مشخصات پژوهش

Camouflaging of autistic traits has gained increasing attention as a psychological construct capturing strategies used to conceal or compensate for autistic characteristics in social contexts. Given the cultural specificity of social behavior, the adaptation and validation of measurement instruments across diverse populations are essential. The present study aimed to culturally adapt and validate the Persian version of the Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q) and to examine its measurement invariance and group differences between adults with high and low autistic traits in Iran. Following a standardized forward–backward translation procedure and expert panel review, the Persian CAT-Q was administered to 1,100 individuals, of whom 948 (aged 15–50 years) met the inclusion criteria after data screening. Construct validity was examined using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Convergent validity was assessed through correlations with the social camouflage subscale of the Comprehensive Autistic Trait Inventory (CATI), and reliability was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha and mean inter-item correlations. CFA supported the original three-factor structure of the CAT-Q (compensation, masking, and assimilation) with acceptable fit indices (Comparative Fit Index [CFI] = 0.91, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation [RMSEA] = 0.06). Measurement invariance testing supported configural, metric, and scalar invariance across high and low autistic traits groups, indicating comparable measurement properties. Convergent validity was confirmed through significant correlations with the social camouflage subscale of the CATI. Internal consistency was strong, with Cronbach’s alpha coefficients ranging from .66 to .89 across subscales and .89 for the total scale, although the assimilation subscale showed comparatively lower reliability. The Persian version of the CAT-Q demonstrates satisfactory psychometric properties and measurement equivalence across groups, supporting its