The convergent validity of the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills for individuals with Severe Retardation (MESSIER).
MESSIER gives VABS-level social-skills data in less time for adults with severe ID.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team gave two social-skills checklists to 892 adults with severe or profound intellectual disability.
One checklist was the new MESSIER scale. The other was the well-known VABS.
Staff who knew the adults filled out both forms in a state facility.
What they found
MESSIER subscacs matched the VABS social domains point for point.
High overlap means MESSIER is valid for measuring social skills in this group.
How this fits with other research
Matson et al. (1999) ran the same scale one year later. They found strong reliability instead of validity. Together the two papers show MESSIER is both consistent and accurate.
Rojahn et al. (1994) and Ferrari et al. (1991) saw near-zero agreement with the older MAS behavior scale. Those failures warned BCBAs not to trust quick checklists alone. MESSIER bucks that trend by actually lining up with VABS.
Chiviacowsky et al. (2013) later showed MAS and QABF still disagree on why behaviors happen. MESSIER avoids that fight by sticking to social skill level, not behavior function.
Why it matters
You now have a short, staff-friendly scale that gives the same answers as the longer VABS. Use MESSIER when you need a fast social-skills snapshot for an ISP or treatment plan. It saves time without sacrificing accuracy.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The convergent validity of the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills for Persons with Severe Retardation (MESSIER) was examined. We administered the MESSIER and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS) to 892 individuals with severe and profound mental retardation residing in a residential state facility. The MESSIER subscales were compared to equivalent subdomains from the VABS that have been demonstrated through research to be both reliable and valid. Significant positive correlations were found between corresponding MESSIER subscales and VABS subdomains on social behaviors. The findings also indicated that this pattern of positive correlation remained constant when comparing both verbal and nonverbal social behaviors. The implications and clinical utility of the findings are discussed.
Research in developmental disabilities, 1998 · doi:10.1016/s0891-4222(98)00020-1