Sensorische Auffälligkeiten bei Autismus-Spektrum-Störung: Validierung und Adaptation des englischsprachigen "Sensory Perception Quotient" (SPQ) von Tavassoli und Kollegen.

Although the DSM-5 has emphasised the relevance of sensory abnormalities in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), there are hardly any measures to assess them in German speaking countries. The present study translated the "Sensory Perception Questionnaire" (SPQ) by Tavassoli et al. (2014) to German and validated this scale. The SPQ is a self-rating scale for adults which focuses on perceptual aspects rather than cognitive or motivational antecedents or consequences of such perceptual processes. A total of 188 subjects participated in this study, including n=85 participants with ASD and n=103 neurotypical controls. The autism spectrum quotient (AQ) and the empathy quotient (EQ) were also administered, the IQ was measured using the CFT20-R, and participants were clinically evaluated using the SKID-I. Alternative items were generated to improve the semantic and psychometric properties of the SPQ. Of the 92 original SPQ items, 33 separated the clinical groups significantly and linguistically clearly in the sense of sensory hyper-sensitivity. These items covered primarily the sensory modalities of hearing, touch and vision. Increased sensory hyper-sensitivity was associated with greater scores in the AQ and increased slightly with increasing age. Sensory hyper-sensitivity in participants with ASD was, however, not significantly correlated with the EQ and the IQ. Due to the item-analytical rather than dimensional item selection, the short versions presented here exhibit a clearly better group separation with comparable concurrent validities when compared to Tavassoli's short version of the scale. Pending replication and proper norming, the SPQ short version presented here can be employed for screening purposes and supplement the clinical diagnostic process.

An German Short-Version of the "Sensory Perception Quotient" for Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Sensory features in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have received increasing interest in clinical work and research during the recent years. With the Sensory Perception Quotient (SPQ), Tavasolli and colleagues have produced a self-rating scale for adults with ASD that measures sensory hyper-sensitivity in different sensory modalities, without also tapping cognitive or motivational aspects that precede or follow autistic sensory experiences. Here, we present the results of a translation of the SPQ to German and its short version as well as their validation in samples of autistic or neuro-typical participants. We, furthermore, present the psychometric properties and validities of Tavasolli's original SPQ-short version as well as an alternative short version based on different psychometric item-selection criteria. We can show here that our alternative SPQ-short version, overlapping with the original short-version in 61% of its items, exhibits superior reliabilities, reasonable concurrent validities with other related measures. It, furthermore, exhibits excellent differentiation between autistic and non-autistic samples, underscoring its utility as a screening instrument in research and a clinical instrument to supplement the ASD diagnostic process.