Clinical trial NCT05989685: Psychometric Validation of the Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire
Official title: Psychometric Validation of the Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q/DE) in a German Population of Autistic and Non-autistic Adolescents.
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: RECRUITING
Conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorder
Keywords: Camouflaging
Late diagnosis
Adolescents
Lead sponsor: Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2023-08-14
Enrollment: 622
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 13
Maximum age (years): 21
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
Observational model: COHORT
Time perspective: CROSS_SECTIONAL
Sampling method: PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: Patients treated at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics at the UKE and the joint practice - KJP Praxis Hoheluft, as well as other participants who meet the diagnostic criteria of an autism spectrum disorder will be included in the study. Interrater reliability between the sites will be recorded and assessed to ensure that the diagnostic criteria of an autism spectrum disorder are applied consistently between the two sites. The control group will be recruited through Bilendi-Respondi, a market research service provider.

Brief summary: 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.


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).

Primary outcomes:
measure: Camouflaging
timeFrame: 3-4 minutes
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Autistic Traits
timeFrame: 3 minutes
measure: Mental health
timeFrame: 4 minutes
measure: Symptoms of depression
timeFrame: 1 minutes
measure: Symptoms of anxiety
timeFrame: 1 minutes
measure: Stress
timeFrame: 1 minutes
measure: Loneliness
timeFrame: 1 minute
measure: Mentalizing
timeFrame: 1 minute
measure: Theory of Mind
timeFrame: 3-4 minutes
measure: Emotion Regulation
timeFrame: 1 minute
measure: Parent-Adolescent Communication
timeFrame: 2-3 minutes
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Hamburg
country: Germany
facility: University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf
Study officials:
affiliation: Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf
name: Johannes Boettcher, Dr.
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
affiliation: Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf
name: Sarah Hohmann, Prof. Dr.
role: STUDY_CHAIR
affiliation: Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf
name: Carola Bindt, Dr.
role: STUDY_CHAIR
affiliation: Universitäre Psychiatrische Dienste Bern
name: Benno Schimmelmann, Prof. Dr.
role: STUDY_CHAIR
References: