Pathological Demand Avoidance Test

Basic information
Statements:	8
Duration:	2–3 minutes
Type:	Parent-reported Questionnaire (For children aged 5 to 17)
Publishing year:	2019
Seminal paper:	O’Nions, E., Happé, F., Viding, E. et al. Extreme Demand Avoidance in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (EDA-8) [Research Paper]

Pathological demand avoidance test is also available in the following languages:

Question 1 of 8

Obsessively resists and avoids ordinary demands and requests.

Not true

Some what true

Mostly true

Very true

Question 2 of 8

Is driven by the need to be in charge.

Not true

Some what true

Mostly true

Very true

Question 3 of 8

Tells other children how they should behave, but does not feel these rules apply to him/herself.

Not true

Some what true

Mostly true

Very true

Question 4 of 8

Has difficulty complying with demands unless they are carefully presented.

Not true

Some what true

Mostly true

Very true

Question 5 of 8

Seems unaware of the differences between him/herself and authority figures (e.g. parents, teachers, police).

Not true

Some what true

Mostly true

Very true

Question 6 of 8

Mood changes very rapidly (e.g. switches from affectionate to angry in an instant).

Not true

Some what true

Mostly true

Very true

Question 7 of 8

Uses outrageous or shocking behaviour to get out of doing something.

Not true

Some what true

Mostly true

Very true

Question 8 of 8

Has bouts of extreme emotional responses to small events (e.g. crying/giggling, becoming furious).

Not true

Some what true

Mostly true

Very true

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Pathological demand avoidance self-test has been adopted from the Extreme Demand Avoidance Questionnaire’ (EDA-Q) which is the 26 item questionnaire designed to measure behaviours related to pathological demand avoidance (PDA). EDA-Q is not designed to make a self-diagnose and this self-assessment questionnaire is considered as diagnostic test. EDA-8 is the short version of EDA-Q which has proven to be accurate in measuring Pathological demand avoidance traits. ^{[1] Extreme demand avoidance in children with autism spectrum disorder: Refinement of a caregiver-report measure. O’Nions, Elizabeth, et al.}

EDA-8 is a valuable resource in identifying children who may show intense or extreme responses to demands. The tool has been found somewhat accurate in measuring the traits or behaviors and can help pinpoint those children who may have significant challenges when responding to requests and everyday expectations placed on them by others.

As a parent, you can answer the questions related to your children’s behavior by indicating how true the statement relates. A high score may indicate an elevated risk so a long version of this test (EDA-Q) is recommended for a though evaluation.

References

1. O’Nions, Elizabeth, et al. “Extreme demand avoidance in children with autism spectrum disorder: Refinement of a caregiver-report measure.” Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders 5.3 (2021): 269-281. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41252-021-00203-z ↩