Abstract
Despite the high prevalence of depression and other mental illnesses in autistic adults, screening instruments such as the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) have not been specifically validated in an autistic sample. Using data from two Autism CRC longitudinal studies (n = 581), confirmatory factor analysis supported the two-factor model (somatic and cognitive/affective) in the autistic sample and one-factor model in the community comparison sample. Confirmatory bifactor analysis also supported use of the PHQ-9 total score in autism. Good convergent validity was found with two measures of psychological well-being for PHQ-9 total and subdomain scores. The PHQ-9 is a useful tool for autism research allowing comparison across autistic and non-autistic participants.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 2217-2225 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders |
Volume | 50 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2020 |