Child / Adolescent - Externalizing
Cognitive and affective theory of mind as mechanisms explaining the associations of threat and deprivation with psychopathology
Jesus De Luna, B.A.
Research Coordinator
Harvard University
Massachusetts, Massachusetts
Charlotte Heleniak, Ph.D.
Post-Doctoral Scholar
Columbia University
New York, New York
David G. Weissman, Ph.D.
Post-Doctoral Scholar
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Maya Rosen, Ph.D.
Professor
Smith College
Northampton, Massachusetts
Liliana J. Lengua, Ph.D. (she/her/hers)
Professor
University of Washington, Seattle
Seattle, Washington
Margaret Sheridan, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Katie A. McLaughlin, Ph.D.
Professor
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Childhood adversity has been linked with the onset of psychopathology, including externalizing behaviors like aggression and rule-breaking. According to the dimensional model of adversity, experiences of threat and deprivation may have distinct influences on development. One way threat and deprivation could influence the development of externalizing symptoms is by disrupting social information processes such as theory of mind–the ability to perceive emotions and attribute mental states to others. Previous research has linked experiences of threat in childhood with theory of mind. Therefore, this project aims to expand on existing literature by looking at the differential impacts of threat and deprivation on theory of mind during early adolescence. Given the existing link between threat and theory of mind, we hypothesize that experiences of threat during childhood will be negatively associated with theory of mind performance in adolescents. Moreover, we also investigate whether differences in theory of mind mediate the established link between threat and deprivation experiences and the development of externalizing problems in early adolescence, concurrently and two years later.
The data for this study consists of 203 children (Mage = 11.44) recruited from the community. To assess theory of mind, participants completed a task designed to measure emotional and cognitive theory of mind in children by presenting a series of cartoon vignettes. Participants were asked to select an ending to the vignettes that would correspond with the characters' appropriate thoughts and feelings in each situation. We assessed the presence of childhood adversity, in the form of experiences of threat and deprivation using multiple parent- and child-report measures. Dimensional measures of threat and deprivation were constructed from these adversity measures. Externalizing problems were assessed based on parent and child report at baseline and a two-year follow-up.
Both threat and deprivation were associated with externalizing symptoms concurrently. Only threat was associated with increases in externalizing problems prospectively. Deprivation, but not threat, experiences were associated with lower accuracy on both affective and cognitive theory of mind tasks. Neither affective nor cognitive theory of mind accuracy was associated with externalizing problems concurrently or prospectively.
