The developmental trajectory of the anxiety-related interpretive bias (a tendency to inappropriately interpret ambiguous stimuli as threatening) and its precursors is not fully elucidated. In this study we focused on the role of the interpretive theory of mind, relating it to the emergence of the interpretive bias, and to anxiety symptoms during middle childhood. Children aged 9–11 years (N = 86) were presented with 4 vignettes, each containing two parts. The first part assessed the child’s interpretive bias using an ambiguous story paradigm, while the second part measured the interpretive theory of mind with a novel task assessing the understanding of biased social cognition. Parents reported on their children’s theory of mind and anxiety symptoms, while children completed a self-report of the same anxiety measure. Results revealed that overall theory of mind ratings were negatively associated with interpretive bias and anxiety symptoms. Additionally, children with a higher performance on the novel interpretive theory of mind tasks had lower interpretive bias and anxiety symptoms. Children more prone to acknowledging the significance of a character’s biased belief in constructing the character’s interpretation and justification of the ambiguous situation (interpretive theory of mind), as well as those who used the relevant explicit information to construct their interpretation had lower anxiety symptoms, as well as lower scores on the interpretive bias task, than those that did not. Understanding the relationship between theory of mind and information processing biases is paramount for ameliorating early anxiety vulnerability signs during middle childhood.

与焦虑相关的解释偏差（一种将模棱两可的刺激不恰当地解释为威胁的倾向）及其前兆的发展轨迹尚未完全阐明。在这项研究中，我们专注于心理解释理论的作用，将其与解释偏见的出现以及童年中期的焦虑症状联系起来。. 向 9-11 岁的儿童 (N = 86) 展示了 4 个小插图，每个小插图包含两个部分。第一部分使用模棱两可的故事范式评估儿童的解释性偏见，而第二部分通过评估对有偏见的社会认知的理解的新任务来衡量心理的解释性理论。父母报告了他们孩子的心理理论和焦虑症状，而孩子则完成了相同焦虑测量的自我报告。结果显示，心理评级的整体理论与解释偏差和焦虑症状呈负相关。此外，在新的思维任务解释理论上表现较高的儿童具有较低的解释偏差和焦虑症状。儿童更倾向于承认角色的偏见信念在构建角色对模棱两可情况的解释和理由（解释性心理理论）中的重要性，以及那些使用相关外显信息来构建他们的解释的儿童具有较低的焦虑症状，如以及在解释性偏见任务上的分数低于那些没有的分数。理解心理理论与信息处理偏见之间的关系对于改善童年中期的早期焦虑脆弱迹象至关重要。比那些没有的。理解心理理论与信息处理偏见之间的关系对于改善童年中期的早期焦虑脆弱迹象至关重要。比那些没有的。理解心理理论与信息处理偏见之间的关系对于改善童年中期的早期焦虑脆弱迹象至关重要。