Bullying involvement is prevalent among children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study examined the effects of theory of mind performance training (ToMPT) on reducing bullying involvement in children and adolescents with high-functioning ASD. Children and adolescents with high-functioning ASD completed ToMPT (n = 26) and social skills training (SST; n = 23) programs. Participants in both groups and their mothers rated the pretraining and posttraining bullying involvement of participants on the Chinese version of the School Bullying Experience Questionnaire. The paired t test was used to evaluate changes in bullying victimization and perpetration between the pretraining and posttraining assessments. Furthermore, the linear mixed-effect model was used to examine the difference in the training effect between the ToMPT and SST groups. The paired t test indicated that in the ToMPT group, the severities of both self-reported (p = .039) and mother-reported (p = .003) bullying victimization significantly decreased from the pretraining to posttraining assessments, whereas in the SST group, only self-reported bullying victimization significantly decreased (p = .027). The linear mixed-effect model indicated that compared with the SST program, the ToMPT program significantly reduced the severity of mother-reported bullying victimization (p = .041). The present study supports the effects of ToMPT on reducing mother-reported bullying victimization in children and adolescents with high-functioning ASD.

Since 2018, Taiwan has included the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination into its national immunization program for junior high school girls. However, the reports of side effects following vaccination have increased parental concerns. This study investigated parental intentions regarding the HPV vaccination for their daughters and related factors in Taiwan. A total of 213 parents of girls aged between 12 and 15 years participated in an online survey. The survey collected data on various factors, including the parental intention to vaccinate their daughters against HPV; the motivation behind the vaccinations, as measured using the Motors of Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Acceptance Scale; an understanding of the reasons behind the government’s promotion of HPV vaccinations; concerns regarding the side effects of vaccinations for their daughters; an awareness of the reported side effects of HPV vaccines experienced by some individuals; the exposure to information on HPV vaccines from social media; and mental health status, measured using the Brief Symptom Rating Scale. The associations between these variables and the parental intention to vaccinate their daughters against HPV were examined using a multivariable linear regression analysis model. The findings revealed a moderate to high level of intention among participants to vaccinate their daughters against HPV. Parents who perceived a greater value in HPV vaccination for their daughters’ health (B = 0.524, standard error [se] = 0.039, p < 0.001) and had greater autonomy in decision-making regarding vaccination (B = 0.086, se = 0.038, p = 0.026) exhibited a higher intention to vaccinate their daughters against HPV. Conversely, parents who expressed greater concern regarding the side effects of HPV vaccines for their daughters had a lower intention to vaccinate (B = −0.762, se = 0.203, p < 0.001). Based on these findings, this study recommends integrating these factors into the design of intervention programs aimed at enhancing parental intentions to vaccinate their daughters against HPV.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show impaired mentalizing skills, specifically in understanding intentions. They have difficulty understanding social situations with multiple cues due to their limited ability to perceive subtle social contextual cues. Studies that used comic strips and the strange stories as intention attribution tests found that individuals with ASD exhibit a reduced ability in attributing intentions compared to inferring causal consequences. This study aims to use static photographs of social scenes taken in everyday settings to investigate the ability of adolescents with ASD to infer intentions in social contexts, and to explore how intention inference relates to working memory and basic attention, including sustained attention, selective attention, and divided attention. The results show that the physical causal inference ability of adolescents with ASD is comparable to typically developing adolescents, whereas intention inference is notably weaker. Furthermore, working memory predicts physical causal inference and divided attention predicts intention inference in ASD.