Reliability and validity of a short version of the Norwegian Awareness of Social Inference Test: a test of social cognition after traumatic brain injury

Authors

  • Martin Matre Centre for Research and Education, Sunnaas Rehabilitation Hospital, Nesodden, Norway; Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
  • Truls Johansen Centre for Research and Education, Sunnaas Rehabilitation Hospital, Nesodden, Norway; Department of Occupational Therapy, Institute of rehabilitation science and health technology, Faculty of Health Sciences Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway
  • Anne Catrine T. Martinsen Centre for Research and Education, Sunnaas Rehabilitation Hospital, Nesodden, Norway; Institute of rehabilitation science and health technology, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway
  • Alexander Olsen Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway; Clinic of Rehabilitation, St. Olavs Hospital, Trondheim University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway; NorHead, Norwegian Centre for Headache Research, Trondheim, Norway
  • Sveinung Tornås The Norwegian Directorate of Health, Oslo, Norway
  • Cecilie Røe Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; of Physical Rehabilitation and Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
  • Anne Lund Department of Occupational Therapy, Institute of rehabilitation science and health technology, Faculty of Health Sciences Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway
  • Frank Becker Centre for Research and Education, Sunnaas Rehabilitation Hospital, Nesodden, Norway; Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
  • Cathrine Brunborg Oslo Centre for Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
  • Daniel Løke Centre for Research and Education, Sunnaas Rehabilitation Hospital, Nesodden, Norway
  • Jacoba M. Spikman Department of Neurology, Subdep. of Neuropsychology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center, Groningen, The Netherlands
  • Jennie Ponsford Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Australia; School of Psychological Sciences, Epworth Healthcare, Richmond, Australia
  • Dawn Neumann Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute, Edison, New Jersey, USA
  • Skye McDonald School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Kensington, Australia
  • Marianne Løvstad Centre for Research and Education, Sunnaas Rehabilitation Hospital, Nesodden, Norway; Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.2340/jrm.v58.46403

Keywords:

social cognition, traumatic brain injury, rehabilitation, validation study

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to develop and test reliability and validity of a short version of the Norwegian Awareness of Social Inference Test to ease assessment of social cognition after traumatic brain injury.

Design: The least suitable items were identified statistically and from quality ratings made by clinical experts and persons with lived experience. Psychometric properties of the resulting short version were then estimated.

Subjects: Adults with (n = 101) and without (n = 50) traumatic brain injury.

Methods: Predetermined fit criteria from Rasch and confirmatory factor analysis identified least-fitting items. Further item reduction was based on expert ratings. The reliability of the short version was estimated with Cronbach’s alpha for internal consistency and intraclass correlations for test–retest reliability. Construct validity was estimated based on differences in performance between individuals with and without traumatic brain injury (known groups validity), correlations with measures of social cognition (convergent validity) and with measures of cognitive ability (discriminant validity).

Results: The number of items was reduced from 59 to 28. Statistical analyses supported the short version’s structure, and reliability and validity were similar to the full version.

Conclusion: The short version has acceptable psychometric properties and is more feasible than the full version; its implementation is recommended.

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Published

2026-10-06

How to Cite

Matre, M., Johansen, T., Martinsen, A. C. T., Olsen, A., Tornås, S., Røe, C., … Løvstad, M. (2026). Reliability and validity of a short version of the Norwegian Awareness of Social Inference Test: a test of social cognition after traumatic brain injury. Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine, 58, jrm46403. https://doi.org/10.2340/jrm.v58.46403

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Vol. 58 (2026)

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Original Report

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Copyright (c) 2026 Martin Matre, Truls Johansen, Anne Catrine T. Martinsen, Alexander Olsen, Sveinung Tornås, Cecilie Røe, Anne Lund, Frank Becker, Cathrine Brunborg, Daniel Løke, Jacoba M. Spikman, Jennie Ponsford, Dawn Neumann, Skye McDonald, Marianne Løvstad

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