Autism and intention attribution test: a non-verbal evaluation with comic strips

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Assessing mentalization in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is challenging due to limited standardized tools.
• Existing Theory of Mind (ToM) tests are not adaptable for individuals with cognitive or language impairments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel non-verbal test, the Intentions Attribution-Comic Strip Test (IA-CST).
• To evaluate the ability to infer intentions, a core component of ToM, in a clinical setting for individuals with ASD.

Main Methods:

• Study 1: Structural validation of the IA-CST in 261 healthy individuals using Exploratory Graph Analysis.
• Study 2: Assessed known group validity in 32 individuals with ASD against IQ-matched controls, using logistic regression and ROC curve analysis.

Main Results:

• The IA-CST demonstrated good structural stability and is a 3-dimension measure.
• Individuals with ASD performed significantly lower on intention attribution compared to controls.
• The test showed known group validity and preliminary suitability for clinical practice.

Conclusions:

• The IA-CST is a validated non-verbal tool for assessing intention attribution in clinical settings.
• Early assessment of ToM difficulties in ASD is crucial for developing individualized interventions.