The present study tested the longitudinal relations among children's theory of mind (ToM), sensitivity to criticism, school engagement, and academic achievement. One hundred and twenty-one school-age typically developing children completed a ToM task (understanding of faux pas), sensitivity to criticism task (emotional reaction and motivation for improvement after critique, 30 months after ToM), and a language and mathematics achievement test (twice, 40 months apart). Teachers assessed children's school engagement 40 months after ToM. The results show that the scores on the Faux Pas Recognition Test predicted the children's motivation for improvement and language and mathematics scores. In turn, motivation predicted school engagement, and engagement predicted language and mathematics scores, even when the initial level of achievement was controlled. A hypothesized sequential mediation was established among ToM, motivation, engagement, and academic achievement. Overall, the present study emphasizes the importance of ToM development for children's academic achievement and overall functioning in school.

本研究检验了儿童心理理论之间的纵向关系(ToM)、对批评的敏感性、学校参与度和学业成就。121 名学龄正常发育儿童完成了 ToM 任务（理解失礼）、对批评任务的敏感性（批评后的情绪反应和改进动机，ToM 后 30 个月）以及语言和数学成绩测试（两次，相隔 40 个月）。教师在 ToM 后 40 个月评估儿童的学校参与度。结果表明，失礼识别测试的分数可以预测儿童的改进动机以及语言和数学分数。反过来，动机预测了学校参与度，而参与度预测了语言和数学分数，即使最初的成绩水平受到控制。在 ToM 之间建立了一个假设的顺序中介，动机、参与度和学业成就。总体而言，本研究强调了 ToM 发展对儿童学业成绩和学校整体功能的重要性。