In this study, parents’ reactions to their children’s emotions were investigated as correlates of children’s abilities in Theory of Mind (ToM). 175 parents completed questionnaires about their reactions to their children’s emotions. Children’s ToM abilities were assessed by direct measures and a questionnaire completed by mothers. Inter-parental comparisons and intra-parental inter-actions were explored. The maternal model was significant for children’s ToM-emotions and ToM-thinking. The paternal model was significant for children’s ToM-beliefs. Maternal supportive reactions (SR) to positive emotions were related to children’s ToM-emotions and ToM-thinking. Moreover, maternal non-supportive reactions (NSR) to negative emotions were negatively associated with children’s ToM-thinking. The interaction between paternal SR to children’s positive emotions and a low level of NSR to positive emotions was associated with a high level of ToM-beliefs. The results suggest that exploring the parental gender effect and the combined effects of parental reactions is useful for understanding children’s ToM development.
KeywordsSocialization of EmotionsParental Reactions to Children’s EmotionsTheory of MindPreschoolers
Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple Regression: Testing and Interpreting Interactions. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
Astington, J. W. (1996). What Is Theoretical about the Child’s Theory of Mind? A Vygotskian View of Its Development. In P. Carruthers & P. K. Smith (Eds.), Theories of Theories of Mind (pp. 184-199). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511597985.013
Baron-Cohen, S. (2001). Théorie de l’esprit, développement normal et autisme. Prisme, 34, 174-183.
Burke, J., Pardini, D., & Loeber, R. (2008). Reciprocal Relationships between Parenting Behavior and Disruptive Psychopathology from Childhood through Adolescence. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 36, 679-692. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10802-008-9219-7
Cassano, M., Perry-Parrish, C., & Zeman, J. (2007). Influence of Gender on Parental Socialization of Children’s Sadness Regulation. Social Development, 16, 210-231. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9507.2007.00381.x
Chaplin, T. M., & Aldao, A. (2013). Gender Differences in Emotion Expression in Children: A Meta-Analytic Review. Psychological Bulletin, 139, 735-765. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0030737
Coutu, S., Dubeau, D., Provost, M. A., Royer, N., & Lavigueur, S. (2002). Validation de la version française du questionnaire: Coping with Children’s Negative Emotions Scale—CCNES. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue Canadienne des Sciences du Comportement, 34, 230-234. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0087175
Daffe, V., & Nader-Grosbois, N. (2009). Réactions parentales face aux émotions de leur enfant: Adaptation intégrée de deux instruments. In N. Nader-Grosbois (Ed.), Résilience, régulation et qualité de vie: Concepts, évaluation et intervention (pp. 143-159). Louvain-la-Neuve: Presses Universitaires de Louvain.
Darling, N., & Steinberg, L. (1993). Parenting style as context: An integrative model. Psychological Bulletin, 113, 487-496. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.113.3.487
Deneault, J., & Morin, P. (2007). La Théorie de l’esprit: Ce que l’enfant comprend de l’univers psychologique. In S. Larivée (Ed.), L’intelligence. Tome 1. Les approches biocognitives, développementales et contemporaines (pp. 154-162). Montréal: ERPI.
Denham, S. A., Zoller, D., & Couchoud, E. A. (1994). Socialization of Preschoolers’ Emotion Understanding. Developmental Psychology, 30, 928-936. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.30.6.928
Denham, S., & Kochanoff, A. T. (2002). Parental Contributions to Preschoolers’ Understanding of Emotion. Marriage & Family Review, 34, 311-343. http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J002v34n03_06
Dunsmore, J. C., & Halberstadt, A. G. (1997). How Does Family Emotional Expressiveness Affect Children’s Schemas? New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 1997, 45-68. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cd.23219977704
Eisenberg, N., Cumberland, A., & Spinrad, T. L. (1998a). Parental Socialization of Emotion. Psychological Inquiry, 9, 241-273. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15327965pli0904_1
Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., & Murphy, B. C. (1996). Parents’ Reactions to Children’s Negative Emotions: Relations to Children’s Social Competence and Comforting Behavior. Child Development, 67, 2227-2247. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1131620
Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., Shepard, S. A., Guthrie, I. K., Murphy, B. C., & Reiser, M. (1999). Parental Reactions to Children’s Negative Emotions: Longitudinal Relations to Quality of Children’s Social Functioning. Child Development, 70, 513-534. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00037
Engle, J. M., & McElwain, N. L. (2011). Parental Reactions to Toddlers’ Negative Emotions and Child Negative Emotionality as Correlates of Problem Behavior at the Age of Three. Social Development, 20, 251-271. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9507.2010.00583.x
Fabes, R. A., Eisenberg, N., & Bernzweig, J. (1990). The Coping with Children’s Negative Emotion Scale: Procedure and scoring. Tempe, Arizona State University.
