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O RI G I N A L P A P E R

Theory of Mind, Socio-Emotional Problem-Solving,Socio-Emotional Regulation in Children with Intellectual

Disability and in Typically Developing Children

Celine Baurain   • Nathalie Nader-Grosbois

Published online: 11 September 2012

  Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012

Abstract   This study has examined the link between

social information processing (SIP) and socio-emotionalregulation (SER) in 45 children with intellectual disability

(ID) and 45 typically developing (TD) children, matched

on their developmental age. A Coding Grid of SER,

focusing on Emotional Expression, Social Behaviour and

Behaviours towards Social Rules displayed by children in

three dyadic contexts (neutral, competitive or cooperative)

was applied. Correlational analyses highlighted specific

‘‘bi-directional’’ links between some abilities in SIP and in

SER, presenting between-groups partial similarities and

dissimilarities that allowed discussing the developmental

delay versus difference hypotheses in ID children. Cluster

cases analyses identified subgroups with variable patterns

of links. In both groups, the SIP and some categories of 

SER varied depending on developmental age.

Keywords   Theory of mind     Social problem-solving  

Emotion regulation     Dyadic play     Intellectual disability

Introduction

This study has examined the link between abilities in the-

ory of mind-emotions (ToM), in socio-emotional problem-

solving (SEPS) and the socio-emotional regulation (SER)

in children with intellectual disability (ID) compared to

typically developing (TD) children matched for develop-

mental age (DA) ranging from 3 to 6 years, in order to testthe ‘‘difference structure hypothesis’’ between components

of these processes in ID children. Our approach was based

on the heuristic model of social skills in typical and atyp-

ical childhood, developed by Yeates et al. (2007), that

distinguishes three interrelated levels:(1) social informa-

tion processing (SIP) including ToM and SEPS; (2) social

interactions including SER; (3) social adjustment in the

social relationships.

The SIP depends on the individual’s social cognition

contributing to the understanding of social situations and to

the socio-emotional problem-solving (Nader-Grosbois

2011a). As the ToM refers to the cognitive ability to infer

or understand his or her own mental states, emotions and of 

others, it requires the child to take into account others’

perspective (Flavell   1999; Koski and Steck    2010).

Depending on their cognitive maturation, preschoolers

discriminate various expressions of emotions in facial,

gestural and verbal display and they acquire the under-

standing of emotions that allow them to predict emotions

according to situations (understanding of causes) and to

predict behaviours according to the emotions that are felt

(understanding of consequences) (Cole et al. 2008; Gouin-

Decarie et al.  2005; Hughes and Leekam  2004; Ketelaars

et al. 2010; Nader-Grosbois 2011a, b; Perron and Gosselin

2009; Scharfe 2000; Slaughter et al. 2002). Moreover, they

gradually become able to think about social problem-

solving which contributes to a more and more effective

social functioning in their relationships (Dodge et al.

2002). In this study, we have focused on the ID and TD

children’s understanding of causes and of consequences of 

emotions in ToM and on their abilities in socio-emotional

problem-solving (SEPS), situated in the SIP level of the

model of Yeates et al. (2007).

C. Baurain     N. Nader-Grosbois (&)

Institute of Psychological Sciences (IPSY), Research Center

for Health and Psychological Development, Chair Baron Frere

in Special Education, Catholic University of Louvain, 10,

Place Cardinal Mercier, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

e-mail: nathalie.nader@uclouvain.be

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During social interactions, the children may express

their emotions and/or social behaviours and regulate them

according their goals, the context or the person with whom

they are interacting. Emotion regulation (ER) was defined

‘‘as the process of initiating, avoiding, inhibiting, main-

taining, or modulating the occurrence, form, intensity, or

duration of internal feeling states, emotion-related physi-

ological, attentional processes, motivational states, and/orthe behavioural concomitants of emotion in the service of 

accomplishing affect-related biological or social adaptation

or achieving individual goals’’ (Eisenberg and Spinrad

2004, p. 338). ER refers to changes associated with acti-

vated emotions, including changes in the emotion itself and

in other processes (e.g., memory, social interaction) (Cole

et al. 2004, p. 320). During the development, children learn

to use inter- and intra- personal strategies in order to

control and to modify the expression of their emotions to

achieve their prioritized goals and adjust themselves to the

context (Cole et al.   2004; Davidson et al.   2000; Dennis

2007; Eisenberg et al.  2001; Feng et al.  2008; Galyer andEvans   2001; Gross   2007; Kalpidou et al.   2004; Tamir

2011; Thompson 1994, 2011). From the age of 2–3 to 6, the

representations, the language help the children to acquire

self-regulated, anticipated and proactive strategies of ER;

they display socio-emotional behaviours in respecting

social rules, for the benefit of positive social interactions

with peers and adults (Cole et al. 2004, 2008; Dennis 2006,

2007; Dennis and Kelemen   2009; Dennis et al.   2009;

Eisenberg and Fabes   1992; Eisenberg et al.   1995,   1997;

Fabes et al.   1999; Holodynski and Friedlmeier   2005;

Kalpidou et al. 2004; Macklem 2008; Perron and Gosselin

2004, 2009; Rieder et al. 2007; Saarni 1999; Spinrad et al.

2006). As preschooler’s ER includes an inter-individual

process facilitating their adjustment to social environment

(Eisenberg et al. 1995; Fabes et al.  1999; Feng et al. 2008;

Rydell et al. 2003) and an intra-individual process helping

self-control (Dumas and Lebeau   1998; Stein et al.   2008);

and as we focus on how children regulate their emotional

and social behaviour, we call them ‘‘socio-emotional reg-

ulation’’ (SER). In this study, the children’s socio-emo-

tional behaviours are observed during interactions with

others (adult and peer) in distinct contexts (neutral, com-

petitive or cooperative); the observation of SER is situated

in the social interactions level of the model of Yeates et al.

(2007).

What Links are Postulated Between SIP and SER

Processes?

In their model, Yeates et al. (2007) postulate ‘‘bi-direc-

tional’’ links between the processes of the three levels of 

social skills; thus, SIP can affect social interaction

(including socio-emotional behaviour) which in turn

affects social adjustment and vice versa. In other words,

children whose SIP is appropriately mobilized were able to

interact easily, display prosocial behaviour and to establish

positive relationships (Nader-Grosbois  2011a). Barisnikov

and Hippolyte (2011) support these bi-directional links in

ID and TD people. Similarly, the understanding of emo-

tions and the SER are also conceived as interrelated skills

in models developed by other authors (Halberstadt et al.2001; Leerkes et al.  2008).

In a predictive perspective, other authors postulated that

the understanding of emotion enables emotion regulation

which in turn facilitates cognitive and behavioural coping

strategies; consequently, the understanding of emotion

should be considered as a mediator of relations between

emotion regulation and social adaptation (Izard et al.  2000);

or the level of regulation in preschoolers could predict their

emotional understanding 2 years later (Schultz et al.  2001).

