Adult Repetitive Behaviours Questionnaire-2 (RBQ-2A)
The RBQ-2A describes repetitive sensory-motor behaviours and insistence on sameness. It is not a stand-alone autism diagnostic tool.
Evidence passport
Instrument and scoring
- Scientific name
- Adult Repetitive Behaviours Questionnaire-2 (RBQ-2A)
- NuraCheck implementation version
- 1.0.0
- Scoring method
- Published mean score
- Score shown
- Overall score and dimensions
- Primary reference
- Barrett SL et al. The Adult Repetitive Behaviours Questionnaire-2 (RBQ-2A). Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 2015;45:3680–3692. Open publication
- Published scoring source
- No separate source is recorded for this field.
- Exact form or administration source
- No separate source is recorded for this field.
Who and where the evidence may apply
Evidence comes from particular studies and language versions, so its relevance can vary.
- Intended audience
- Adults reflecting on repetitive movements, sensory interests, routines and preference for sameness.
- Language version shown
- English (en) · Base wording used by this NuraCheck implementation
- Study participants and settings
- The cited paper reports 163 non-autistic adults in its first study and, in its second, 29 autistic and 37 non-autistic adults. These are small research samples; the authors explicitly say the questionnaire is not a stand-alone autism diagnostic tool.
Review the study used for these details
Scores do not capture culture, minority stress, disability or barriers to support. These factors can shape responses.
The evidence cannot determine whether a questionnaire fits you personally. NuraCheck does not ask for or infer identity to decide this.
Language provenance
- Language version shown
- English (en) · Base wording used by this NuraCheck implementation
- Wording scope
- Full instrument
- Independent language review
- Not recorded separately for the base wording
Base-wording source recorded by NuraCheck
Language provenance and independent validation are different. NuraCheck does not infer a reviewer or review date when the evidence record does not name one.
Licence and permitted use
- Licence status
- Permission granted
- Rights holder or steward
- The article authors
- Permission record checked
- Jul 14, 2026
- Electronic use
- Allowed by the reviewed permission record
- Translation
- Allowed by the reviewed permission record
RBQ-2A adapted from Barrett et al. (2015), distributed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.
What this questionnaire cannot answer
Repetitive behaviours occur in many people and contexts. The questionnaire does not cover all autism criteria, developmental history, disability, strengths or other explanations.
What this covers
- Repetitive sensory-motor behaviours
- Repetitive movements, object use and sensory interests covered by items 1–12.
- Insistence on sameness
- Preferences for routines, repetition and sameness covered by items 13–20.
What your result can show
Higher averages reflect more frequent or stronger endorsement of the patterns covered. There is no diagnostic cutoff.
Important limitations
Repetitive behaviours occur in many people and contexts. The questionnaire does not cover all autism criteria, developmental history, disability, strengths or other explanations.