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Factorial Validity of the Theory of Mind Inventory-2 in Typically Developing Children

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Abstract

The Theory of Mind Inventory-2 (ToMI-2) is a promising measure for assessing theory of mind (ToM) and social-related functions. However, limited evidence on its factorial validity hampers score interpretation. To examine the factorial validity, confirmatory factor analysis for two currently-available structures was performed in 420 typically developing children aged three to seven years. One, the development-based structure, contains three stages of ToM development: the early, basic, and advanced ToM stages. The other, the social-related structure, comprises three social-related ToM functions: emotion recognition, mental state term comprehension, and pragmatics. The results showed that these structures and the unidimensionality of each domain were not supported even after modifications. Thus, further revisions and examinations of the underlying structures of the ToMI-2 are needed.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST 110-2628-B-006-031, MOST 109-2628-B-006-023, and MOST 109-2811-B-006-517).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan City, Taiwan (R.O.C.)

    Shih-Chieh Lee, Meng-Ru Liu & Kuan-Lin Chen

  2. School of Occupational Therapy, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei City, Taiwan (R.O.C.)

    Shih-Chieh Lee & I-Ning Fu

  3. Institute of Long-Term Care, MacKay Medical College, New Taipei City, Taiwan (R.O.C.)

    Shih-Chieh Lee

  4. Child Developmental Assessment & Intervention Center, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan (R.O.C.)

    I-Ning Fu

  5. Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Medicine, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan (R.O.C.)

    Tzu-Ying Yu

  6. Institute of Allied Health Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan City, Taiwan (R.O.C.)

    Kuan-Lin Chen

  7. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan City, Taiwan (R.O.C.)

    Kuan-Lin Chen

Authors
  1. Shih-Chieh Lee
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Contributions

Shih-Chieh Lee and Kuan-Lin Chen designed the study and wrote the study protocol. I-Ning Fu, Meng-Ru Liu, and Kuan-Lin Chen conducted the data collection. Shih-Chieh Lee performed the data analysis and wrote the first draft of this manuscript. I-Ning Fu, Meng-Ru Liu, Tzu-Ying Yu, and Kuan-Lin Chen provided substantial comments and edited the draft to achieve the final manuscript. All authors contributed to the manuscript and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Kuan-Lin Chen.

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Informed consent

Informed consent was provided by the caregivers of all participating children. The authors certify that there is no conflict of interest with any financial organization regarding the material discussed in the manuscript.

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Appendix 1 Brief Description and Domain Structures of the ToMI-2 Items

Appendix 1 Brief Description and Domain Structures of the ToMI-2 Items

No

Brief description of the item

Developmental-based

structure

Social-related

structure

3

Early empathy

Early

Not included

6

Discrimination of basic emotions

Early

ER

24

Intentionality

Early

Not included

25

Basic positive emotion recognition (happy)

Early

ER

28

Social referencing: reading fear

Early

Not included

37

Sharing attention: initiating

Early

Not included

38

Sharing attention: responding

Early

Not included

43

Gaze following

Early

Not included

44

Social referencing: ambiguous situation

Early

Not included

48

Basic negative emotion recognition (sad)

Early

ER

49

Basic negative emotion recognition (mad)

Early

ER

50

Basic negative emotion recognition (scared)

Early

ER

54

Mental state term comprehension: early desire (want)

Early

MSC

1

Physiologically-based behavior

Basic

Not included

4

Emotion-based behavior

Basic

Not included

7

Mental state term comprehension: cognitive terms (think)

Basic

MSC

8

False beliefs: unexpected location

Basic

Not included

9

Seeing leads to knowing

Basic

Not included

10

Mental state term comprehension: cognitive terms (know)

Basic

MSC

11

Appearance-reality distinction

Basic

Not included

12

False beliefs: unexpected contents

Basic

Not included

15

Certainty

Basic

Not included

16

Mental-physical distinction

Basic

Not included

26

Pretense: engaging in pretense

Basic

Not included

29

Counterfactual reasoning

Basic

Not included

30

Pretense: understanding pretense in others

Basic

Not included

31

Child’s ability to deceive

Basic

Not included

32

Cognitive emotion recognition (disgust)

Basic

ER

33

Speech acts: performatives (promises)

Basic

MSC

35

Pragmatics: secrets

Basic

PRAG

39

Mental state term comprehension: cognitive terms (belief)

Basic

MSC

42

Attribute-based behavior

Basic

Not included

51

Cognitive emotion recognition (surprise)

Basic

ER

53

Mental state term comprehension: desire (need)

Basic

MSC

57

Future thinking (self)

Basic

Not included

2

Pragmatics: sarcasm

Advanced

PRAG

5

Second-order false desire attribution

Advanced

Not included

13

Pragmatics: idiomatic language

Advanced

PRAG

14

Pragmatics: deception by others

Advanced

PRAG

17

Emotion recognition: display rules

Advanced

ER

18

Pragmatics: complex social judgment

Advanced

PRAG

19

Pragmatics: white lies

Advanced

PRAG

20

Pragmatics: lies versus jokes

Advanced

PRAG

21

Visual perspective-taking (level 2)

Advanced

Not included

22

Second-order understanding of belief

Advanced

Not included

23

Second-order understanding of emotion

Advanced

Not included

27

Complex social judgment

Advanced

Not included

34

Empathy

Advanced

Not included

36

Pragmatics: humor (play on words)

Advanced

PRAG

40

Mind as active interpreter: biased cognition

Advanced

Not included

41

Mind as active interpreter: ambiguous figure perception

Advanced

Not included

45

Pragmatics: audience adaptation

Advanced

PRAG

46

Conflicting emotions

Advanced

Not included

47

Folk (commonsense) psychology

Advanced

Not included

52

Complex emotion recognition (embarrassed)

Advanced

ER

55

Complex emotion recognition (guilt)

Advanced

ER

56

Autonoetic (self-knowing) awareness

Advanced

Not included

58

Mental state inference in context

Advanced

Not included

  1. Only some of the items were included in the social-related structure. Those not included are marked “Not included”
  2. ER emotion recognition, MSC mental state term comprehension, PRAG pragmatics

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Lee, SC., Fu, IN., Liu, MR. et al. Factorial Validity of the Theory of Mind Inventory-2 in Typically Developing Children. J Autism Dev Disord 53, 310–318 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-022-05426-0

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