Nevertheless, more rarely, a lack of association between

these two processes was observed: TD children with a high

level in SIP have not necessarily a good SER and viceversa (Lindsey and Colwell 2003).

What About These Skills in SIP and SER in ID

Children in this Developmental Period?

In order to appreciate whether there is deficit or delay in

these skills, it requires referring to the distinction between

developmental delay hypothesis versus difference hypoth-

esis about the development in ID children compared to TD

children (Flanagan et al.  2008; Hodapp et al.  1990; Zigler

and Balla 1982). As most of studies describing deficits in

ID children compared them to TD children, matched on

their chronological age (CA), Zigler and Balla suggested

that it necessary to match both populations on their mental

age to distinguish their similarities or differences and

estimate whether ID children’s specificities could be

explained either in terms of ‘‘delay’’ or ‘‘difference’’ of 

development.

According to the developmental delay hypothesis, ID

children should present similar developmental sequences and

similar structures in their abilities and according the devel-

opmental difference hypothesis, ID should present dissimilar

sequences and structures, in comparison with DA-matched

TD children (Nader-Grosbois 2006). During the last decade,

there has been an emergence of studies about ID persons on

their ToM, their emotion regulation, their emotional abilities

in taking into account their specificities in communication and

in social adjustment (Nader-Grosbois 2011b).

Focusing on ToM, Thirion-Marissiaux and Nader-

Grosbois (2008a,   b,   c) found that ID and TD children

matched on their DA did not differ in their levels of 

understanding of causes and consequences of emotions,

supporting the hypothesis of developmental delay of ToM

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in ID children. In both groups, the ToM varied depending

on the children’s DA, but not on the CA in ID children. A

delay or some deficits in ID children in their SIP (including

emotion recognition; Pochon et al.   2006; Wishart et al.

2007; Zabalia and Corfec 2008) and in executive functions

implying difficulties in self-control, in self-regulation, in

inhibition (Anderson et al.   2001; Edgin   2003; Nader-

Grosbois 2007) could influence their emotion regulation.The study conducted by Baurain and Nader-Grosbois

(2012) used a new methodological design and a validated

grid of coding for the assessment ofSER (see detailson inter-

raters validity andfactorialanalyses for validationin Baurain

and Nader-Grosbois 2011b). TD and ID children were asked

to solve socio-emotional problems in three dyadic contexts

(neutral with an adult, competitive and cooperative with a

peer). Their results indicated no significant difference

between DA-matched ID and TD children for the intensity

and the frequency of emotional expressions (joy, sadness,

frustration and anger), the frequency of their behaviour

towards social rules and for their adaptation of expressedemotions; these observations supported the hypothesis of 

developmental delay of SER skills in ID children. Only the

displaying of social behaviour was significantly less frequent

in ID group than in TD group. In both groups, there was an

effect of dyadic context on the frequency of emotional

expressions and of social behaviour, and also on the intensity

of expressed emotions (in favour of cooperative and com-

petitive contexts with peers). Moreover, the behaviour

toward social rules of both groups and the emotional

expressions in TD group varied depending on their DA and

only very partially depending on the CA in ID group.

Although several studies have highlighted emotional

abilities in ID children (Brun and Mellier  2004; Buchel and

Paour 2005; Pochon et al.  2006), there are too rare studies

investigating the link between their SIP and SER (Baurain

and Nader-Grosbois 2009a, b, 2011a; Leerkes et al. 2008).

However, some authors have investigated the use of per-

spective taking and mental-state inference in representing

and taking part in dyadic interactions in adolescents and

adults with autism and TD children (Begeer et al.   2010).

The literature justified to study the links between the SIP

and the SER in ID and TD children.

Our main objective was to test structural hypotheses of delay

or difference about the links between abilities in SIP (including

ToM and socio-emotional problem solving) and abilities in

SER, by examining between-group similarities versus differ-

ences in relational structural patterns in these abilities in

DA-matched ID and TD children. We took into account the

possible impact of their CAand their DAon these processesand

investigated whether inter- and intra-individual variability in

these processes could involve the identification of subgroupsof 

children who present distinct patterns of links between specific

components of these processes in their profiles.

Method

Participants

The 90 participants were 45 ID children (26 girls, 19 boys)

and 45 TD children (23 girls, 22 boys), recruited from

French-speaking Belgian special schools (adapted for

children with mild and moderate ID) and ordinary schoolsrespectively. Both groups were matched for their DA,

assessed by means of the Differential Scales of Intellectual

Efficiency- Revised edition (EDEI-R, Perron-Borelli

1996). Table 1 shows the mean and the standard deviation

of their CA and their DA. For both groups, their DA of 

between 3 and 6 years correspond to a critical develop-

mental period of the processes in SIP and in SER. The

aetiologies of ID were genetic syndromes, pre-, peri- or

post-natal complaints, and non-specific retardations due to

environmental under-stimulation. We included only chil-

dren with French as their mother tongue and excluded

children presenting conduct disorders or autism, and sen-sory or motor deficiency. 90 children who acted as partners

in dyadic games were matched with the targeted children

on the basis of their similar level of school learning. The

adult partner in the game was the examiner/researcher.

Instruments

 Differential Scales of Intellectual Efficiency-Revised 

Edition (EDEI-R, Perron-Borelli 1996 )

Validated with atypical and typical populations for children

from 3 to 9 years old, these scales were used in order to

match the participants of the two groups for global DA.

They made it possible to distinguish between a verbal

developmental age (VDA) and a non-verbal developmental

age (NVDA). The VDA was calculated by means of scores

obtained on five scales (vocabulary, word definition,

knowledge, social understanding and conceptualization).

The NVDA was calculated by means of the scores obtained

on four scales (classification of pairs of pictures, classifi-

cation of three pictures, categorial analysis and practical

Table 1   Mean scores and standard deviation of chronological ageand developmental age in months

Groups ID (n  =  45) TD (n   = 45)

 M   (SD)   M   (SD)

Chronological age 110.02 (21.98) 54.41 (11.28)

Developmental age 56.41 (10.99) 56.50 (13.2)

Verbal developmental age 56.95 (12.71) 56.15 (13.16)

Non-verbal developmental age 55.41 (12.57) 56.9 (15.24)

 ID   children with intellectual disability,  TD   typically developing

children, n   number of children, M  mean,  SD   standard deviation

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adaptation). Their applicability to ID participants has been

confirmed (Tourrette 2006).

