Revised scored Sensory Perception Quotient reveals sensory hypersensitivity in women with autism

Abstract

Background: Previous research using the Sensory Perception Quotient (SPQ) has reported greater sensory hypersensitivity in people with autism spectrum condition (ASC) compared to controls, consistent with other research. However, current scoring of the SPQ does not differentiate between hyper and hyposensitivity, making it uncertain whether individuals with ASC might also show differences in hyposensitivity. Furthermore, no research to date has focused on sensory differences in females, and whether differences in sensory sensitivity extend to the broader autism phenotype (BAP). The present study aimed to fill these gaps. Methods: The present study developed and validated a Revised Scoring of the Sensory Perception Quotient (SPQ-RS) in order to investigate self-reported hypersensitivity and hyposensitivity in three groups of adults: a female ASC group (n = 152), mothers of children with ASC (BAP mothers group; n = 103), and a control mothers group (n = 74). All participants completed the SPQ as a self-report measure of sensory processing and the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) as a measure of the degree of autism traits. Results: The female ASC group reported significantly more hypersensitivity, but not more hyposensitivity, compared to the control female and BAP mothers groups. The BAP mothers group did not differ from the control mothers group in either reported hypersensitivity (p = .365) or hyposensitivity (p = .075), suggesting atypical sensory sensitivity is not a BAP trait within females. SPQ-RS hypersensitivity scores positively correlated with autistic traits in the female ASC (r = .266) and BAP mothers groups (r = .350). Conclusions: The present findings revealed greater sensory hypersensitivity, but not hyposensitivity, in females with ASC compared to BAP and control female groups, and that a greater degree of autism traits relates to higher hypersensitivity in ASC females. The results offer support for the enhanced perceptual functioning model using large samples of females, who are an understudied population, and demonstrate the validity of the SPQ-RS as a valuable new research tool for exploring self-reported hypersensitivity and hyposensitivity.

The Comprehensive Autistic Trait Inventory (CATI): development and validation of a new measure of autistic traits in the general population

“…Males showed higher levels on the Communication and Repetitive Behaviours subscales which are therefore the likely drivers of the total-scale sex difference. Conversely, Sensory Sensitivity was found to be higher for female participants, and follows reports of higher scores on the Sensory Perception Quotient for females relative to males [ 51 ]. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a broad measure of autistic traits has shown variations in sex differences across multiple subscales, and further establishes the CATI as a psychometric measure that is relatively sensitive to the subtler differences in autistic trait presentation between males and females compared to existing scales.…”

“…This pattern was supported by data from the Dutch translation of the scale, where a moderate positive correlation was reported between the total scores of the hyper- and hypo-sensitivity items [ 54 ]. Furthermore, significantly higher levels of hyper-responsiveness in autistic compared to non-autistic women have been reported using a revised version of the Sensory Perception Quotient, but no differences in hypo-sensitivity were reported [ 51 ]. Consequently, in the interest of brevity the development of the current version of the CATI was restricted to items relating to hyper-responsiveness to sensory stimuli.…”

Autism and Chronic Ill Health: An Observational Study of Symptoms and Diagnoses of Central Sensitivity Syndromes in Autistic Adults

“…Previous research into sensory sensitivity in autism has been mixed when considering sex differences [9,57]. Recent studies on the SPQ, both on data within the Netherlands Autism Register (of which this dataset is a subsample) and outside, found that autistic females had higher sensory sensitivity than both autistic males [42] and non-autistic females [43]. Research within the general population also suggests that females may be more sensitive than males across a range of modalities [34,58], with hormones thought to play a key role [59].…”

“…The 35 item Sensory Perception Quotient (SPQ) was developed to assess sensory sensitivity in adults with and without autism, and shows good internal consistency and validity [9,42,43]. It is assessed on a four-point Likert scale across ve sensory modalities.…”

Autism and chronic ill health: an observational study of symptoms and diagnoses of central sensitivity syndromes in autistic adults

“…Therefore, whilst CSS studies have acknowledged that general sensory sensitivity, and not just pain, is part of central sensitisation [ 17 – 21 ], the mechanisms of individual differences in sensory sensitivity within this population, as well as the neurodivergent and general population, are still unclear [ 22 ]. Studies on sensory differences in autism are plentiful [ 13 , 15 , 23 , 24 ] but research specifically on the autistic pain experience is more limited. Research on acute pain in autism, and quantitative sensory testing studies, has suggested that autistic people have a normal or hypersensitive physiological response to acute pain, but may express pain differently [ 25 – 28 ] and also experience more pain-related anxiety [ 29 ], but it has not yet been established whether this anxiety contributes to, or is caused by, altered pain sensitivity.…”