The Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters-II (MESSY-II) and Its Adaptation for Iranian Children and Adolescents with Intellectual Disability

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the psychometric properties and factor structure of the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters-II (MESSY-II) in a community population in Iran. The Iranian version of the MESSY-II was administered by interviewing care staff of all children and adolescents (n=355) with administratively defined intellectual disabilities (IDs) living in Tehran, Esfahan, Karaj & Kurdistan. Exploratory factor analysis showed two factor structures (Inappropriate Assertiveness/Impulsiveness and Appropriate Social Skills) for the MESSY-II. MESSY-II subscales demonstrated high internal consistency reliability. The present study indicates that the Persian form of MESSY-II is applicable to research on populations with varying mental functioning, diagnoses, ages, and living arrangements.