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Delayed theory of mind development in children born preterm: A longitudinal study
Sarah Witt1, Almut Weitkämper2, Helmut Neumann2
1TU Dortmund University, Dortmund, Germany.
Insights
Preterm children show a delay in Theory of Mind development, but catch up to full-term peers by age five. Further research is needed to understand persistent social interaction challenges.
Area of Science:
- Developmental psychology
- Cognitive neuroscience
- Pediatric research
Background:
- Children born preterm face higher risks of developmental delays, particularly in cognitive and social domains.
- Social interaction difficulties in preterm children are evident early and can persist into school age.
- Social-cognitive skills like Theory of Mind are crucial for social acceptance but understudied in preterm populations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess and compare the development of Theory of Mind (ToM) in preterm and full-term children over two years.
- To identify potential delays or deficits in ToM abilities among preterm children.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study tracking 34 preterm and 38 full-term children.
- Theory of Mind scale administered at ages 3, 4, and 5 years.
- General cognitive development was assessed and controlled for.
Main Results:
- At age 3, preterm children scored lower on ToM than full-term peers.
- By age 5, ToM performance was similar between preterm and full-term children.
- A significant interaction effect indicated a developmental delay, not a deficit, in ToM for preterm children.
Conclusions:
- Preterm children experience a delay in Theory of Mind development that resolves by age 5.
- The underlying mechanisms for this developmental trajectory remain unclear.
- Future research should investigate implicit mental reasoning to understand persistent social interaction issues in preterm children.
Background:
Children born preterm are at high risk of developmental delay in various cognitive domains. Moreover, problems in social interaction are more frequently reported in preterm children than in their full-term peers. These difficulties can be observed at two years of age and seem to persist until school age. Although closely linked to social acceptance, remarkably little research has focused on social-cognitive skills such as Theory of Mind in preterm children.
Aim:
The aim of the current study was to assess Theory-of-Mind development in preterm (n = 34) and full-term (n = 38) children over the course of two years.
Methods:
A Theory-of-Mind scale was administered at the children's age of 3, 4, and 5 years, and we additionally assessed and controlled for general cognitive development.
Results:
At the age of 3, mean Theory-of-Mind scores were 1.23 (SD = 0.65) for preterm and 1.58 (SD = 0.76) for full-term children. By the age of 5, preterm children's performance (M = 3.50, SD = 1.16) was similar to that of full-term children (M = 3.52, SD = 0.98), revealing a significant interaction effect between birth status and time of measurement, F(1, 44.424) = 4.76, p = .035.
Conclusion:
The interaction effect indicates that preterm children show a delay rather than a general deficit in Theory-of-Mind development. Mechanisms underlying this course of development are still unknown. To examine why problems in social interaction persist despite improving Theory-of-Mind abilities, future research should extend the focus to implicit mental reasoning in preterm children.
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