Fabes, R. A., Leonard, S. A., Kupanoff, K., & Martin, C. L. (2001). Parental Coping with Children’s Negative Emotions: Relations with Children’s Emotional and Social Responding. Child Development, 72, 907-920. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00323
Fabes, R. A., Poulin, R. E., Eisenberg, N., & Madden-Derdich, D. A. (2002). The Coping with Children’s Negative Emotions Scale (CCNES): Psychometric Properties and Relations with Children’s Emotional Competence. Marriage & Family Review, 34, 285-310. http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J002v34n03_05
Flavell, J. H. (1986). The Development of Children’s Knowledge about the Appearance-Reality Distinction. American Psychologist, 41, 418-425. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.41.4.418
Flavell, J. H. (1999). COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT: Children’s Knowledge about the Mind. Annual Review of Psychology, 50, 21-45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.50.1.21
Flavell, J. H., Everett, B. A., Croft, K., & Flavell, E. R. (1981). Young Children’s Knowledge about Visual Perception: Further Evidence for the Level 1-Level 2 Distinction. Developmental Psychology, 17, 99-103. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.17.1.99
Hayes, A. F. (2013). Introduction to Mediation, Moderation, and Conditional Process Analysis: A Regression-Based Approach. New York: The Guilford Press.
Houssa, M., Mazzone, S., & Nader-Grosbois, N. (2014). Validation d’une version francophone de l’inventaire de la Théorie de l’Esprit (ToMI-vf). Revue Européenne de Psychologie Appliquée/European Review of Applied Psychology, 64, 169-179. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.erap.2014.02.002
Houssa, M., Nader-Grosbois, N., & Jacobs, E. (2013). Experimental Study of Short-Term Training in Social Cognition in Pre-Schoolers. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 2, 1-16. http://dx.doi.org/10.11114/jets.v2i1.181
Hughes, C. (2011). Social Understanding and Social Lives: From Toddlerhood through to the Transition to School. New York: Psychology Press.
Hughes, E. K., & Gullone, E. (2010). Parent Emotion Socialisation Practices and Their Associations with Personality and Emotion Regulation. Personality and Individual Differences, 49, 694-699. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2010.05.042
Hutchins, T. L. (2012). Theory of Mind Inventory. http://www.theoryofmindinventory.com/about/uses-of-the-tomi/
Hutchins, T. L., Prelock, P. A., & Bonazinga, L. (2012). Psychometric Evaluation of the Theory of Mind Inventory (ToMI): A Study of Typically Developing Children and Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Autism Developmental Disorder, 42, 327-341. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10803-011-1244-7
Johnson, P. O., & Neyman, J. (1936). Tests of Certain Linear Hypotheses and Their Application to Some Educational Problems. Statistical Research Memoirs, 1, 57-93.
