Validation of the Child and Adolescent Perception Measure

C. Koning and J. Magill-Evans, The Occupational Therapy Journal of Research, Winter 2001; 21, 1, Pages 49 - 67.

The Child and Adolescent Social Perception Measure (CASP) was developed to assess children's ability to identify the emotions of others based on non-verbal cues. Adolescent boys with social skills deficits consistent with the diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome were compared to controls matched on age and intelligence quotient (IQ). Significant differences were found between groups on CASP scores. Correlations between CASP scores and general social skills scores were moderate and positive; lower significant correlations were found with language scores; and significant negative correlations were found with problem behaviour scores. Validility for the CASP was demonstrated by the measure's ability to distinguish differences between groups and by correlations between scores on the CASP and scores on constructs related to social perception. Implications for occupational therapy assessment and treatment of social skill deficits are discussed.

A new measure of social perception, the Child and Adolescent Social Perception has attempted to overcome the limitations of other measures of social perception in children by examining social perception through use of videotaped scenes where nonverbal cues must be interpreted from many channels to understand what is happening.

The CASP (Magill-Evans et al., 1995) consists of 10-videotaped scenes depicting situations that children and adolescents frequently encounter. The sound has been audio filtered so that verbal content is unintelligible, but tone and rate of speech are still evident. The student must rely on nonverbal and situational cues understand the scene. Each scene contains two to five actors and lasts 19 to 40 seconds. After each scene the student identifies the emotions portrayed by each of the characters. Using the labels identified by the student, the examiner asks the student which cues he or she used to identify the emotions.