Abstract
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.
Highlights
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Interpretive theory of mind is the ability to understand the mind as being constructive.
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We collected parental ratings of the child’s theory of mind, anxiety and added children anxiety self-reports.
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We created stories assessing children’s interpretive bias and their understanding on the importance of a biased belief in interpretation
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Higher levels of theory of mind (as measured by both tasks) were negatively associated with anxiety and interpretive bias in 9 to 11 year olds.
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Acknowledgements
The writing of this work was supported by a research project of the Ministry of Research and Innovation, CNCS—UEFISCDI, project number PN-III-P1-1.1- TE-2019-1075. The authors are grateful to Andra Coman for her support with the data analysis and to the participants for their involvement in the study.
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Appendix A
Appendix A
Bias Task
For all 4 scenarios, we asked the Free Response question (“What do you think is happening?”), as well as the Chosen Response question.
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1.
You enter the schoolyard where there is another group of kids. When you enter the schoolyard, suddenly all the children turn towards you laughing.
Chosen Response: Which one of these two answers seems more probable to you?
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a.
The children are laughing because they are playing something interesting and they want to invite me to join them.
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b.
The children are laughing at me.
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2.
You are in literature class and your pen doesn’t work anymore. You ask the child next to you for a pen and they tells you ‘no’.
Chosen Response: Which one of these two answers seems more probable to you?
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a.
They said no because it is his/her only pen.
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b.
They said no because they doesn’t want to help me.
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3.
You are in your classroom when you are announced that the sport teacher is waiting for you.
Chosen Response: Which one of these two answers seems more probable to you?
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a.
He called me to tell me that there is a training I could participate after school.
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b.
He called me to tell me that I don’t do well in class.
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4.
You are having a presentation in front of the class. While you are speaking, you see some children smiling.
Chosen Response: Which one of these two answers seems more probable to you?
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a.
They smile because my presentation is awful.
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b.
They smile because they like the presentation.
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Moldovan, M., Visu-Petra, L. Theory of Mind, Anxiety, and Interpretive Bias During Middle Childhood. J Child Fam Stud 31, 99–113 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-021-02023-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-021-02023-0