ToM-Emotion Tasks (Nader-Grosbois

and Thirion-Marissiaux 2011)

In order to assess ToM in typical and atypical children, an

adapted measure of the understanding of causes and of consequences of the four basic emotions using pictures was

developed and validated. A preliminary   task of facial

emotional expression recognition  of four basic emotions

(joy, sadness, anger and fear) was presented; correct rec-

ognition was a necessary condition before administer two

ToM-emotion tasks. Adapted from the tasks proposed by

Quintal (2001), it consists of: Causes of emotions task  (the

child has to understand the emotion felt by the character of 

a story according to the situation with which this last one is

confronted) and Consequences of emotions task  (according

the emotion felt by the character of a story, the child has to

predict the behaviour of this last one). The   Causes of emotions task   included four similar beginnings of scripts

illustrated by two pictures. The end of each script requires

a choice from among four emotions: joy, sadness, anger

and fear (illustrated by pictures). For each script, the

examiner/researcher told the script and the child was asked

to make an emotion attribution to the main character by

pointing to the most appropriate of four facial emotional

expressions. Finally, the examiner/researcher asked to

 justify his or her answer. The   consequences of emotions

task   included four scripts (illustrated by two pictures)

corresponding to four situations in which the character felt

 joy, sadness, anger or fear. The end of each script requires

a choice among three types of character’s behaviour

(illustrated by three pictures): adjusted social behaviour,

maladjusted social behaviour, or neutral behaviour. For

each script, the examiner/researcher told the script and the

child was asked to make a choice among the three pictures.

Finally, the examiner/researcher asked to justify his or her

answer. The response to each emotional script was scored

between 0 and 1.5 point according to the participant’s

 justification. For each task, the maximal score was 6 points

and the both ToM-emotion tasks were scored from a total

of 12 points.

These ToM tasks have been validated, by Nader-

Grosbois and Thirion-Marissiaux (2011), from data col-

lected in 40 TD children and 40 ID children or adolescents,

matched for developmental age. On the basis of the

decoding of 80 videos illustrating the administration of 

ToM tasks, an estimate of inter-observer reliability was

carried out by two independent observers. Concerning the

Causes of emotions task   and   Consequences of emotions

task, the validation results were similar for the two tasks in

the TD group: inter-observer reliability was 98 %, Cohen’s

kappa was on average .92 and Pearson’s inter-observer

correlation coefficient was .96. In ID children, inter-

observer reliability was 96 and 95 % for the two tasks

respectively, Cohen’s kappa was on average .90 and .89,

and Pearson’s inter-observer correlation coefficient was .94

and .93. Test–retest validation (with an interval of 

2 months) of the two tasks was excellent in the two groups.

The Social Solving Task (RES, Barisnikov et al. 2004)

Recently, Barisnikov and Hippolyte (2011) validated ‘‘the

socio-cognitive battery’’ assessing socio-cognitive, emo-

tional and relational skills of mild to moderate ID people,

including the RES. It allows an estimation of the capacity

of ID people to judge whether or not other people’s social

behaviour is appropriate, and to determine the extent to

which their judgment is based on the knowledge of con-

ventional and\or moral rules. The 14 items, illustrated by

14 pictures, consist of appropriate versus inappropriate

social behaviour displayed by a character in social situa-tions taken from everyday life. Three questions are pro-

posed. The first question assesses the judgment of adequate

or inadequate social behaviour: ‘‘What happens in this

 picture? What do you think? Is he/she doing something that 

is good or that is not good ?’’ (Maximum score   =  2). The

second question assesses the identification of the target

behaviour of the situation: ‘‘Can you show me what is

good/not good in this picture?’’ (Maximum score   =  1).

The third question estimates the level of justification, in

reference to social rules, connected to the judgment: ‘‘Why

it is the good/not good?’’ (Maximum score   =   7). The

maximum score for three questions in 14 items is 140.

 Dyadic Game of Socio-Emotional Problem-Solving

(Baurain and Nader-Grosbois 2007 )

This game aims to put the children into several problem-

solving situations in different interactive contexts in order

to observe and analyze their socio-emotional behaviour

directly. The purpose of the game is to resolve several

problems in order to reach the end of the course, and the

child plays in various possible interactive climates: neutral

(the child plays only with an adult), competitive, and

cooperative (the child plays with another child-partner).

Two aspects are estimated: (1) variation of SER depending

on the interactive contexts elicited by the design by

applying the ‘‘coding grid of SER by sequences’’ by

viewing videos illustrating children playing in the game

(Baurain and Nader-Grosbois   2011b); (2) performance in

SEPS. In every context, SEPS corresponds to identifying

the character’s emotion among four basic emotions (joy,

sadness, anger and fear), to differentiate the inappropriate

social behaviour versus the appropriate social behaviour, in

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choosing among several possibilities illustrated by pictures.

The design is intended to elicit positive and negative

emotions in children during these distinct sequences of 

game: notably frustration when they fail or when their

partner succeeds, and joy when they succeed or when they

progress more than their partner in the game; it creates a

situation where the children need to regulate their emo-

tions, their emotional expressions and their socio-emo-tional behaviours. These behaviours could be managed in

different ways by the children depending on the context

and the sequence, and could be more or less adjusted

depending on these situational aspects. This interactive

game, played in a quiet place at school, was filmed by a

camera placed in front of the child, to make it easier to

record responses and to fill in the grid of SER.

For 13 SEPS, we obtain scores of nine situations-prob-

lems and of four critical stories for each of contexts, as well

as global scores. For four critical stories relative to the

basic emotions, we attribute 1 point per recognized emo-

tion. For the nine situations/problems, we attribute 3 pointsper situation/problem (1 point if the child recognizes what

is socially acceptable or not in the behaviour of one or

several protagonist(s); 1 point if the child is capable of 

 justifying what he or she considers acceptable or not; 1

point if the child is capable of choosing the socially

acceptable behaviour according to the situation). The order

of these nine situations/problems and the possible solution

(illustrated by acceptable social behaviour) vary in order to

limit the inter-contexts learning biases. For 13 SEPS, the

maximum score per context is 31 points and 93 points for

all the three contexts. It is possible to attribute .5 if the

examiner/researcher helps the target-child.

Coding Grid of Socio-Emotional Regulation by Sequences

(Baurain and Nader-Grosbois 2011b)

In our study, we have focused on the manner in which

children regulate emotional expressions, responses and

social behaviours in dyadic interactions, when they are

confronted to sequences of a game inducing positive versus

negative emotions in distinct contexts.

