Journal of Applied Psychological Research

Design, Validation, and Reliability of the Social Cognition Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Psychology and Education of Exceptional Children, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Assistant professor, Department of Psychology and Education of Exceptional Children, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to develop a social cognition questionnaire for infants and adolescents and to evaluate its reliability and validity. The research procedure was descriptive and psychometric in nature. The statistical population of the present research consisted of all students aged 9 to 17 in Mashhad during the 2021-2022 academic year. A total of 320 students (180 girls and 140 boys) were selected through sampling. A questionnaire developed by the researcher on the social cognition of infants and adolescents was included in the research instrument. The Content Validity Ratio (CVR) was employed to determine the scale’s face and content validity, while exploratory factor analysis was employed to determine its construct validity. To guarantee the instrument's reliability, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and SPSS software version 26 were employed. Three independent factors, empathy, communication skills, and theory of mind, were identified through exploratory factor analysis with independent varimax rotation. These factors collectively accounted for 54.042% of the total variance of the variables. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the entire questionnaire was 0.93, 0.78, 0.70, and 0.82, respectively. Due to the desirable behavioral characteristics of the social cognition questionnaire for children and adolescents, this tool can be used for research and clinical applications.

Keywords

دمهری، ف.، خطیبی، ط.، و عزیزی، م. (1399). مقایسۀ کارکردهای اجرایی و راهبردهای یادگیری در دانش‌آموزان اوتیستیک با عملکرد تحصیلی بالا و پایین. روان‌شناسی شناختی، ۸(۳)، ۸۶-۹۶. http://jcp.khu.ac.ir/article-1-3182-fa.html
رحیمی، ف.، قاسمی، ف.، و رهگذر، ح. (1401). مقایسۀ تأثیر یادگیری مشارکتی و شیوۀ سنتی یادگیری (سخنرانی) بر مهارت‌های ارتباطی دانشجویان مقطع پایۀ رشته پزشکی دانشگاه علوم پزشکی شیراز درسال 1398.  مجله توسعه آموزش جندی شاپور اهواز، 13(1)، 118-109. https://doi.org/10.22118/edc.2021.302390.1876
رشتچی، م. (1389). بررسی نظریۀ ویگوتسکی از دیدگاه روان‌شناسی و ارتباط آن با مبانی نظری آموزش فلسفه به کودکان. تفکر وکودک، 1(1)، 20-3. https://fabak.ihcs.ac.ir/article_263.html
کریمی، ح.، همتی ثابت، ا.، حقیقی، م.، احمدپناه، م.، و محمدبیگی، ح. (1392). مقایسۀ اثربخشی آموزش گروهی مدیریت خشم و مهارت‌های ارتباطی بر میزان پرخاشگری معتادان به حشیش زندان شهر همدان. مجلۀ تحقیقات علوم رفتاری، 11(2)، 138-129. http://rbs.mui.ac.ir/article-1-306-fa.html
محسنی، م.، بهرامی، ش.، و صفانیا، ع. م. (1400). بررسی اثر مهارت‌های ارتباطی بر نحوۀ گذراندن اوقات فراغت فعال با نقش میانجی تعاملات اجتماعی؛ مطالعۀ موردی دانش‌آموزان دختر شهرستان ساوه. مدیریت ارتباطات در رسانه های ورزشی، 8(3)، 82-73. https://doi.org/10.30473/jsm.2020.47823.1343
مرادی، پ. (1401). اثربخشی آموزش شایستگی اجتماعی بر مهارت‌های ارتباطی و تنظیم هیجان دربین دانش‌آموزان پرخاشگر دورۀ دوم ابتدایی. مجلۀ پیشرفت های نوین در روان‌شناسی، علوم تربیتی و آموزش و پرورش، 5(49)، 70-57. https://www.jonapte.ir/showpaper/9325621
نجاتی، و.، کمری، س.، و جعفری، ص. (1397). ساخت و بررسی ویژگی‌های روان‌سنجی پرسشنامۀ شناخت اجتماعی دانشجویان (شاد). شناخت اجتماعی، 7(2)، 144-123. https://doi.org/10.30473/sc.2018.29262.1931
نجف پور، ت.، چوبفروش زاده، آ.، محمدپناه اردکان، ع.، و خسروی لاریجانی، م. (1401). تأثیر مداخلۀ مبتنی بر نظریۀ ذهن برکاهش پرخاشگری و تقویت همدلی در کودکان. روان‌شناسی شناختی، ۱۰(۲)، ۴۰-۵۵. https://jcp.khu.ac.ir/article-1-3488-fa.html
نجفی فرد، ط.، بندک، م.، امرایی، ک.، بهرامی، ا.، یوسفی، ص.، و حبیبیان، ع. (1400). اثربخشی مهارت‌های ارتباطی بر سازگاری اجتماعی نوجوانان سندروم داون. پیشرفت های نوین در علوم رفتاری، ۶ (۵۴)، ۶02-۶15. http://ijndibs.com/article-1-639-fa.html
هاشمی، س.، نادری، ح.، و دهقان، ح. (1400). مقایسۀ نظریۀ ذهن، تنظیم شناختی هیجان مثبت و منفی و پرخاشگری دانش‌آموزان با و بدون مشکلات رفتاری. مشاوره مدرسه، 1(2)، 16-1. https://doi.org/10.22098/jsc.2021.1601
یعقوب نژاد،‌ س.، و مدیرخازنی، س. ‎م. (1392). شناخت اجتماعی در کودکان و نوجوانان نشانگان داون. تعلیم و تربیت استثنایی، ۷(۱۲۰)، 37-49. http://exceptionaleducation.ir/article-1-133-fa.html
References
Baez, S., Marengo, J., Perez, A., Huepe, D., Font, F. G., Rial, V., … & Ibanez, A. (2015). Theory of mind and its relationship with executive functions and emotion recognition in borderline personality disorder. Journal of Neuropsychology, 9(2), 203-218. https://doi.org/10.1111/jnp.12046
