Comprehensive Autistic Trait Inventory
UPDATE July 2025: A new paper, published in Autism, is available outlining further evaluation of the CATI in 1000+ sample of autistic adults, with additional analyses examining differences between diagnosed and self-identifying autistic adults, between genders (including those identifying as gender diverse), and between different age groups.
This paper also outlines several small changes to item and subscale wording to improve interpretation and reduce negative phrasing following consultation with an autistic focus group.
UPDATE December 2024: The CATI is now available on NovoPsych! The Novopsych version of the CATI, and this website, use the updated phrasing and scoring guidelines described in the 2025 paper described above.
The Comprehensive Autistic Trait Inventory, or CATI, is a self-report questionnaire that provides a valid measure of autistic traits in adults in the general population.
It contains 42 statements that span six different areas, or 'dimensions', associated with autism. When it is completed, the total-scale score provides an overall measure of autistic traits, and six subscale scores each provide a measure of autistic traits in a specific area or dimension. The six subscales include:
- Social Interactions
- Communication
- Social Camouflage
- Self-Regulatory Behaviours
- Cognitive (In)Flexibility)
- Sensory Sensitivity
The CATI was primarily developed for use by researchers interested in quantifying autistic traits within members of the general population. While it has been examined in large numbers of non-autistic and autistic people, it has not yet been fully clinically-evaluated. While the CATI may be useful in a screening process, it should not be used as the sole assessment tool for diagnosing autism.
The questionnaire was initially designed and psychometrically evaluated by reseachers at the University of Western Australia (UWA), with input from collaborators at The Kids Research Institute Australia and the University of British Columbia. The items and factors were developed and refined in collaboration and consultation with other autism researchers and clinicians, and autistic individuals at the University of Western Australia, and Macquarie University.
Take the questionnaire
Download questionnaire materials
Main development and validation papers
The original paper describing the initial developmnent and validation of the CATI can be found, Open Access, here.
The second paper describing further validation of the CATI, including larger samples of autistic and gender diverse adults, can be found, Open Access, here.
The initial project was supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery Project government grant (DP190103286) and the University of Western Australia. Further validation was supported by a Simons Foundation SFARI Grant (RFA-873809), and Embrace at The Kids Research Institute Australia.