This grid was created firstly with reference to behav-

ioural categories in questionnaires completed by parents or

teachers, such as the Emotion Regulation Checklist (ERC,

Shields and Cicchetti   1997), the Emotional Regulation

Rating Scale (ERRS, Carlson and Wang   2007), and the

Emotion Regulation Subscale of the Social Competence

Scale (Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group

1999) and in direct measurements in observational contexts

(Adams Dillon   2009; Cole et al.   2008; Dennis   2006;

Dennis and Kelemen   2009; Eisenberg et al.   2001; Fabes

et al. 1999; Feng et al.  2008; Flem et al. 1998; Galyer and

Evans 2001; Hill et al. 2006; Kalpidou et al. 2004; Lindsey

and Colwell   2003; Rothbart and Bates   1998). The grid

(‘‘Appendix  1’’) allows assessing, through verbal and non

verbal behaviour, the variability of SER depending on three

interactive contexts and on three temporal sequences (three

challenges per sequence). It includes 26 items divided into

four categories:   Emotional Expressions   and   Emotional

 Adaptation;   Behaviour towards Social Rules  (listen and

follow adult’s instructions, wait ones turn);   Social Behav-iour    (pro-social, empathic behaviour and behaviour

towards the task such as self-effort or self-control); and

 Awareness and Evocation of Emotion. There are three

distinct contexts: the target-child plays with an adult-

partner in neutral context, and with a child-partner in

competitive and cooperative contexts. The scoring of 22

items in the first three categories corresponds to the fre-

quency of behaviour. ‘‘Appendix   2’’ presents the scoring

and the minimum and maximum scores considered in the

grid. The category Awareness and Evocation of Emotion is

scored dichotomously, yes or no. Validation phases and

statistical analyses were performed in order to verify theconcordance between judges, the internal structure, the

consistency of the grid, and the relevance of assessing

performances in SEPS in the interactive game. Cohen’s

kappa, the intra-class correlation coefficient, factorial

analysis, Cronbach’s alpha and inter-judge comparisons

were all used in order to validate and improve this coding

grid (Baurain and Nader-Grosbois 2011b).

Procedure

In two or three individual sessions (each lasting 45 min), we

administered EDEI-R, ToM emotion tasks and RES. In

dyadic sessions, we organized the Dyadic Game of Socio-

Emotional Problem-Solving, in three types of interactive

dyadic context: neutral with the examiner, competitive and

cooperative with a peer in the presence of the examiner lasted

15 min. The examiner began the first dyadic session in the

neutral context, then randomly proposed two other dyadic

sessions (competitive or cooperative contexts). These indi-

vidual and dyadic sessions took place in a quiet room at

school and were filmed by a camera placed in front of the

child. The examiner completed the Coding Grid of Socio-

Emotional Regulation by Sequences by analysing the

recorded videos for each target child and each game context.

The examiner had been trained to identify verbal and non-

verbal cues of emotional expression and the socio-emotional

and emotion regulation behaviours described in the grid and

had previous experience of organizing the game.

The procedure used for analysis was as follows. In order

to compare mean scores in SIP (specifically in ToM, RES,

SEPS) and in components of SER (Emotional Expression,

Social Behaviour, Behaviour toward Social Rules) between

the two groups, we applied independent samples   t   test

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analyses. The links between these SIP and SER variables

were examined by means of correlational and Chi-square

analyses in order to compare structural relation patterns

between the two groups and to test the ‘‘structural

hypothesis of difference’’ in ID children compared with

DA-matched TD children. Moreover, multiple comparisons

(Bonferroni) of DA subgroups and Spearman’s coefficients

of correlations between children’s DA and SIP and SERvariables were conducted, in order to assess the impact of 

DA on these processes. Hierarchical cluster case analyses

(by means of the Ward method and Euclidian distance)

were also applied, using, firstly, scores in ToM and in each

category of SER, and secondly, scores in RES and in each

category of SER, in order to examine whether there were

distinct patterns of links between SIP and SER variables in

identified subgroups.

Results

Participant’s Characteristics

The Table 1   presents average scores and standard devia-

tions for participants’ characteristics. The DA did not differ

between both groups, in spite of a higher mean CA in the

ID group than in the TD group.

Inter- and Intra-Group Variability of SIP

 Inter- and Intra-Group Variability of ToM-Emotions

As seen in Table 2, independent samples   t   test analyzes

showed no significant difference between both groups of 

the total of ToM, of the understanding of   causes   and of 

consequences of emotions.

High significant correlations were obtained between TD

children’s CA and abilities in ToM, and specifically for the

understanding of   consequences of emotions. In the ID

group, no significant correlation was obtained between

children’s CA and ToM abilities, except a low significant

positive link with the understanding of   consequences of emotions (see Table 3).

For both groups, positive significant correlations were

obtained between children’s DA and abilities in ToM,

except specifically for the understanding of   causes of 

emotions   in the TD group (see Table  4). Multiple com-

parisons (Bonferroni) were performed to test the extent to

which the children’s DA could influence the ToM (see

Table 5). For both groups, there were significant differ-

ences in favour of the higher DA subgroups for  total ToM 

emotions   and the understanding of   consequences of 

emotions.

 Inter- and Intra-Group Variability of SEPS 

Independent sample t  test analyses performed on the scores

in RES and in the 13 SEPS during the game in both groups

showed no significant difference, except only a higher

mean score in competitive context in ID group than in TD

group (see Table 2).

Contrary to the TD group, in the ID group, no significant

correlation was obtained between children’s CA and scores

in RES and in the 13 SEPS in all contexts respectively (see

Table 3).

For both groups, high to moderate significant correla-

tions ( p\ .001; p\ .05) were obtained between children’s

Table 2   Independent samples

t   test analyzes for children’s

abilities in ToM, SEPS and SER

 ID   children with intellectual

disability, TD  typically

developing children, n  number

of children; t  (df )  t  student,

 M  means scores,  SD  standard

deviation, ToM  theory of mind-

emotion,  SEPS  socio-emotional

problem-solving, RES  social

resolution task, SER  socio-

emotional regulation

*  p\ .05

Groups ID (n  =  45)   t  (df ) TD (n   = 45)

 M   (SD)   M   (SD)

ToM

Causes of emotions (max.6) 3.85 (1.48)   t  (88)  =   .65 4.04 (1.23)

Consequences of emotions (max.6) 4.01 (1.62)   t  (88)  = -.51 3.82 (1.86)

Total ToM (max.12) 7.86 (2.42)   t  (88)   =   .00 7.86 (2.57)

SEPS

RES 55.51 (21.56)   t  (88)   = -1.17 50.58 (17.4)

13 SEPS

Total 13 SEPS 47.81 (8.41)   t  (74.41)  =   .58 46.83 (6.44)

In neutral context 25.2 (4.79)   t  (79.77)  = -.86 25.98 (3.49)

In competitive context 10.06 (2.18)   t  (80)   =  2.36* 8.96 (2.02)

In cooperative context 12.47 (2.6)   t  (85)   =  1.07 11.9 (2.35)

SER

Emotional expressions 20.8 (9.37)   t  (79)   = -.61 19.22 (13.38)

Behavior towards social rules 126.37 (12.86)   t  (79)  = -.31 125.5 (12.37)

Social behavior 64.5 (9.2)   t  (79)  =  2.15* 70.45 (15.09)

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DA and scores in SEPS (including RES and 13 SEPS)

(Table 4). Multiple comparisons (Bonferroni) were per-

formed to test the extent to which the children’s DA could

influence the scores in RES and in 13 SEPS (see Table  5).

For both groups, there were significant differences in

favour of the higher DA subgroups in the performances in

RES and the 13 SEPS [for each context in the ID group and

for two contexts, neutral and competitive, in the TD

group].

