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Brief Report: Preliminary Evaluation of the Theory of Mind Inventory and its Relationship to Measures of Social Skills

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Abstract

This study presents updated information on a parent-report measure of Theory of Mind (ToM), formerly called the Perception of Children’s Theory of Mind Measure (Hutchins et al., J Autism Dev Disord 38:143–155, 2008), renamed the Theory of Mind Inventory (ToMI), for use with parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study examines the responses of parents of adolescents with ASDs and explores the relationship of parental responses on the ToMI to measures of autistic symptoms and social skills. Descriptive statistics were compared to previous samples; correlations and regressions were conducted to examine the ToMI’s criterion-related validity with social skills and ASD symptoms. Results support use of the ToMI with adolescent samples and its relationship to social impairments in ASDs.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the generous support of time and resources by the Commonwealth Autism Services, particularly Dottie Narodny, Didi Zaryczny, and John Toscano, who helped us to collect much of these data. We also thank Amori Mikami for her support of this project and the primary research assistant, Nancy Chae, for the hours she contributed. Most importantly, we thank the participating families, who volunteered a considerable amount of time to contributing their responses to these surveys and without whom this study would not be possible. The sponsor of the study (Commonwealth Autism Services) had no role in study design, data interpretation, or writing of the report.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, 102 Gilmer Hall, P.O. Box 400400, Charlottesville, VA, 22904-4400, USA

    Matthew D. Lerner

  2. Department of Communication Sciences, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA

    Tiffany L. Hutchins & Patricia A. Prelock

Authors
  1. Matthew D. Lerner
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  2. Tiffany L. Hutchins
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  3. Patricia A. Prelock
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Correspondence to Matthew D. Lerner.

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Lerner, M.D., Hutchins, T.L. & Prelock, P.A. Brief Report: Preliminary Evaluation of the Theory of Mind Inventory and its Relationship to Measures of Social Skills. J Autism Dev Disord 41, 512–517 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-010-1066-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-010-1066-z

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