Jones, S., Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., & MacKinnon, D. P. (2002). Parents’ Reactions to Elementary School Children’s Negative Emotions: Relations to Social and Emotional Functioning at School. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 48, 133-159. http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/mpq.2002.0007
LaBounty, J., Wellman, H. M., Olson, S., Lagattuta, K., & Liu, D. (2008). Mothers’ and Fathers’ Use of Internal State Talk with Their Young Children. Social Development, 17, 757-775. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9507.2007.00450.x
Ladouceur, C., Reid, L., & Jacques, A. (2002). Construction et validation du Questionnaire sur les réactions parentales aux émotions positives exprimées par l’enfant. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 34, 8-18. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0087150
Lamb, M. E., & Lewis, C. (2004). The Development and Significance of Father-Child Relationships in Two-Parent Families. In M. E. Lamb (Ed.), The Role of the Father in Child Development (4th ed., pp. 272-306). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
McElwain, N. L., Halberstadt, A. G., & Volling, B. L. (2007). Mother- and Father-Reported Reactions to Children’s Negative Emotions: Relations to Young Children’s Emotional Understanding and Friendship Quality. Child Development, 78, 1407-1425. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01074.x
Mitchell, P. (1996). Acquiring a Conception of Mind: A Review of Psychological Research and Theory. Hove: Psychology Press.
Morris, A. S., Silk, J. S., Steinberg, L., Myers, S. S., & Robinson, L. R. (2007). The Role of the Family Context in the Development of Emotion Regulation. Social Development, 16, 361-388. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9507.2007.00389.x
Nader-Grosbois, N. (2011). Théorie de l’esprit: Entre cognition, émotion et adaptation sociale. Bruxelles: De Boeck.
Nader-Grosbois, N., & Daffe, V. (2013). Patterns de socialisation parentale des émotions et développement de la théorie de l’esprit chez des enfants typiques et à déficience intellectuelle. In M. C. Haelewyck, H. Gascon, J. J. Detraux, & J. C. Kalubi (Eds.), Inclusion des personnes en situation de handicap, une question d’intervention(s). Mons: Association pour l’innovation en orthopédagogie.
Nader-Grosbois, N., & Thirion-Marissiaux, A. F. (2011). Evaluer la compréhension des états mentaux “émotions” et “croyances”. In N. Nader-Grosbois (Ed.), La théorie de l’esprit: entre cognition, émotion et adaptation sociale (pp. 95-125). Bruxelles: De Boeck. http://dx.doi.org/10.3917/dbu.nader.2011.01.0093
Oswald, D., & Ollendick, T. (1989). Role Taking and Social Competence in Autism and Mental Retardation. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 19, 119-127. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02212723
Pears, K. C., & Moses, L. J. (2003). Demographics, Parenting, and Theory of Mind in Preschool Children. Social Development, 12, 1-20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-9507.00219
Perner, J., Leekam, S. R., & Wimmer, H. (1987). Three-Year-Olds’ Difficulty with False Belief: The Case for a Conceptual Deficit. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 5, 125-137. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-835X.1987.tb01048.x
Perron-Borelli, M. (1996). Echelles Différentielles d’Efficiences Intellectuelles. Forme révisée (EDEI-R). Paris: Editions et applications psychologiques.
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J. Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common Method Biases in Behavioral Research: A Critical Review of the Literature and Recommended Remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 879-903. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879
Roskam, I., Meunier, J. C., & Stievenart, M. (2013). The Comparison and Combination of Multi-Informant and Multi-Method Data on Preschoolers’ Externalizing Behaviour. International Journal of Educational and Psychological Assessment, 14, 79-93.
Shewark, E. A., & Blandon, A. Y. (2015). Mothers’ and Fathers’ Emotion Socialization and Children’s Emotion Regulation: A Within-Family Model. Social Development, 24, 266-284. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/sode.12095
Symons, D. K. (2004). Mental State Discourse, Theory of Mind, and the Internalization of Self-Other Understanding. Developmental Review, 24, 159-188. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/sode.12095
Wimmer, H., & Perner, J. (1983). Beliefs about Beliefs: Representation and Constraining Function of Wrong Beliefs in Young Children’s Understanding of Deception. Cognition, 13, 103-128. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0010-0277(83)90004-5
Wong, M. S., McElwain, N. L., & Halberstadt, A. G. (2009). Parent, Family, and Child Characteristics: Associations with Mother- and Father-Reported Emotion Socialization Practices. Journal of Family Psychology, 23, 452-463. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0015552