 Inter-, Intra-Group and Inter-Situational Variability

of SER

We have detailed specific results on SER in a previousstudy (Baurain and Nader-Grosbois 2012). The inter-group

comparison of mean scores of frequency of socio-emo-

tional behaviours in each category of SER indicated only a

significant difference of   Social Behaviour   that was less

frequent in the ID group than in the TD group (Table  2).

In the ID group, no significant correlation was obtained

between the children’s CA and each category of SER,

contrary to the TD group (for   Emotional Expressions and

 Behaviour towards Social Rules, as seen in Table  3).

Positive significant correlations were obtained between

TD children’s DA and   Emotional Expressions. In ID

children, no significant correlation was obtained betweentheir DA and each category of SER (Table 4). Multiple

comparisons (Bonferroni) were performed to test the extent

to which the children’s DA could influence the SER (see

Table 5). There were significant differences between

DA-subgroups for   Behaviour towards Social Rules in both

groups, and for   Emotional Expressions only in the TD

group.

Links Between SIP and SER

Specifically, Spearman’s coefficients of correlation (r s)

were calculated between in one hand the abilities in ToM

(total, understanding of   causes   and of   consequences of 

emotions), in RES, in 13 SEPS and in the other hand each

category of SER in each context in each group (see

Table 6); and secondly, Kendall’s partial rank correlation

coefficients (s) were also applied between the same vari-

ables, by controlling the DA. Third, Chi-Squares were

applied in order to assess the association between these

abilities in SIP and the adaptation of expressed emotions

(joy, sadness, frustration and anger) in both groups (see

Table 7).

ToM and SER

As seen in Table  6, in the ID group, significant positive

correlations were obtained between their abilities in ToM,

and specifically for the understanding of   causes of emo-

tions, and their  Behaviour towards Social Rules. In the TD

group, high significant correlations were obtained between

the abilities in ToM and the   Behaviour towards Social

 Rules; significant positive correlations were also obtained

between the abilities in ToM, specifically in the

Table 3   Spearman’s correlations between children’ CA and ToM,

SEPS, SER scores

ID group

(n   =  45)

TD group

(n   =  45)

rs

ToM

Causes of emotions .12 .23

Consequences of emotions .31* .59**

Total ToM-emotion .28 .53**

SEPS

RES .09 .82**

13 SEPS .02 .64**

SER

Emotional expressions .17 .54**

Behaviour towards social rules .12 .4*

Social behaviour   -.11 .24

 ID   children with intellectual disability,  TD   typically developing

children,   n   number of children,  rs   Correlation of Spearman,  ToM 

theory of mind-emotion, SEPS  socio-emotional problem-solving, RES social resolution task, SER   socio-emotional regulation

** p\ .001 * p\ .05

Table 4   Spearman’s correlations between children’ DA and ToM,

SEPS, SER scores

ID group

(n   =  45)

TD group

(n   =  45)

rs

ToM

Causes of emotions .41* .09

Consequences of emotions .52* .44*

Total ToM-emotion .55* .36*

SEPS

RES .63** .79**

13 SEPS .42* .74**

SER

Emotional expressions .11 .45*

Behaviour towards social rules .06 .26

Social behaviour .01 .31

 ID   children with intellectual disability,  TD   typically developing

children,   n   number of children,  r s   Correlation of Spearman,  ToM 

theory of mind-emotion, SEPS  socio-emotional problem-solving, RES 

social resolution task, SER   socio-emotional regulation

** p\ .001 * p\ .05

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understanding of  consequences of emotions  and the   Emo-

tional Expressions.

In addition, in the ID group, partial significant positive

correlations ( p\ .05) were obtained between the under-

standing of  causes of emotions and the  Behaviour towards

Social Rules, by controlling the DA (s   =   .33, in neutral

context;  s   =  .38, in cooperative context). In the TD group,

partial significant positive correlations ( p\ .05) were

obtained between the total ToM  and the Behaviour towards

Social Rules  (s   =  .34, in competitive context;   s   =   .37, in

cooperative context), between the understanding of  causes

of emotions   and the   Social Behaviour   (s   =   .35, in coop-

erative context) respectively, and between the under-

standing of  consequences of emotions   and the  Behaviour 

towards Social Rules (s   =  .36, in cooperative context), by

controlling the DA.

Chi-Squares assessing the association between ToM

(total emotion,  causes  and  consequences  of emotions) and

the adaptation of expressed emotions (joy, sadness, frus-

tration and anger) in both groups, were not significant

(Table 7).

SEPS and SER

As seen in Table  6, significant positive correlations were

obtained in the ID group between the RES and the

 Behaviour towards Social Rules, and in the TD group

between the RES and the   Emotional Expressions  and the

 Behaviour towards Social Rules.

For both groups, were obtained high significant corre-

lations between the 13 SEPS and the   Behaviour towards

Social Rules   and some moderate significant positive cor-

relations between the 13 SEPS and the   Social Behaviour .

Only in the ID group, partial significant positive corre-lations ( p\ .05) were obtained between abilities in RES

and the  Behaviour towards Social Rules  (s   =   .35, in neu-

tral context;   s   =   .42, in cooperative context), the   Social

 Behaviour   (s   =   .32, in neutral context) by controlling the

DA.

In the ID group, partial significant positive correlations

( p\ .05) were obtained between in one hand the abilities

in 13 SEPS and in the other hand, the   Emotional Expres-

sions  (s   =   .31, in neutral context); the   Behaviour towards

Table 5   Mean scores and standard deviation in ToM tasks, SEPS and SER according to children’s DA

ID group (n =  45) TD group (n  = 45)

 M   (SD)   M   (SD)

3–4 years 4–5 years 5–6 years   F   (2) 3–4 years 4–5 years 5–6 years   F  (2)

ToM

Causes of emotions

3.2 (1.79) 3.86 (1.2) 4.5 (1.16) 3.16 3.6 (1.5) 4.23 (1.05) 4.3 (1.08) 1.49

Consequences of 

emotions

2.6 (1.56) 4.26 (1.29) 5.16 (.72) 16.47** 2.46 (1.55) 3.9 (1.86) 5.1 (1.12) 10.95**

Total ToM

emotions

5.8 (2.49) 8.13 (1.56) 9.66 (1.29) 16.53** 6.06 (2.45) 8.13 (2.48) 9.4 (1.57) 8.66**

SEPS

RES 36.8 (15.77) 61.05 (18.13) 68.67 (17.01) 14.37** 34.6 (8.66) 49.86 (11.65) 68.43 (11.1) 37.55**

13 SEPS

Total 13 SEPS 40.84 (7.62) 48.8 (6.85) 53 (6.11) 11.14** 42.5 (4.6) 47.18 (6.46) 51.91 (4.55) 11.01**

Neutral context 20.96 (4.9) 26.56 (3.06) 28.06 (2.96) 14.93** 23.36 (3.15) 26.04 (2.55) 28.96 (1.85) 15.97**