Beck, A. T., Baruch, E., Balter, J. M., Steer, R. A., & Warman, D. M. (2004). A new instrument for measuring insight: The Beck Cognitive Insight Scale. Schizophrenia Research, 68(2-3), 319-329. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0920-9964(03)00189-0
Bernardini, S., Porayska-Pomsta, K., & Smith, T. J. (2014). ECHOES: An intelligent serious game for fostering social communication in children with autism. Information Sciences, 264, 41-60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ins.2013.10.027
Bosacki, S. L. (2013). A longitudinal study of children's theory of mind, self-concept, and perceptions of humor in self and other. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 41(4), 663-673. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2013.41.4.663
Cattran, C., Oddy, M., Ramos, S. D. S., Goodson, A., & Wood, R. (2018). The development of a measure of social cognition following acquired brain injury. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 28(4), 633-648. https://doi.org/10.1080/09602011.2016.1202121
Çiray, R. O., Özyurt, G., Turan, S., Karagöz, E., Ermiş, Ç., Öztürk, Y., & Akay, A. (2022). The association between pragmatic language impairment, social cognition and emotion regulation skills in adolescents with ADHD. Nordic Journal of Psychiatry, 76(2), 89-95. https://doi.org/10.1080/08039488.2021.1938211
Comrey, A. L., & Lee, H. B. (2013). A first course in factor analysis (2nd Ed.). New York: Psychology Press. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315827506
Coucke, N., Heinrich, M. K., Cleeremans, A., & Dorigo, M. (2023). Learning from humans to build social cognition among robots. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 10, 1030416. https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2023.1030416
Demehri, F., Khatibi, T., & Azizi, M. (2020). Comparison of executive functions and learning strategies among autistic students with high and low academic performance. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 8(3), 86-96. http://jcp.khu.ac.ir/article-1-3182-en.html (In Persian)
Dewar, D. L., Lubans, D. R., Plotnikoff, R. C., & Morgan, P. J. (2012). Development and evaluation of social cognitive measures related to adolescent dietary behaviors. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 9, 36. https://doi.org/10.1186/1479-5868-9-36
Duclos, H., Desgranges, B., Eustache, F., & Laisney, M. (2018). Impairment of social cognition in neurological diseases. Revue Neurologique, 174(4), 190-198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurol.2018.03.003
Epley, N., Kardas, M., Zhao, X., Atir, S., & Schroeder, J. (2022). Undersociality: Miscalibrated social cognition can inhibit social connection. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 26(5), 406-418. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2022.02.007
Fabris, M. A., Longobardi, C., Morese, R., & Marengo, D. (2022). Exploring multivariate profiles of psychological distress and empathy in early adolescent victims, bullies, and bystanders involved in cyberbullying episodes. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(16), 9871. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19169871
Gaither, S. E., Fan, S. P., & Kinzler, K. D. (2020). Thinking about multiple identities boosts children's flexible thinking. Developmental Science, 23(1), e0012871. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12871
Gandolfi, G., Pickering, M. J., & Garrod, S. (2023). Mechanisms of alignment: shared control, social cognition and metacognition. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 378(1870), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2021.0362
Grealy, M. K., Godfrey, E., Brady, F., O’Sullivan, E. W., Carroll, G. A., & Burke, T. (2022). Borderline personality disorder traits and mentalising ability: The self-other social cognition paradox. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13, 1023348. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1023348
Greenwood, J. D. (2019). Social cognition, social neuroscience, and evolutionary social psychology: What’s missing? Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 49(2), 161–178. https://doi.org/10.1111/jtsb.12197
Hashemi, S., Naderi, H., & Dehghan, H. (2021). Comparison theory of mind, Positive and negative cognitive emotion regulation and aggression in students with and without behavioral problems. Journal of School Counseling, 1(2), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.22098/jsc.2021.1601 (in Persian)
Heleniak, C., & McLaughlin, K. A. (2020). Social-cognitive mechanisms in the cycle of violence: Cognitive and affective theory of mind, and externalizing psychopathology in children and adolescents. Development and Psychopathology, 32(2), 735-750. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579419000725
