The ability to infer mental and affective states of others is crucial for social functioning. This ability, denoted as Theory of Mind (ToM), develops rapidly during childhood, yet results on its development across adolescence and into young adulthood are rare. In the present study, we tested the two‐component model, measuring age‐related changes in social‐perceptual and social‐cognitive ToM in a sample of 267 participants between 11 and 25 years of age. Additionally, we measured language, reasoning, and inhibitory control as major covariates. Participants inferred mental states from non‐verbal cues in a social‐perceptual task (Eye Test) and from stories with faux pas in a social‐cognitive task (Faux Pas Test). Results showed substantial improvement across adolescence in both ToM measures and in the covariates. Analysis with linear mixed models (LMM) revealed specific age‐related growth for the social‐perceptual component, while the age‐related increase of the social‐cognitive component fully aligned with the increase of the covariates. These results support the distinction between ToM components and indicate that adolescence is a crucial period for developing social‐perceptual ToM abilities.

中文翻译：

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从青春期到成年期的心理发展理论：测试两成分模型。

推断他人的心理和情感状态的能力对于社交功能至关重要。这种能力被称为心理理论（ToM），在童年时期迅速发展，但是在整个青春期和成年后的发展中却很少见。在本研究中，我们测试了两部分模型，测量了11至25岁之间的267名参与者的社会知觉和社会认知ToM中与年龄相关的变化。此外，我们将语言，推理和抑制控制作为主要协变量进行了测量。参与者从社交感知任务中的非语言线索（眼测试）和社交认知任务中具有假肢的故事推断心理状态（假肢测试）。结果表明，在整个青春期，ToM量度和协变量均显着改善。线性混合模型（LMM）的分析显示，社会感知部分与年龄相关的增长，而社会认知部分与年龄相关的增长与协变量的增长完全一致。这些结果支持了ToM成分之间的区别，并表明青春期是发展社会感知ToM能力的关键时期。