Adaptation and validation of a social information processing assessment procedure for research

Biases and deficits in social information processing (SIP) skills are associated with social maladjustment in children and adolescents. There is much literature on the association between processing skills and their relationship to aggressive behavior, but there is limited knowledge about their association with other types of antisocial behavior. In this study we conducted a Spanish adaptation and validation of the Sociale Informatie Verwerkings Test, a Dutch research assessment and diagnostic instrument. For this purpose, construct, content and criterion validity were analyzed through their association with antisocial behaviors. Exploratory factor analysis supported the structure of the measure in a sample of 364 adolescents aged 12–18 years (55.2% female) from a high school in Spain. Constructs underlying the items of the new assessment were associated with SIP steps and profiles from SIP theory. SIP steps in the data of the new adaptation were related to each other being consistent with the theoretical conceptualization. The results showed associations between self-reported antisocial behaviors in adolescents with a greater tendency to aggressive SIP processing style. Treatment and training of such behaviors starts with valid assessment of the specific skills and steps that are biased or deficient, to which the current study contributes.