Hengstschläger, A., Sommerlad, A., & Huntley, J. (2022). What are the neural correlates of impaired awareness of social cognition and function in dementia? A systematic review. Brain Sciences, 12(9), 1136. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12091136
Ho, M. K., Saxe, R., & Cushman, F. (2022). Planning with theory of mind. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 26(11), 959-971. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2022.08.003
Juhl, J., Wildschut, T., Sedikides, C., Diebel, T., Cheung, W. Y., & Vingerhoets, A. J. (2020). Nostalgia proneness and empathy: Generality, underlying mechanism, and implications for prosocial behavior. Journal of Personality, 88(3), 485-500. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12505
Karimi, H., Hemmati Sabet, A., Haghighi, M., Ahmadpanah, M., & Mohammd Beigy, H. (2013). Comparing the effectiveness of group anger management and communication skills training on aggression of marijuana addicted prisoners. Journal of Research in Behavioral Sciences, 11(2), 129-138. http://rbs.mui.ac.ir/article-1-306-en.html (In Persian)
Korucu, I., Selcuk, B., & Harma, M. (2017). Self‐regulation: Relations with theory of mind and social behaviour. Infant and Child Development, 26(3), e1988. https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.1988
Kumfor, F., Irish, M., Hodges, J. R., & Piguet, O. (2013). Discrete neural correlates for the recognition of negative emotions: Insights from frontotemporal dementia. PloS ONE, 8(6), e67457. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0067457
Kushnir, T. (2022). Imagination and social cognition in childhood. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Cognitive Science, 13(4), e1603. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.1603
Lawshe, C. H. (1975). A quantitative approach to content validity. Personnel Psychology, 28(4), 563-575. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.1975.tb01393.x
Li, F., Jiang, Y., Zhang, B., Zhu, X., & Sha, T. (2022). The relationship between theory of mind and social competence with peers in Chinese urban preschoolers: The effects of rater, age, and gender. Early Child Development and Care, 193(3), 432-446. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2022.2102614
MacDonald, H. Z., & Price, J. L. (2019). The role of emotion regulation in the relationship between empathy and internalizing symptoms in college students. Mental Health & Prevention, 13, 43-49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mhp.2018.11.004
McDonald, B., Böckler, A., & Kanske, P. (2022). Soundtrack to the social world: Emotional music enhances empathy, compassion, and prosocial decisions but not theory of mind. Emotion, 22(1), 19–29. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0001036
Mohseni, M., Bahrami, S., & Safania, A. (2021). Effect of communication skills on how to spend leisure time with the mediating role of social interaction among female students in Saveh city. Communication Management in Sport Media, 8(3), 73-82. https://doi.org/10.30473/jsm.2020.47823.1343 (In Persian (
Moradi, P. (2022). The effectiveness of social competency training on communication skills and emotion regulation in aggressive second year students. Journal of New Developments in Psychology, Educational Sciences and Education, 5(49), 57-70. https://www.jonapte.ir/showpaper/9325621 (In Persian)
Mouga, S., Duarte, I. C., Café, C., Sousa, D., Duque, F., Oliveira, G., & Castelo-Branco, M. (2022). Parahippocampal deactivation and hyperactivation of central executive, saliency and social cognition networks in autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 14, 9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s11689-022-09417-1
Najafi Fard, T., Bandak, M., Amrai, K., Bahrami, E., Yousefi, S., & Habibiyan, A. (2021). The effectiveness of communication skills on the social adjustment of adolescents with Down syndrome. The Journal of New Advances in Behavioral Sciences, 6(54), 615-602. http://ijndibs.com/article-1-639-fa.html (In Persian)
Najafpour, T., Choobforoushzadeh, A., Mohammadpanah Ardakan, A., & Khosravi Larijani, M. (2022). The effectiveness of intervention based on theory of mind on reducing aggression and empathy improvement in children. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 10(2), 40-55. http://jcp.khu.ac.ir/article-1-3488-en.html (In Persian)
Nejati, V., Kamari, S., & Jafari, S. (2018). Construction and examine the psychometric characteristics of student Social Cognition Questionnaire (SHAD). Social Cognition, 7(2), 123-144. https://doi.org/10.30473/sc.2018.29262.1931 (In Persian)
