Characterization of Social Cognition Profiles in Children and Adolescents With Neurodevelopmental Disorders: a Clinical Study Using a Multidimensional Battery (COGSO)

April 13, 2026 updated by: Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris

In France, more than one in ten school-aged children suffers from a mental health disorder, and half of these disorders appear before the age of 14. Yet, only half of affected children receive appropriate support. At the cognitive level, it is now widely accepted by the scientific community that strong socio-cognitive skills protect against the emergence of certain disorders. Social cognition skills, crucial for development and social integration, are often underestimated in clinical neuropsychology, particularly due to the lack of validated assessment tools for children.

The challenges related to the clinical assessment of social cognition in children and adolescents are therefore significant, especially since specific deficits are likely to be associated with numerous developmental pathologies and psychiatric disorders (neurodevelopmental disorders, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders). However, these disorders are insufficiently assessed. A more precise characterization would allow for the identification of therapeutic targets specific to each neurodevelopmental disorder.

Therefore, this research aims to address this lack of tools by using a multidimensional assessment battery of social cognition in children and adolescents aged 8 to 16, evaluating four fundamental domains of social cognition: emotion processing, social perception, theory of mind, and attributional style. This multidimensional assessment battery of social cognition is developed by the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department of Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

In France, more than one in ten school-aged children suffers from a mental health disorder, and half of these disorders appear before the age of 14. Yet, only half of affected children receive appropriate support. At the cognitive level, it is now widely accepted by the scientific community that strong socio-cognitive skills protect against the emergence of certain disorders. Social cognition skills, crucial for development and social integration, are often underestimated in clinical neuropsychology, particularly due to the lack of validated assessment tools for children.

The challenges related to the clinical assessment of social cognition in children and adolescents are therefore significant, especially since specific deficits are likely to be associated with numerous developmental pathologies and psychiatric disorders (neurodevelopmental disorders, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders). However, these disorders are insufficiently assessed. A more precise characterization would allow for the identification of therapeutic targets specific to each neurodevelopmental disorder.

Therefore, this research aims to address this lack of tools by using a multidimensional assessment battery of social cognition in children and adolescents aged 8 to 16, evaluating four fundamental domains of social cognition: emotion processing, social perception, theory of mind, and attributional style. This multidimensional assessment battery of social cognition is developed by the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department of Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital.

Patients will be recruited from the child psychiatry department of Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital as part of a diagnostic or follow-up process. A consultation will be offered to participate in the research, during which participants will complete the COGSO battery as well as additional tasks assessing social cognition and executive functions, and parent questionnaires.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

100

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Children and adolescents aged 8 to 16 years
  • Proficiency in French (native language)
  • Information and consent obtained from those holding parental authority, and agreement from the child or adolescent
  • No recently modified (<6 weeks) psychotropic medication from the following categories: antidepressants, anxiolytics, antipsychotics, psychostimulants, mood stabilizers.
  • IQ above 70 (WISC-V)
  • Criteria for Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (according to DSM-5)
  • Multiple complex developmental disorder : Symptoms characteristic of a neurodevelopmental disorder without meeting all the criteria for a specific disorder and presence of multiple complex developmental disorder criteria with at least 5 elements from the specified categories.

Exclusion Criteria:

- Having an active neurological disorder (e.g., active epilepsy)

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Autism Spectrum Disorder

Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5.

40 children and teenagers.
Other: Test

Social cognition battery developed by the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department of Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital:

4 tasks allow exploration of the components of social cognition:

  1. Dynamic emotion recognition task
  2. Contextual emotion recognition task
  3. Combined theory of mind and social perception task
  4. Attributional style
Other: Questionnaires

Standard supplementary tasks assessing social cognition and executive functions, as well as parent questionnaires, will be administered :

  • Conners 3
  • Child Behavior Checklist
  • SOCODEV : Social Skills Assessment Questionnaire
  • Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function
  • Revised Children's Anxiety and Depression Scale
  • Autism Diagnostic Interviex-Revised
  • Intention Attribution Test for Children
Experimental: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5.

40 children and teenagers.
Other: Test

Social cognition battery developed by the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department of Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital:

4 tasks allow exploration of the components of social cognition:

  1. Dynamic emotion recognition task
  2. Contextual emotion recognition task
  3. Combined theory of mind and social perception task
  4. Attributional style
Other: Questionnaires

Standard supplementary tasks assessing social cognition and executive functions, as well as parent questionnaires, will be administered :

  • Conners 3
  • Child Behavior Checklist
  • SOCODEV : Social Skills Assessment Questionnaire
  • Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function
  • Revised Children's Anxiety and Depression Scale
  • Autism Diagnostic Interviex-Revised
  • Intention Attribution Test for Children
Experimental: Multiple complex developmental disorder

Symptoms characteristic of a neurodevelopmental disorder without meeting the full criteria for a specific disorder and presence of criteria for a multiple complex developmental disorder with at least 5 elements from the specified categories.

20 children and teenagers.
Other: Test

Social cognition battery developed by the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department of Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital:

4 tasks allow exploration of the components of social cognition:

  1. Dynamic emotion recognition task
  2. Contextual emotion recognition task
  3. Combined theory of mind and social perception task
  4. Attributional style
Other: Questionnaires

Standard supplementary tasks assessing social cognition and executive functions, as well as parent questionnaires, will be administered :

  • Conners 3
  • Child Behavior Checklist
  • SOCODEV : Social Skills Assessment Questionnaire
  • Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function
  • Revised Children's Anxiety and Depression Scale
  • Autism Diagnostic Interviex-Revised
  • Intention Attribution Test for Children

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Overall social cognition score and scores per dimension, obtained on the multidimensional social cognition battery
Time Frame: Day 1

The overall social cognition score, as well as the scores for each dimension, obtained on the multidimensional social cognition battery, will be compared between groups of children and adolescents with ASD, ADHD, and MCDD.

The sensitivity and specificity of the multidimensional social cognition battery will be assessed by evaluating the ability of the tests to highlight socio-cognitive difficulties in clinical children, without claiming to be used for independent diagnosis.
Day 1

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Influence of socio-demographic factors on social cognition performance
Time Frame: Day 1
Study of the influence of socio-demographic factors: analyze the impact of factors such as age, sex, socio-economic level and family characteristics on social cognition performance obtained on the multidimensional social cognition battery, in order to better understand individual and contextual variations.
Day 1
Influence of cognitive factors on social cognition
Time Frame: Day 1
Study of the influence of cognitive factors on social cognition: examine the influence of overall cognitive efficiency (IQ) and executive functions (EF) on social cognition abilities, assessed by the multidimensional social cognition battery, in order to identify the interactions between cognitive and sociocognitive dimensions.
Day 1

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris

Collaborators

URC-CIC Paris Descartes Necker Cochin

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Dorothée Leunen, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris
  • Study Director: Lisa Ouss, M.D., Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

April 8, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

April 1, 2029

Study Completion (Estimated)

April 1, 2029

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 11, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 23, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

February 27, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 16, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 13, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • APHP250777
  • 2025-A01031-48 (Other Identifier: ID-RCB Number)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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