The relation between the understanding of the mind as being constructive, anxiety, and parental factors is not fully elucidated. Interpretive diversity understanding represents an understanding that people can have a different interpretation of the same situation due to differences in beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge. We aim to bring together two approaches to this concept: the interpretive theory of mind (ToMi), and the constructivist theory of mind (ToMc) and relate them to anxiety symptoms and parental practices during middle childhood (8-12 years). In two studies, we used a restricted view paradigm to assess ToMi, a questionnaire to assess ToMc (the Constructivist Theory of Mind Interview, short written version in Study 1, and extended interview in Study 2) and parental and child reports of parental practices, as well as children’s anxiety symptoms. Results revealed that the two interpretive diversity understanding tasks were positively associated (Study 2). Overall, warm parental practices were positively associated with ToM tasks and a significant predictor for the ToMc interview answers. On the other hand, parental rejection and overprotection were negatively associated with performance on the ToMi task, with the ToMc score and positively with anxiety symptoms. Understanding the relationship between ToM, anxiety, and parental practices is essential for preventing early social and emotional difficulties during middle childhood.

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Objectives. The objective of this study was to determine how intraparental (i.e., cognitive schemas, parental competence, cognitive-emotional coping style) and interparental variables (i.e., family conflict, unfavorable conditions of divorce) influence post-divorce co-parenting through the relationship between parents after separation. Materials and methods. The study was conducted on a sample of 169 divorced or divorcing participants (84% females and 16% males), aged 24 to 61 years (M = 42.71, SD = 6.15). The following instruments were used to measure the research variables: the Divorce Adjustment Inventory Scale, the Young Schema Questionnaire - Version 3, the Parental Competence Questionnaire, the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, the Coparenting Relationships Scale, and the reasons for divorce were assessed in an exploratory manner. Results. Dysfunctional cognitive schemas were positively associated with dysfunctional coparenting behaviors and negatively associated with functional co-parenting behaviors. Participants who reported violence as a cause for divorce had significantly higher scores (M = 22.22) on the undermining (M = 22.22 vs. M = 10.17) and exposure (M = 21.66 vs. M = 10.20) dimensions of the dysfunctional co-parenting relationship compared to those who identified infidelity as a cause for divorce (M = 10.17). Conclusions. The quality of co-parental relationships may be influenced by maladaptive cognitive schemas and poorly developed parenting skills. Also, pre-divorce family interaction experiences and poor adjustment to divorce are associated with dysfunctional aspects of co-parental relationships that impact children post-divorce. Exploratory analyses indicate that training healthy, functional cognitive-emotional coping strategies and addressing maladaptive cognitive schemas can prevent engaging in abusive relationships. Keywords: divorce, co-parenting, cognitive schemas, conflict, coping.

"When deciding to deceive, individuals carefully consider others’ mental states to determine how their statements will be perceived by the recipient. In highly competitive contexts, deceptive intentions might be anticipated by others, so the use of false information to deceive might not be successful. Instead, using the truth can be a better strategy, anticipating that the recipient would consider the statements to be false. The present paper discusses the literature to date investigating the ability to tell the truth to deceive others in relation to the socio-cognitive processes that support it. We examine the emerging literature by discussing the differences between simple deception, sophisticated deception, and paltering. However, the lack of sophistication regarding the use of true vs. false information to deceive restricts the ecological validity of the findings. We propose a more elaborate truth-telling for deceptive purposes approach related to socio-cognitive correlates, such as theory of mind."

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