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Take the CAT-Q: the Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire

By SpectrumFox editorial teamReviewed

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Short answer

You can take the official CAT-Q here for free. It has 25 statements about social camouflaging, answered on a seven point scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Your answers are scored in your browser with the published scoring, giving a total from 25 to 175 and three factor scores. The CAT-Q measures camouflaging, not autism, and has no cut-off.

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Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q)

This is not a test of autism. The CAT-Q measures camouflaging, not autism. Its authors give no cut-off score, and it cannot tell you whether you are autistic.

Everything runs in your browser. Your answers are not sent to SpectrumFox or stored anywhere unless you choose to save them on this device.

Please read each statement below and choose the answer that best fits your experiences during social interactions.

  1. When I am interacting with someone, I deliberately copy their body language or facial expressions
  2. I monitor my body language or facial expressions so that I appear relaxed
  3. I rarely feel the need to put on an act in order to get through a social situation
  4. I have developed a script to follow in social situations (for example, a list of questions or topics of conversation)
  5. I will repeat phrases that I have heard others say in the exact same way that I first heard them
  6. I adjust my body language or facial expressions so that I appear interested by the person I am interacting with
  7. In social situations, I feel like I’m ‘performing’ rather than being myself
  8. In my own social interactions, I use behaviours that I have learned from watching other people interacting
  9. I always think about the impression I make on other people
  10. I need the support of other people in order to socialise
  11. I practice my facial expressions and body language to make sure they look natural
  12. I don’t feel the need to make eye contact with other people if I don’t want to
  13. I have to force myself to interact with people when I am in social situations
  14. I have tried to improve my understanding of social skills by watching other people
  15. I monitor my body language or facial expressions so that I appear interested by the person I am interacting with
  16. When in social situations, I try to find ways to avoid interacting with others
  17. I have researched the rules of social interactions (for example, by studying psychology or reading books on human behaviour) to improve my own social skills
  18. I am always aware of the impression I make on other people
  19. I feel free to be myself when I am with other people
  20. I learn how people use their bodies and faces to interact by watching television or films, or by reading fiction
  21. I adjust my body language or facial expressions so that I appear relaxed
  22. When talking to other people, I feel like the conversation flows naturally
  23. I have spent time learning social skills from television shows and films, and try to use these in my interactions
  24. In social interactions, I do not pay attention to what my face or body are doing
  25. In social situations, I feel like I am pretending to be ‘normal’

Scoring runs in your browser and needs JavaScript. Nothing is sent anywhere.

The Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q) is from Hull L, Mandy W, Lai M-C, Baron-Cohen S, Allison C, Smith P, Petrides KV (2019), Development and Validation of the Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q), Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 49:819-833, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-018-3792-6, licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Changes: presented as an online form, one statement per screen, with the reverse-scoring asterisks hidden from respondents. Item wording, order, response scale and scoring are unchanged. SpectrumFox is not affiliated with or endorsed by the authors. doi:10.1007/s10803-018-3792-6 CC BY 4.0 license

The Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire asks about strategies people use in social situations: copying others, monitoring their face and body, and working to fit in. SpectrumFox presents it exactly as published, with the original instructions, wording, order and response options.

About the CAT-Q

The questionnaire is published under a Creative Commons Attribution license, which allows it to be shared and used with credit. SpectrumFox shows the full attribution on this page and with your scores. The authors are not affiliated with SpectrumFox and have not endorsed it.

Who the CAT-Q is for

The CAT-Q was designed for adults, and it can be completed whatever your gender and whether or not you have an autism diagnosis. Some people take it to understand their own camouflaging, some to see how it changes after they start unmasking, and some to bring numbers to a conversation with a therapist or assessor.

How to take it

Read the instructions, then answer each statement based on your experiences during social interactions. There are seven options for every statement. You can go back and change answers before you see your scores. It usually takes about five minutes. The original British spelling in the statements is kept on purpose, because the wording is part of the instrument.

How it is scored

Each answer is worth 1 to 7 points. Five statements are reverse scored, as the authors specify, so that a higher number always means more camouflaging. Your total is the sum of all 25, between 25 and 175. The three factor scores are the sums of the statements in each factor: compensation has 9 statements, and masking and assimilation have 8 each.

Compensation describes strategies that make up for social and communication differences. Masking describes hiding autistic characteristics or presenting a different persona. Assimilation describes trying to fit in with others, sometimes by putting on an act.

What your scores can and cannot tell you

Higher scores mean you reported more camouflaging. The authors did not publish a cut-off score, so SpectrumFox does not sort results into bands or attach labels to them. People who are not autistic can also camouflage, so a high score does not point to autism.

Most importantly, the CAT-Q cannot tell you whether you are autistic. It was designed to measure camouflaging, and only a qualified professional can assess autism.

Comparing your scores over time

Because the questionnaire is fixed and scored the same way every time, you can take it again later and compare your own totals. A lower total after a period of unmasking, or a higher one during a demanding new job, can be useful information for you. Comparing your total with someone else tells you much less, because camouflaging depends so much on setting, history and the people around you.

Your privacy

Scoring happens in your browser. Your answers are not sent to SpectrumFox and are not stored, unless you choose to save them on this device. Your answers are never put in a link; print or download your result to keep it.

Frequently asked questions

Is this the official CAT-Q?

Yes. SpectrumFox reproduces the 25 items, the instructions, the seven point response scale and the scoring from the published appendix, without changes to wording or order. It is shared under its Creative Commons Attribution license, with the full credit shown on this page.

What is a high score on the CAT-Q?

The authors did not publish a cut-off, so there is no official high or low. A higher total means you reported more camouflaging. SpectrumFox shows your total and factor scores with their possible ranges, and nothing more.

Can the CAT-Q diagnose autism?

No. The CAT-Q measures social camouflaging, not autism. Non-autistic people can camouflage too, so a score on its own says nothing about whether someone is autistic. Only a qualified professional can assess autism.

Why are some statements reverse scored?

Five statements are worded in the opposite direction, for example about feeling free to be yourself. Reverse scoring them means every statement counts the same way, so a higher number always means more camouflaging. The scoring happens automatically and is hidden while you answer.

Sources

  1. Hull L, Mandy W, Lai MC, Baron-Cohen S, Allison C, Smith P, Petrides KV. Development and validation of the Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q). Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 2019;49(3):819 to 833. doi:10.1007/s10803-018-3792-6