Behavioral Domains Associated with Autism in Toddlers: A Secondary Analysis of the Polish Q-CHAT Dataset

Abstract

Total scores on the Quantitative Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (Q-CHAT) may conceal differences among behavioral domains. This secondary cross-sectional analysis compared Social/Communication, Non-social/Behavioral, and Speech/Language scores in an open Polish dataset of 252 toddlers aged 18-24 months, including 135 records coded as ASD and 117 controls. Domain separation was quantified using Hedges' g with bootstrap 95% confidence intervals; age- and sex-adjusted logistic models were fitted separately and jointly. Social/Communication showed the largest separation (g = 1.94, 95% CI 1.65-2.26), compared with Non-social/Behavioral (g = 0.47) and Speech/Language (g = 0.69). In the joint model, Social/Communication retained a strong association with ASD status (OR per pooled SD 18.43, 95% CI 8.66-39.22), whereas the other domain confidence intervals included 1. Speech/Language internal consistency was low (alpha = 0.20). Q-CHAT group differences were therefore strongly domain-dependent and concentrated in Social/Communication in this dataset. These findings do not validate the imported factor structure, a diagnostic cutoff, standalone diagnostic use, or population screening performance.

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