Theory of Mind and Peer Attachment in Adolescence

Białecka‐Pikul, Marta; Stępień–Nycz, Małgorzata; Szpak, Marta; Grygiel, Paweł; Bosacki, Sandra; Devine, Rory T.; Hughes, Claire

doi:10.1111/jora.12630

Cited by 16 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 143 publications

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“…Our task generated notable variance between age groups and we consider it a suitable measure of perspective taking in language production. The utilization of such tasks to outline the developmental trajectory of pragmatic production is valuable, considering that the ability to use information about others’ perspectives in communicative contexts has been shown to correlate with adolescents’ self-reported peer relations [ 74 , 75 ], which in turn play a deciding role in their social life and psychological well-being [ 76 ]. Ultimately, variation in pragmatic processing developmentally could explain adult individual differences in AD, which are large [ 5 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When did you stop speaking to yourself? Age-related differences in adolescents’ world knowledge-based audience design

2022

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The ability to adapt utterances to the world knowledge of one’s addressee is undeniably ubiquitous in human social cognition, but its development and association with other cognitive mechanisms during adolescence have not been studied. In an online production task, we measured the ability of children entering adolescence (ages 11–12, M = 11.8, N = 29 , 17 girls ) and adolescents (ages 15–16, M = 15.9, N = 29 , 17 girls ) to tailor referential expressions in accordance with the inferred world knowledge of their addressee—an ability we refer to as world knowledge-based audience design (AD). A post-test survey showed that both age groups held similar assumptions about the addressees’ knowledge of referents, but the younger age group did not consistently adapt their utterances in accordance with these assumptions during online production, resulting in a significantly improved AD behaviour across age groups. We also investigated the reliance of AD on executive functions (EF). Executive functioning (as reflected by performance on the Wisconsin card sorting task) increased significantly with age, but did not explain the age-related increase in AD performance. We thus provide evidence in support of an adolescent development of world knowledge-based AD over and above development of EF.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When did you stop speaking to yourself? Age-related differences in adolescents’ world knowledge-based audience design

2022

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“…Girls scored higher on average than boys for advanced theory of mind (girls’ M = 51.90 vs. boys’ M = 47.07; t (191) = −2.67, p < .01; see Table 1 ), as is common (e.g., Białecka‐Pikul et al., 2021; Bosacki & Astington, 1999; Devine & Hughes, 2013). Nonetheless, girls’ and boys’ theory of mind scores demonstrated similar variability (girls’ SD = 12.33 vs. boys’ SD = 12.60, F (192) = 1.04, ns ; see Table 1 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Theory of mind, or the ability to infer other people's inner thoughts and feelings and to understand that they guide their behavior (Wellman, 1992), is a key milestone of early childhood development (Hughes, 2011), and also a salient source of individual differences among older children and youth which may contribute to differences in their peer relations (Banerjee et al., 2011). Less is known about theory of mind in late middle childhood and early adolescence than in early childhood (Białecka‐Pikul et al., 2021; Devine & Apperly, 2021; Lane & Bowman, 2021), despite the increased importance of peer relations to self and emotional development in this period (Brown, 1990). Additionally, theory of mind has received little attention in anxious solitary children and youth, although they often experience peer difficulties.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Girls’ advanced theory of mind scores are often higher than those of boys (e.g., Białecka‐Pikul et al., 2021; Bosacki & Astington, 1999; Devine & Hughes, 2013), although this may vary according to age, and theory of mind task (Devine & Apperly, 2021; Gabriel et al., 2021). These mean gender differences are consistent with the proposition that females tend to excel at empathizing with others (Baron‐Cohen, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although few studies have tested gender differences in links between theory of mind and peer relations in older children and young adolescents (Białecka‐Pikul et al., 2021; Devine & Apperly, 2021), available studies show a stronger link for girls than boys between more proficient theory of mind and more prosocial peer relations (Bosacki & Astington, 1999; Kuhnert et al., 2017; Walker, 2005). However, potential gender differences in links between theory of mind and change in peer relations over time and reciprocated friendships in particular remain untested.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Theory of mind, gender, gains in friendships versus peer acceptance and anxious solitude from middle childhood through early adolescence

2022

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This investigation proposes that theory of mind (ToM) may be related more strongly to change in friendships than peer acceptance in late middle childhood through early adolescence, and examines the relation between ToM and anxious solitude. Fourth grade ToM was tested as a predictor of change in reciprocated friendships, peer acceptance, and anxious solitude from 4th to 7th grade, and, conversely, reciprocated friendships, peer acceptance, and anxious solitude in 3 rd grade were tested as predictors of 4th grade ToM. Gender moderation of these relations was evaluated. Participants were 688 American public-school children (51.5% girls), 193 of whom completed a ToM questionnaire in 4th grade. In 3rd-7th grade children and their peers reported reciprocated friendship, and peers reported peer acceptance and anxious solitude annually. A multi-group (gender split) autoregressive cross-lagged panel analysis modeled relations between ToM and reciprocated friendship, peer acceptance, and anxious solitude over time. Consistent with hypotheses, girls' more advanced 4th grade ToM predicted incremental gains in their number of friendships two years later, but not their peer acceptance. In contrast, boys' more advanced 4th grade ToM did not predict change in their number of friendships or peer acceptance over time. Gender differences in the relation between ToM and friendship are discussed in the context of gender-specific peer relations

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Mentalizing strategies for navigating the social world in adolescence

Williamson

Mills

2022

Infant and Child Development

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Mentalizing-the ability to represent or infer the mental states of others-continues to develop into and throughout adolescence. Increased mentalizing sophistication during adolescence is thought to support the navigation of increasingly complex social relationships and contexts. However, developmental science has yet to aggregate the seemingly disparate findings from research relating mentalizing to functional outcomes, such as internalizing mental health concerns, into clear and comprehensive theories that explain individual variability during adolescence. In this review, we describe approaches that have been used to measure mentalizing during adolescence and propose a methodological framework to measure mentalizing as a multi-dimensional process that continues to develop as a response to the environment during adolescence.

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Theory of Mind and Peer Attachment in Adolescence

Cited by 16 publications

References 143 publications

When did you stop speaking to yourself? Age-related differences in adolescents’ world knowledge-based audience design

When did you stop speaking to yourself? Age-related differences in adolescents’ world knowledge-based audience design

Theory of mind, gender, gains in friendships versus peer acceptance and anxious solitude from middle childhood through early adolescence

Mentalizing strategies for navigating the social world in adolescence

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