From mind to mind: understanding the role of mothers in children's theory of mind

Abstract

Theory of mind (ToM) enables children to comprehend mental states of themselves and others. In this first study investigating the mediating role of mothers' mental state talk between mothers' sociocognitive skills (i.e., mothers' ToM and parental reflective functioning) and children's ToM, 89 children (M(SD)age = 57.0 months (5.49)) and their mothers from Türkiye participated. Results revealed that mothers with higher prementalization scores used fewer affective and desire words. Mothers exhibiting greater interest and curiosity in mental states used more cognitive words, while those with more proficient ToM skills tended to use more mental state terms indicating certainty (e.g., ‘perhaps’). Furthermore, mothers' use of certainty words mediated the relationship between mothers' ToM and children's ToM. These cross-sectional findings underscore the significant role of mothers' socio-cognitive abilities in mother-child interactions regarding mental states and the development of children's ToM skills, and call for a longitudinal investigation into these relationships.