Design, validation and reliability of the Autism Spectrum Health and Sexual Behavior Questionnaire (Parent Form)

Introduction: Sexual health might prevent negative health consequences among children with autism spectrum disorders. Aim: The purpose of the present study was to design a questionnaire for health and sexual behavior of children on the autism spectrum (parent form) and to evaluate its validity and reliability. Method: Research method was descriptive, psychometrics type. The statistical population of the present study was all children with autism spectrum disorder in Tehran who were referred to autism education and rehabilitation centers in 2021-2022, of which 420 (114 girls and 306 boys) were selected by convenience sampling method. The research instrument included a researcher-made Questionnaire on the Health and Sexual Behavior of Children on the Autism Spectrum (parent form). The face and content validity of the scale was obtained using the Content Validity Ratio (CVR), the construct validity of it through exploratory factor analysis, to ensure the reliability of the instrument, Crowbach's alpha coefficient and SPSS-26 were used. Results: The results of exploratory factor analysis using independent varimax rotation presented five independent factors of body awareness (self-care), shame (sexual social function), sexual knowledge and health, sexual function and sexual abuse, which together explained 99.56% of the total variance of the variables. Cronbach's alpha coefficient in the reliability of the five factors of the questionnaire was 0.87, 0.90, 0.85, 0.80, 0.84 and 0.92 for the whole questionnaire, respectively. Conclusion: Due to the desirable behavioral characteristics of the Autism Spectrum Health and Sexual Behavior Questionnaire, this tool can be used for research and clinical applications.