Turkish Adaptation and Psychometric Validation of the DANVA-2 Adult Faces Test in Children Aged 7–12: A Comparison of Typically Developing and Autism Spectrum Disorder Groups

This study aims to examine the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy-2 Adult Faces subtest (DANVA-2 AF) in children aged 7–12 years. Emotional facial expression recognition is a fundamental component of social cognition and plays a crucial role in interpersonal communication and social functioning during childhood. Difficulties in emotion recognition are frequently reported in neurodevelopmental conditions such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), making reliable assessment tools essential for both clinical and research settings. The study is designed as a cross-sectional methodological validation study. Participants will include two groups of children aged 7–12 years: children with Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosed according to DSM-5 criteria and typically developing children without known neurodevelopmental or psychiatric disorders. The planned sample size is approximately 128 participants in total, with at least 64 children in each group. The primary objective is to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the DANVA-2 Adult Faces test. Reliability analyses will include internal consistency and test–retest reliability. Test–retest reliability will be assessed in a subsample of participants who will complete the DANVA-2 Adult Faces test again after an interval of approximately 2–3 weeks. Construct validity will be examined through confirmatory factor analysis based on the theoretical structure of four basic emotions: happiness, sadness, anger, and fear. Convergent validity will be evaluated by examining the relationship between DANVA-2 AF scores and performance on the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) – Child Version, which measures social cognition and theory of mind abilities. Known-groups validity will also be investigated by comparing emotion recognition performance between children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and typically developing children. Additional screening measures including the Cattell Culture Fair Intelligence Test (CFIT) and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test will be administered to ensure participants have adequate cognitive and language abilities to complete the tasks. The study will be conducted at the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry outpatient clinic of Balıkesir University Faculty of Medicine. The findings are expected to provide evidence regarding the reliability and validity of the Turkish adaptation of the DANVA-2 Adult Faces test and contribute to the assessment of emotional face recognition and social cognition in Turkish child populations.