Cutoffs for the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters-II (MESSY-II) for typically developing children and for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders

The acquisition of social skills is an essential part of childhood and adolescent development. Due to its critical nature, assessment of appropriate and inappropriate social skills is necessary in order to determine whether or not deficits or excesses exist, thereby guiding treatment. The Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters (MESSY) was developed for this purpose, and it has recently been renormed and revised. Beyond a general understanding of where strengths and weaknesses lie, it is important to also be able to identify clinically significant impairments versus those that may be observed as a normal part of development. This was accomplished with typically developing children to establish cutoffs for the revised scale, the MESSY-II. Additionally, a sample of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders were administered the MESSY-II and their cutoff scores were examined.