Rahimi, F., Ghasemi, F., & Rahgozar, H. (2022). Comparison of the effect of collaborative learning and traditional learning method (lecture) on communication skills of medical students in Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in 1398. Educational Development of Jundishapur, 13(1), 109-118. https://doi.org/10.22118/edc.2021.302390.1876  (In Persian)
Rao, P. A., Beidel, D. C., & Murray, M. J. (2008). Social skills interventions for children with Asperger’s syndrome or high-functioning autism: A review and recommendations. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38, 353-361. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-007-0402-4  
Rashtchi, M. (2010). A psychological survey of Vigotsky's theory and its relationship with the theoretical foundations of teaching philosophy to children. Thinking and Children, 1(1), 3-20. https://fabak.ihcs.ac.ir/article_263.html?lang=en (In Persian)
Roberts, D. L., Kleinlein, P., & Stevens, B. (2012). An alternative to generating alternative interpretations in social cognitive therapy for psychosis. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 40(4), 491-495. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1352465812000082  
Singleton, E. H., Fieldhouse, J. L., van’t Hooft, J. J., Scarioni, M., ... & Ossenkoppele, R. (2023). Social cognition deficits and biometric signatures in the behavioural variant of Alzheimer’s disease. Brain, 146(5), 2163-2174. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awac382
Sperling, R. A., Walls, R. T., & Hill, L. A. (2000). Early relationships among self-regulatory constructs: Theory of mind and preschool children's problem solving. Child Study Journal, 30(4), 233-252. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2001-01043-002
Tomasello, M. (2019). The moral psychology of obligation. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 43, e56. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X19001742
Van den Bedem, N. P., Willems, D., Dockrell, J. E., van Alphen, P. M., Rieffe, C. (2019). Interrelation between empathy and friendship development during (pre)adolescence and the moderating effect of developmental language disorder: A longitudinal study. Social Development, 28(3), 599–619. https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12353
Vygotsky, L. S., & Cole, M. (1978). Mind in society: Development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvjf9vz4
Wang, M., Wang, J., Deng, X., & Chen, W. (2019). Why are empathic children more liked by peers? The mediating roles of prosocial and aggressive behaviors. Personality and Individual Differences, 144, 19-23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.02.029
Weightman, M. J., Knight, M. J., & Baune, B. T. (2019). A systematic review of the impact of social cognitive deficits on psychosocial functioning in major depressive disorder and opportunities for therapeutic intervention. Psychiatry Research, 274, 195-212. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2019.02.035
Weisz, E., & Cikara, M. (2021). Strategic regulation of empathy. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 25(3), 213-227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2020.12.002
Wellman, H. M. (2014). Making minds: How theory of mind develops. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199334919.001.0001
Wolf, F., Brüne, M., & Assion, H. J. (2010). Theory of mind and neurocognitive functioning in patients with bipolar disorder. Bipolar Disorders, 12(6), 657-666. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1399-5618.2010.00854.x
Xu, X., Liu, Z., Gong, S., & Wu, Y. (2022). The relationship between empathy and attachment in children and adolescents: Three-level meta-analyses. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(3), 1391; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19031391
Yamada, Y., Inagawa, T., Sueyoshi, K., Sugawara, N., ... & Sumiyoshi, T. (2019). Social cognition deficits as a target of early intervention for psychoses: A systematic review. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 10, 00333. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00333
YaqoubNejad‎, S.‎, & Khazeny,‎ S, M. (2013). Social cognition in children and adolescents Down Syndrome. Journal of Exceptional Education, 7(120), 37-49. http://exceptionaleducation.ir/article-1-133-en.html (In Persian) 
Journal of Applied Psychological Research
Volume 16, Issue 4
December 2025
Pages 139-151
  • Receive Date: 03 March 2023
  • Revise Date: 02 July 2023
  • Accept Date: 15 July 2023
  • First Publish Date: 18 August 2025
  • Publish Date: 22 December 2025