Brief Report: Is IQ Measured Equally in ASD, ADHD, Language Disorders, and the General Population?

Authors

Kevin G Stephenson, Eric A Youngstrom, Eric M Butter

Published in

Journal of autism and developmental disorders. Aug 10, 2026. Epub Aug 10, 2026.

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous condition that has led some to question whether IQ scores can be meaningfully compared across neurodivergent and neurotypical populations. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the measurement invariance of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales, Fifth Edition (SB-5), among 3,050 clinically referred youth ages 2-16 with a diagnosis of ASD (n = 1,329; 43.6%), ADHD (n = 942; 30.9%), or a language-related disorder (n = 779; 25.5%), as well as the general population standardization sample within the same age range.
The clinical sample consisted of retrospective chart review data from a large pediatric hospital in the Midwestern United States. We used multigroup confirmatory factor analysis to test measurement invariance.
The three clinical groups demonstrated full strong (scalar) invariance. The combined clinical sample also demonstrated full strong (scalar) invariance relative to the standardization sample.
These findings indicate that the SB-5 measures IQ in a consistent manner across both general and clinical populations, including the three most common neurodevelopmental disorders, supporting the meaningful comparison of scores across these groups.

PMID:
42573731
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 10 Aug 2026.

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