Competitive

context

9 (2.34) 9.8 (2.27) 11.2 (1.4) 4.26* 8 (1.51) 8.65 (2.37) 10.38 (1.38) 6.41*

Cooperative

context

10.9 (2.37) 12.8 (2.48) 13.73 (2.22) 5.6* 11.2 (2.22) 11.08 (2.32) 12.75 (2.41) 1.63

SER

Emotional

expressions

18.46 (6.66) 24 .69 (8.1) 19.36 (11.78) 1.75 10.67 (8.98 ) 23 (10.31) 25.62 (15.5 ) 6.42*

Behaviour

towards social

rules

120.15 (8.28) 126.7 (10.65) 132.47 (5.01) 2.96* 119.53 (13.13) 130.17 (6.69) 128.08 (13.47) 3.2*

Social behaviour 61.54 (9.64) 67.23 (9.01) 64.67 (8.77) 1.26 66.27 (12.44) 73.33 (22.57) 72.62 (7.54) .92

 ID  children with intellectual disability, TD   typically developing children, n  number of children, M  mean, SD  standard deviation, ToM  theory of 

mind-emotion, SEPS  socio-emotional problem-solving, RES   social resolution task, SER  socio-emotional regulation

**  p\ .001; * p\ .05

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Social Rules   (s   =   .40, in neutral context;   s   =   .35, in

competitive context;   s   =   .48, in cooperative context); the

Social Behaviour   (s   =   .42, in neutral context), by con-

trolling the DA. In the TD group, a partial significant

positive correlation ( p\ .05) was obtained between the 13

SEPS and the Behaviour towards Social Rules (s   =  .46, in

cooperative context).

Chi-Squares, calculated to estimate the association

between the SEPS (RES and 13 SEPS) and the adaptation

of expressed emotions (joy, sadness, frustration and anger)

in both groups, were not significant (Table 7).

 Links Between SIP and SER by Subgroups

We made an agglomerative hierarchical analysis by cluster

of cases, using the Ward method and Euclidian distance, in

order to identify subgroups of children that could present

distinct patterns of links between ToM and SER. The

Table 6   Spearman’s correlations between the categories of SER (in each context) and ToM, and SEPS scores

SER Emotional expressions Behaviour towards social rules Social behaviour

Contexts NC CompC CoopC AC NC CompC CoopC AC NC CompC CoopC AC

 ID children (n   =  45)

ToM-emotion tasks

Total ToM-emotion .01 .05   -.05 .1 .41* .16 .46** .35* .34* .18 .13 .26

Causes of emotions .02 .13 .05 .1 .36* .18 .51** .32* .32* .13 .17 .27

Consequences of emotions .01 .01   -.17 .07 .23 .08 .23 .21 .18 .11 .13 .12

SEPS

RES   -.21 .12   -.13   -.05 .58** .27 .47** .49** .42* .01 .03 .15

13 SEPS   -.21 .04 .05   -.06 .51** .32* .54** .54** .35* .12 .2 .31*

TD children (n   =  45)

ToM-emotion tasks

Total ToM-emotion .37* .25 .07 .29 .43* .48** .49** .58** .04 .08 .26 .21

Causes of emotions .16 .08   -.09 .11 .06 .26 .28 .57**   -.12 .01 .40* .21

Consequences of emotions .41* .33* .18 .37* .48** .44* .46* .57** .14 .11 .16 .17

SEPS

RES .23 .45* .27 .38* .54** .36* .26 .44* .22 .07 .05 .1113 SEPS .08 .26 .21 .23 .52** .26 .45* .51** .06 .26 .34* .35*

 ID children with intellectual disability, TD  typically developing children, n  number of children, NC  neutral context, CompC  competitive context,

CoopC  cooperative context, AC  all contexts, ToM   theory of mind-emotion, SEPS  socio-emotional problem-solving, RES  social resolution task,

SER  socio-emotional regulation

** p\ .001 * p\ .05

Table 7   Chi-Squares values between total ToM task, RES, 13 SEPS and the adaptation of expressed emotions in ID and TD groups

ID group (n  =  45) TD group (n  = 45)

A NA   v2 A NA   v

2

Low ToM (Mdn\8) 11 7 14 4High ToM (Mdn[8) 20 7 19 8

.84 .3

Low RES (Mdn\ 51) 11 9 18 6

High RES (Mdn[51) 20 5 14 5

3.2 .01

Low 13 SEPS (Mdn\49) 13 7 17 4

High 13 SEPS (Mdn[ 49) 16 5 10 7

.62 2.23

 ID  children with intellectual disability,  TD  typically developing children,  n   number of children,  ToM   theory of mind-emotion,  RES   social

resolution task, SEPS  socio-emotional problem-solving, A   emotional expressions adapted, NA   emotional expressions not adapted (concerns all

emotions not adapted during all the duration of game—in three contexts), Mdn  median,   v2 Chi-square test

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Table 8  presents the mean scores and standard deviation of 

DA, ToM and SER for every subgroup in ID and TDgroups. In the ID group, three clusters were distinguished:

(1) ‘‘high ToM and high SER in each category’’; (2)

‘‘moderate ToM and low Emotional Expressions, moderate

 Behaviour towards Social Rules   and   Social Behaviour ’’;

and (3) ‘‘low ToM and low   Behaviour towards Social

 Rules, moderate   Emotional Expressions   and   Social

 Behaviour ’’. In the TD group, three clusters were identi-

fied: (1) ‘‘high ToM and high SER’’; (2) ‘‘high ToM and

low Emotional Expressions, high Behaviour towards Social

 Rules and   Social Behaviour ’’; and (3) ‘‘low ToM and low

Emotional Expressions   and   Behaviour towards Social

 Rules, moderate  Social Behaviour ’’. In both groups, each

subgroup presented a distinct mean DA.

We applied similar case cluster analysis in order to

identify subgroups of children that could present distinct

patterns of links between RES and SER. Table 9  shows the

mean scores and standard deviation of DA, RES and SER

for every subgroup in the ID and TD groups. In the ID

group, two clusters were distinguished: (1) ‘‘low RES and

low SER’’ and (2) ‘‘high RES and high SER’’. Similarly, in

the TD group, two clusters were identified: (1) ‘‘low RES

and low SER’’ and (2) ‘‘high RES and high SER’’. In both

groups, each subgroup presented a distinct mean DA.Finally, ‘‘Appendix 3’’ presents a clinical vignette of the

profile of SIP and SER in an ID child who was included in

subgroup 2 in the results of both the cluster case analyses

presented previously (Tables 8,   9). It illustrates an indi-

vidual dynamic between these processes.

Discussion

Thepreliminary resultsshowed the abilities in SIP, including

ToM and SEPS, and abilities in SER did not differ between

DA-matched ID and TD children, supporting the hypothesis

of developmental delay of these processes in ID children (as

also observed by Thirion-Marissiaux and Nader-Grosbois

2008b, c, about their ToM-emotion); except a specific deficit

for the Social Behaviour  of SER in ID group, supporting the

hypothesis of difference.

