Lee Shih-Chieh, Tsai Ching-Hong, Lin Yu-Ching, Li Hsing-Jung, Jiang Dai-Rong, Fu I-Ning, Chen Kuan-Lin
Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan City, Taiwan, ROC.
School of Occupational Therapy, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC.
Autism Res. 2021 Nov;14(11):2424-2431. doi: 10.1002/aur.2581. Epub 2021 Jul 21.
The Theory of Mind Inventory-2 appears to be a promising measure assessing children's theory of mind. However, a lack of evidence on its factorial structure interferes with score interpretation. To examine whether the currently-available structures of the Theory of Mind Inventory-2 are robust and replicable, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted in 242 children with autism spectrum disorder aged 3-12 years. Two possible structures were examined: the development-based structure, which reflects children's developmental stages of theory of mind (early, basic, and advanced), and the content-based structure, which represents children's social-related functions (emotion recognition, mental state term comprehension, and pragmatics). Four fit indices were adopted simultaneously to examine the model fit of both structures. We found that the development-based structure had a better model fit and was further modified. After modification, the development-based structure showed an improved model fit, but it was not completely acceptable in all fit indices. These findings suggest that the scores of the Theory of Mind Inventory-2 are more appropriate for reflecting children's developmental stages of theory of mind than the social-related functions in children with autism spectrum disorder. However, the domain scores should be cautiously interpreted because the model fits were not completely acceptable. For further revisions, ambiguous terms (e.g., "want" and "need") and confusing concepts assessed by the items (e.g., "recognize" and "understand") could be specified for a better representation of children's developmental stages of theory of mind. Moreover, further validations are needed. LAY SUMMARY: In children with autism spectrum disorder, the scores of the Theory of Mind Inventory-2 are more appropriate for indicating the developmental stages of theory of mind (early, basic, and advanced) than for indicating the social-related functions (emotion recognition, mental state term comprehension, and pragmatics). However, since the factorial validity was not completely acceptable, the domain scores should be interpreted cautiously. Moreover, further revisions and validations are warranted.
心理理论量表-2似乎是一种评估儿童心理理论的有前景的测量工具。然而，缺乏关于其因子结构的证据妨碍了分数解释。为了检验心理理论量表-2目前可用的结构是否稳健且可重复，对242名3至12岁的自闭症谱系障碍儿童进行了验证性因素分析。研究了两种可能的结构：基于发展的结构，它反映了儿童心理理论的发展阶段（早期、基础和高级）；以及基于内容的结构，它代表了儿童的社会相关功能（情绪识别、心理状态术语理解和语用学）。同时采用四个拟合指数来检验两种结构的模型拟合情况。我们发现基于发展的结构具有更好的模型拟合度，并对其进行了进一步修改。修改后，基于发展的结构显示出改进的模型拟合度，但在所有拟合指数中并非完全可接受。这些发现表明，在自闭症谱系障碍儿童中，心理理论量表-2的分数更适合反映儿童心理理论的发展阶段，而非社会相关功能。然而，由于模型拟合并非完全可接受，领域分数应谨慎解释。为了进一步修订，可以明确模糊的术语（如“想要”和“需要”）以及项目评估的混淆概念（如“识别”和“理解”），以便更好地呈现儿童心理理论的发展阶段。此外还需要进一步验证。通俗总结：在自闭症谱系障碍儿童中，心理理论量表-2的分数更适合表明心理理论的发展阶段（早期、基础和高级），而非表明社会相关功能（情绪识别、心理状态术语理解和语用学）。然而，由于因子效度不完全可接受，领域分数应谨慎解释。此外，还需要进一步修订和验证。
