Relationship between Japanese young children's theory of mind and self-regulation, and social networks

This study aimed to examine the relationship between theory of mind (ToM) performance and children’s self-assertion or self-inhibitory as rated by their caregivers and teachers as well as social networks rated by the children themselves. Participants included 115 Japanese children aged 3–6 years (61 girls and 54 boys) who were enrolled in three kindergartens and nursery schools in Tokyo. In the interview, they were assessed by unexpected content type false belief task and the Picture Affective Relationship Test (PART) which measures the size of their social network. Children’s teachers of their classes and caregivers were asked to rate children’s self-regulation (self-assertion and self-inhibition) by questionnaire. The results showed that children’s ToM was positively correlated with the size of the social network, especially the number of friends as reported by the children themselves, and also the self-inhibition as rated by their teachers, even when their verbal abilities were controlled. In addition, the logistic regression analysis was conducted using nine independent variables. The results suggest that children’s scores on teacher-rated self-inhibitory and the number of children in the child-reported PART were related to passing the false belief task.