CAT-Q scoring and score ranges

If you have just taken the CAT-Q, you likely have a total and three factor scores. This page explains how those numbers are built, what the original study found, and how to read your own results without turning them into something they are not.

How each statement is scored

Every statement uses the same seven-point scale: 1 for strongly disagree up to 7 for strongly agree. Most statements describe camouflaging, so agreeing scores higher. Five statements are worded the other way, and their scores are flipped so that a high number always means more camouflaging. On the SpectrumFox version, this happens automatically and the reverse markers are hidden while you answer.

Score ranges

Average scores in the original study

The 2019 paper reported average scores per statement rather than totals. To make them comparable with your result, we have multiplied each average by the number of statements. These are rough reference points from one online sample, not norms.

The masking result surprises many people. Both groups in the study reported fairly high masking, meaning that adjusting how you come across is common across people generally. The bigger differences were in compensation and assimilation: the effortful work of figuring out social rules, and the feeling of forcing yourself to fit in.

Is there a CAT-Q cut-off?

No. The authors did not publish a cut-off, and SpectrumFox does not invent one. Websites that label CAT-Q totals as "autistic range" or "high camouflaging" are adding their own interpretation. A score near the autistic average is not evidence of autism, and a lower score does not rule it out.

Reading your own result

• Look at the three factors first. Which one is highest, and does that match your experience?
• Compare your factor scores with the reference averages above, remembering they come from one sample.
• Notice context. Many people camouflage far more at work than at home.
• Think about cost. A high score with exhaustion is different from a high score that feels easy.

What each factor score suggests

A high compensation score usually reflects deliberate, effortful work: learning social rules from books or television, preparing topics in advance, copying the body language of people around you. A high masking score reflects ongoing self-monitoring, such as checking your face and voice, or hiding a stim or an interest. A high assimilation score reflects the push to join in when it does not feel natural, often with a sense of acting a part. The factors are related but distinct, and research suggests compensation and assimilation separate autistic and non-autistic groups more than masking does.

None of these strategies is good or bad in itself. Preparing for a meeting is useful for anyone. What matters is how much of your day the effort takes up, whether you have places where you can stop, and what it costs you afterward. Your factor scores can help you name the strategies; only you can judge the cost.

Retaking the CAT-Q

Scores were fairly stable over three months in the original study. If you retake it after a big change, such as a new job, a move or a period of unmasking, a different result is not an error. It may reflect a real shift in how much you are camouflaging in your current life.

Gender and CAT-Q scores

Scores and wellbeing

Studies have linked heavy camouflaging with anxiety, depression and exhaustion in autistic adults, though they cannot show that camouflaging alone causes these. If your score is high and you feel drained or low, consider talking with a professional, and look for settings where you can drop some of the effort. If you ever feel unsafe, use the crisis resources on this page.

• Take the CAT-Q: the Camouflaging Autistic Traits QuestionnaireTake the official Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q) free online: 25 items, the official scoring, your total and three factor scores.
• CAT-Q: measuring autistic camouflagingThe CAT-Q explained: a free 25-item questionnaire measuring social camouflaging, who made it, its three factors, its limits and where to take it.
• Autistic masking: what it is and what it costsAutistic masking means hiding or compensating for autistic traits to fit in. See real adult examples, why people mask, what it costs, and how to mask less.