Concerning the impact of DA, in both groups, several

behavioural categories of SER and the SIP varied

depending on their DA. When the children’s DA increased,

all these socio-emotional skills improved in symbolic

Table 8  Mean scores and standard deviation of DA, ToM tasks and SER for every subgroup in ID and TD groups

ID TD

 M   (SD)   M   (SD)

Clusters Subgroup 1

(n   = 24)

Subgroup 2

(n   =  12)

Subgroup 3

(n   =  4)

Subgroup 1

(n  =  14)

Subgroup 2

(n   =  16)

Subgroup 3

(n   = 8)

DA 58.47 (10.6) 56.5 (12.5) 48.19 (9.57) 60 (11.25) 57.41 (16.36) 44.4 (4.11)

ToM 8.48 (2.41) 7.7 (2.07) 5.25 (1.55) 8.57 (2.64) 8.5 (2.18) 5.5 (2.1)

SER

Emotional expressions 25.21 (7.8) 10.67 (4.12) 24.75 (4.57) 28 (5.21) 12.75 (5.7) 8 (5.53)

Behavior towards

to social rules

132 (3.7) 126.5 (7.26) 93.25 (13.22) 129.14 (6.66) 132.56 (2.2) 109.5 (9.45)

Social behavior 68.3 (8.41) 58.17 (3.18) 63.25 (14.9) 75.93 (11.63) 66.75 (8.5) 61.38 (10.44)

 ID   children with intellectual disability, TD   typically developing children,  M   means scores,   SD   standard deviation, n  number of children, D A

developmental age, ToM  theory of mind, SER  socio-emotional regulation

Table 9  Mean scores and

standard deviation of DA, RES

and SER for every subgroup in

ID and TD groups

 ID   children with intellectual

disability, TD  typically

developing children, M  means

scores, SD   standard deviation,

n   number of children, DA

developmental age, RES  social

resolution task, SER  socio-

emotional regulation

ID group

 M   (SD)

TD group

 M   (SD)

Clusters Subgroup 1(n   =  17)

Subgroup 2(n   =  23)

Subgroup 1(n   =  25)

Subgroup 2(n  =  13)

DA 49.22 (9.14) 62.48 (9.26) 47.23 (6.85) 70.63 (8.5)

RES 34.24 (7.24) 71.3 (11.04) 38.56 (9.58) 69.38 (8.4)

SER

Emotional expressions 1 8.47 (6.9) 22.52 (10.64) 15.32 (10.77) 24.92 (15.99)

Behavior toward to

social rules

120.24 (16.75) 131.13 (6.52) 123.24 (11.88) 129.69 (13.58)

Social behavior 62.18 (8.49) 66.7 (9.26) 66.12 (12.42) 73.15 (6.98)

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period of development as showed by other studies, notably

of the ToM, (Kasari and Sigman  1996; Thirion-Marissiaux

and Nader-Grosbois   2008b); of the SER (Baurain and

Nader-Grosbois 2012) in TD and ID groups.

Concerning the impact of CA on abilities in SIP, it

appeared in the TD group (as suggested by Nader-Grosbois

2011b). In the ID group, except only a very limited impact

on their understanding of consequences of emotions, theirCA had no impact on total ToM-emotions, the under-

standing of causes of emotions, abilities in SEPS and SER.

These results tallied overall with the observations made by

other authors underlining no impact of the length of life

experience on ID children’s skills in ToM-emotions and

ToM-beliefs (Garitte 2003; Thirion-Marissiaux and Nader-

Grosbois 2008b).

Our main objective was to test the link between SIP,

including ToM and SEPS (RES and 13 SEPS), and SER in

ID and TD groups and to examine between-groups simi-

larities versus differences in relational structural patterns

between these abilities, in order to test delay or differencestructural hypotheses.

This study supported the hypothesis of partial

‘‘bi-directional’’ links: some specific abilities in SIP and

some categories of socio-emotional behaviour in SER

(particularly  Behaviour towards Social Rules) appeared as

interrelated skills.

In addition, although some similarities between groups

in these specific relational patterns supporting similar

structural patterns postulated in the ‘‘delay hypothesis’’ in

ID group, there were also some dissimilar structural pat-

terns postulated in the ‘‘difference hypothesis’’ in ID group,

in comparison with TD group, matched on their DA. In

other words, the links between several abilities of the SIP

and of the SER varied in intensity depending on the group

and sometimes, there are significant in one group and not in

the other.

More specifically, in both groups, the results of correla-

tional analyses showed that when their ToM improved, their

 Behaviour towards Social Rules of the SER increased, and

inversely. The ID and TD children who better understand

causes or consequences of emotions, listen and follow the

instructions given by the adult, are patient for waiting their

turn and moderate their externalized behaviour, and vice

versa. These similar relational patterns in both groups

(matched on the DA) supporting the similar structure in the

delay hypothesis, could be explained by similar progression

of their skills in ToM (as reported by Thirion-Marissiaux and

Nader-Grosbois   2008a,   b,   c) and in   Behaviour towards

Social Rules   of the SER (as emphasized by Baurain and

Nader-Grosbois 2012). In addition, only in TD children, the

understanding of  consequences of emotions  and the   Emo-

tional Expressions  of the SER were positively linked; it

emphasized a structural difference between groups.

Significant correlational patterns between abilities in

ToM (understanding of   causes   or of   consequences) and

specific categories of SER (usually   Behaviour towards

Social Rules) varied according to the type of contexts

(cooperative, competitive with peers, neutral with an adult)

in which children of both groups interact. In both groups,

their ToM abilities were positively linked with this cate-

gory of SER displayed particularly in neutral and cooper-ative context (and more rarely in competitive contexts).

Moreover, their understanding of   causes of emotions   was

positively linked with their   Social Behaviour   (in neutral

context in ID group, in cooperative context in TD group).

Dissimilarity appeared only in ID group: their ToM was

positively linked with their   Social Behaviour   in neutral

context; and only in TD group, their ToM and particularly

their understanding of   consequences of emotions   were

positively linked to their  Emotional Expressions in neutral

context or in competitive context).

However, when we controlled the DA, variations

between both groups were more observed; supporting the‘‘difference structure hypothesis’’ in ID group. Indeed, in

ID children, their understanding of  causes of emotions and

the Behaviour towards Social Rules were positively linked.

