The MESSIER is a measure designed to assess strengths and weaknesses in social skills with people with severe and profound Intellectual Disability (ID). Parents/caretakers familiar with the individual rates each item. Two subscales, positive and negative skills, comprise the MESSIER and are designed to provide information on communication and general social skills behavior that can be identified both for treatment goals and to evaluate treatment efficacy. There are 85 items on the MESSIER representing 6 clinically derived factors. The factors include: 1) positive verbal, 2) positive nonverbal, 3) general positive, 4) negative verbal, 5) negative nonverbal, and 6) general negative. Each item is scored on frequency on a 0-3 scale (with not applicable as an additional choice). Sample items include: 'Turns head in direction of caregiver'; 'Smiles in response to positive statements.'; 'Prefers to be alone'; 'Disrupts activities of others.'; and 'Likes to hold hands with others.'

References:

Duncan, D. (1998). Relationship of self-injurious behavior and aggression to social skills in persons with severe and profound mental retardation. ProQuest Information & Learning, US.

Kuhn, D. E., Matson, J. L., Mayville, E. A., & Matson, M. L. (2001). The relationship of social skills as measured by the MESSIER to rumination in persons with profound mental retardation. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 22(6), 503-510.

LeBlanc, L. A., Matson, J. L., Cherry, K. E., & Bamburg, J. W. (1999). An examination of the convergent validity of the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills for Individuals with Severe Retardation (MESSIER) with sociometric ranking. British Journal of Developmental Disabilities, 45(89), 85-91.

Lott, J. D. (2007). The rate of decline of social skills across dementing and non-dementing individuals with intellectual disabilities: A longitudinal study. ProQuest Information & Learning, US.

Matson, J. L. (1995). The Matson Evaluation of Social Skills for Individuals with Severe Retardation (MESSIER). Baton Rouge, LA: Disability Consultants, LLC.

Matson, J. L., Carlisle, C. B., & Bamburg, J. W. (1998). The convergent validity of the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills for Individuals with Severe Retardation (MESSIER). Research in Developmental Disabilities, 19(6), 493-500.

Matson, J. L., Cooper, C. L., Mayville, S. B., & González, M. L. (2006). The relationship between food refusal and social skills in persons with intellectual disabilities. Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability, 31(1), 47-52.

Matson, J. L., Dixon, D. R., Matson, M. L., & Logan, J. R. (2005). Classifying mental retardation and specific strength and deficit areas in severe and profoundly mentally retarded persons with the MESSIER. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 26(1), 41-45.

Matson, J. L., LeBlanc, L. A., & Weinheimer, B. (1999). Reliability of the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills in Individuals with Severe Retardation (MESSIER). Behavior Modification, 23(4), 647-661.

Matson, J. L., Lott, J. D., Mayville, S. B., Swender, S. L., & Moscow, S. (2006). Depression and Social Skills Among Individuals with Severe and Profound Mental Retardation. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 18(4), 393-400.

Matson, J. L., Luke, M. A., & Mayville, S. B. (2004). The effects of antiepileptic medications on the social skills of individuals with mental retardation. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 25(2), 219-228.

Matson, J. L., Mayville, E. A., & Lott, J. D. (2002). The relationship between behaviour motivation and social functioning in persons with intellectual impairment. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 41(2), 175-184.

Matson, J. L., Terlonge, C., González, M. L., & Rivet, T. (2006). An evaluation of social and adaptive skills in adults with bipolar disorder and severe/profound intellectual disability. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 27(6), 681-687.

Paclawskyj, T. R., Rush, K. S., Matson, J. L., & Cherry, K. E. (1999). Factor structure of the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills for Individuals with Severe Retardation (MESSIER). British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 38(3), 289-293.