome (ICD-10: F84.5), and are between the ages of 13 and 21 years old.
Exclusion Criteria study group:
- Dementia / below average cognitive abilities (IQ < 85)
- lack of German language skills
- severe visual or hearing impairment (uncorrected)
Inclusion Criteria control group:
\- Adolescents who do not have a lifetime principal diagnosis of a psychiatric disorder (ICD-10-GM-2016: F10 - F69) and are between 13 and 21 years old.
Exclusion Criteria Control Group:
- dementia / below average general cognitive ability (IQ < 85)
- lack of German language skills
- severe impairment of vision or hearing (not corrected).
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Study design
- Observational model
- Cohort
Study locations
Germany · 1 center
- University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf — Hamburg
Publications
- Boettcher J, Zapf H, Daubmann A, Schimmelmann B, Bindt C, Hohmann S, Micheel J. Assessing Camouflaging in Adolescence: Psychometric Evaluation of the German Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q/DE). J Autism Dev Disord. 2026 Jul 2. doi: 10.1007/s10803-026-07423-z. Online ahead of print. PMID 42387100
Identifiers
NCT: NCT05989685 · LPEK-0659