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Testing the Latent Structure of the Autism Spectrum Quotient in a Sub-clinical Sample of University Students Using Factor Mixture Modelling

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Abstract

In the present study, factor mixture models (FMMs) were used to examine the latent structure underlying the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) among a sample of 633 undergraduate students. FMM represents a combination of latent-class, person-centered approaches and common-factor, variable-centered approaches to modeling population heterogeneity. Findings suggest the presence of either two or six latent classes with distinct profiles across the set of 50 AQ items. In addition, within each class, individuals can be further differentiated according to their scores on five latent factors. These results suggest the presence of phenotypical heterogeneity at the sub-clinical level in addition to that which is known to exist at the clinical level.

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Funding

The authors did not receive any specific funding for this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada

    Craig Leth-Steensen & Shelley Elizabeth Parlow

  2. University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Elena Gallitto

  3. York University, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Kojo Mintah

Authors
  1. Craig Leth-Steensen
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  2. Elena Gallitto
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  3. Kojo Mintah
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  4. Shelley Elizabeth Parlow
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Contributions

Leth-Steensen and Gallitto provided half ot the data, ran the analyses, and were mainly responsible for writing up the manuscript. Mintah and Parlow provided the other half of the data in addition to helpful consultation and insight during the witing stage.

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Correspondence to Craig Leth-Steensen.

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Leth-Steensen, C., Gallitto, E., Mintah, K. et al. Testing the Latent Structure of the Autism Spectrum Quotient in a Sub-clinical Sample of University Students Using Factor Mixture Modelling. J Autism Dev Disord 51, 3722–3732 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04823-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04823-7

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