Testing the psychometric properties of depression and social-emotional functioning measures with autistic adolescents and their parents

Autistic youth are a prevalent population in the U.S. facing greater risks for depression and adverse mental health outcomes than the general population of youth. The psychometric properties of most measures remain untested with autistic youth even though autism is characterized by significant heterogeneity including unique cognitive, affective, behavioral and sensory needs. The present study tested the internal consistency, confirmatory factor analysis, convergent and discriminant validity, and cross-informant agreement between 101 autistic adolescents (14-17 years old) and their parents for several depression and social-emotional functioning measures (e.g., social motivation, anhedonia/apathy). Most measures showed acceptable-to-good internal consistency across informants, while confirmatory factor analyses yielded mixed evidence of structural validity. Convergent validity was moderate and adolescent and parent reports agreed poorly to moderately, which emphasizes the value of collecting both perspectives. Findings inform clinical practice by supporting the continued use of several measures in autistic adolescents, while suggesting caution in interpreting others.