And in TD children their ToM (except their understanding

of  causes of emotions) and the  Behaviour towards Social

 Rules   were positively linked. By controlling the DA, our

results also highlighted no significant link between ToM

and two processes of SER,   Social Behaviour   and   Emo-

tional Expressions. That partially tallies with the results of 

Lindsey and Colwell (2003), not observing the connection

between TD children’s emotion understanding (including

recognition of facial expressions and emotion situation

knowledge) and their ER (assessed by the mothers who

completed a questionnaire). These results lead us to inter-

pret them as partial ‘‘bi-directional’’ links between the

ToM and the  Behaviour towards Social Rules. Neverthe-

less, only in TD group, their understanding of   causes of 

emotions and the Social Behaviour  (in cooperative context,

with peers) were positively linked. The TD children who

better understood the causes of emotions, displayed fre-

quently social behaviours while playing (such as social

extravert, empathic, attentive behaviours towards the

partner) and behaviours towards the task (perseverance and

self-control), and inversely. Other studies reported positive

links between the emotion understanding and social

behaviour in TD preschoolers: those who understand

emotions are better equipped to behave empathically

(Hughes and Leekam   2004) or prosocially and to engage

themselves in sustained cooperative play with peers

(Hubbard and Cole   1994). However, this link was not

significant in the ID children in this study.

A small number of positive correlations were significant

between abilities in RES and categories of SER considered

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Appendix 1

See Table 10.

Table 10   Coding grid of socio-emotional regulation by sequences

Interactive game/Dyad: child–adult

Socio-emotional regulation V NV

S1 S2 S3 S1 S2 S3

Category 1: Emotional expressions felt by the child while playing and adaptation of the emotion

Emotional expressions

The child expresses joy

The child expresses sadness

The child expresses frustration/disappointment

The child expresses anger

The child expresses fear

The child expresses anxiety

Emotional expressions adapted to created situations

The emotion expressed (‘‘joy’’) is adapted to created situations

The emotion expressed (‘‘sadness’’) is adapted to created situations

The emotion expressed (‘‘frustration’’) is adapted to created situations

The emotion expressed (‘‘anger’’) is adapted to created situations

The emotion expressed (‘‘fear’’) is adapted to created situations

The emotion expressed (‘‘anxiety’’) is adapted to created situations

Category 2: The child’s behaviour towards social rules

The child listens to the instructions

The child follows the instructions

The child is patient (he/she waits his turn)

The child displays listening behaviour (in general)

The child moderates his or her externalized behaviour

Category 3: The child’s social behaviour while playingPro social behaviour

The child displays socio-extravert behaviour (socio-communicative behaviour, he or she participates in the

interaction)

The child displays empathy behaviour

The child displays attentive behaviour

Behaviour towards the task 

The child perseveres to reach his or her goals (he or she maintains his or her motivation, self-effort)

The child controls difficulty (self-control)

Category 4: Awareness and evocation of emotion at the end of game

The child is aware of having felt joy and evokes it

The child is aware of having felt sadness and evokes it

The child is aware of having felt anger and evokes itThe child is aware of having felt fear and evokes it

?: very frequent scored 3; /: moderately frequent scored 2;  -: infrequent scored 1, 0: non-existent scored 0;  V   verbal,   NV   non-verbal,  S 

sequences (S1, sequence 1  =  socio-emotional problem-solving 1, 2, 3; S2, sequence 2  =  socio-emotional problem-solving 4, 5, 6; S3, sequence

3   =   socio-emotional problem-solving 7, 8, 9)

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Appendix 2

Appendix 3

Clinical Vignette: The Case of Jessica

Jessica is 7 years and 7 months old and comes from a

French-speaking Belgian special school. The aetiology of 

her intellectual disabilities corresponds to non-specific

retardation due to environmental under-stimulation (See

Table 11).Jessica presents a mild intellectual disability, as indicated

by levels of verbal and non-verbal intellectual efficiency.1

Although her verbal and non-verbal developmental age are

nearly the same, Jessica presents a lower level of verbal

intellectual efficiency than of non-verbal intellectual effi-

ciency. Moreover, her cognitive profile is heterogeneous in

terms of developmental age obtained in distinct scales. Her

strengths correspond to abilities in vocabulary and in clas-

sification of pictures, while her weaknesses are situated

particularly in abilities in ‘‘practical adaptation’’, because

she has difficulties in mobilizing her reasoning and logical

thinking (See Table 12).In terms of the components of social information pro-

cessing, Jessica displays very good performances in ToM

and in social problem-solving (in RES and in 13 SEPS).

More specifically, with regard to her abilities in ToM,

Jessica understands the consequences of emotions better

than the causes of emotions: in other words, she finds it

easier to understand well-adjusted behaviour according to

the emotion felt by the character in the stories than the type

of emotions that the character might feel according to the

Scoring of the coding grid of socio-emotional regulation by sequences

Observation of 22 items

Code Scores

?   Very frequent 3

 / Moderately frequent 2

– Infrequent 1

0 Non-existent 0

Minimum and maximum scores in the coding grid of socio-emotional regulation by sequences

Contexts of interactive game

Dyads Child–adult Child–child Child–child Total cross-

cat. %Contexts Neutral Competitive Cooperative

Socio-emotional regulation Minimum

score

Maximum

score

Minimum

score

Maximum

score

Minimum

score

Maximum

score

Category 1

Emotional expressions/adaptation 0 216 0 216 0 216 648

Category 2

Child’s behaviour towards social rules 0 90 0 90 0 90 270

Category 3

Child’s social behaviour 0 90 0 90 0 90 270

Total cross-contexts 396 396 396

Total coding grid 1188

%

Cross-cat.  cross-categories

1 These levels of intellectual efficiency express the position of the

subject considered in the distribution of the children of the same age,

returned by convention to an average =  100 and in a standard

deviation  =  1500 (Perron-Borelli 1996, p. 88).

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situation. Her difficulties particularly concern the causes of 

fear and of anger. With regard to her performances in

social problem-solving in RES, Jessica finds it easier to

identify and justify appropriate social behaviours than

inappropriate social behaviours in illustrated social

situations.

In terms of her skills in socio-emotional regulation,

Jessica displays very frequent behaviours which takeaccount of social rules, whatever the context (she ‘‘listens/ 

follows to the instructions’’; ‘‘is patient’’; ‘‘displays lis-

tening behaviour’’; and ‘‘moderates her externalized

behaviour’’). However, she does not express her emotions

very much (specifically in competitive neutral contexts)

and she displays moderately social behaviours whatever

the context (displaying ‘‘some socio-extravert behaviour’’,

‘‘empathy behaviour’’ and ‘‘attentive behaviour’’, ‘‘perse-

vering to reach her goals’’ and ‘‘controlling difficulty’’).

Jessica expresses her emotions and social behaviour in non-

verbal ways; this could be because her non-verbal skills in

cognitive development are better than her verbal skills.We suggest that Jessica has good abilities in social

information processing, which particularly helps her to

behave in accordance with social rules (such as following

or listening to instructions) during interactions with adults

and peers, but does not help her to express her emotions

according to the social climate. Either Jessica has diffi-

culties in expressing her emotions, or she is developing the

ability to dissimulate her emotions. This could be explored

in her daily life.

This profile shows that a child with intellectual disability

who is able to process social information may present

variability in socio-emotional regulation (in emotional

expression, social behaviour and behaviour with respect to

social rules), and emphasizes the clinical interest of 

assessing these processes in order to define individualized

intervention objectives.

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