Child EQ-SQ
ValidatedChildren’s Empathy Quotient and Systemizing Quotient (EQ-C / SQ-C)
4 – 11 yearsParent~10 min55 questions
Please complete by ticking the appropriate box for each statement.
Report details · optional
Shown on the report and stored with the screening record. Use initials or a code, not full names.
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About this screener — evidence, source, alternatives
Parents rate 55 statements about their child: 27 make up the Empathy Quotient (0–54) and 28 the Systemizing Quotient (0–56). Autistic children score much lower on empathy and somewhat higher on systemizing than typically developing children. It describes a profile to inform assessment and has no clinical cut-off.
Evidence · validated
Completed by parents of 1,256 typically developing children aged 4–11 and 265 autistic children (Auyeung et al., 2009). Internal consistency was high (EQ-C α = .93, SQ-C α = .78) with good test–retest reliability. Mean EQ-C: typical girls 40.2 (SD 8.9), boys 34.8 (10.1), autistic children 14.0 (6.8). Mean SQ-C: autistic children 27.4 (9.2), typical boys 25.8 (7.8), girls 22.6 (7.9). No cut-off has been published, so scores are reported without bands.
Free alternative to
- Social Responsiveness Scale, 2nd ed. (SRS-2) · WPS
Paid parent rating of social reciprocity; the EQ-C is a free parent report of the empathy dimension.
Source & licence
Auyeung B, Wheelwright S, Allison C, Atkinson M, Samarawickrema N, Baron-Cohen S. The Children’s Empathy Quotient and Systemizing Quotient: sex differences in typical development and in autism spectrum conditions. J Autism Dev Disord. 2009;39(11):1509–1521.
Licence: © Autism Research Centre, University of Cambridge — free for research and clinical use, non-commercial, with acknowledgement
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