SAFETYLIT WEEKLY UPDATE

We compile citations and summaries of about 400 new articles every week.
RSS Feed

HELP: Tutorials | FAQ
CONTACT US: Contact info

Search Results

Journal Article

Citation

Shakoor S, Jaffee SR, Bowes L, Ouellet-Morin I, Andreou P, Happé F, Moffitt TE, Arseneault L. J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 2012; 53(3): 254-261.

Affiliation

MRC Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK Departments of Psychology and Neuroscience, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1469-7610.2011.02488.x

PMID

22081896

PMCID

PMC3272094

Abstract

Background:  Theory of mind (ToM) allows the understanding and prediction of other people's behaviours based on their mental states (e.g. beliefs). It is important for healthy social relationships and thus may contribute towards children's involvement in bullying. The present study investigated whether children involved in bullying during early adolescence had poor ToM in childhood. Method:  Participants were members of the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, a nationally representative sample of 2,232 children and their families. We visited families when children were 5, 7, 10 and 12 years. ToM was assessed when the children were 5 years using eight standardized tasks. Identification of those children who were involved in bullying as victims, bullies and bully-victims using mothers', teachers' and children's reports was carried out when they were 12 years' old. Results:  Poor ToM predicted becoming a victim (effect size, d = 0.26), bully (d = 0.25) or bully-victim (d = 0.44) in early adolescence. These associations remained for victims and bully-victims when child-specific (e.g. IQ) and family factors (e.g. child maltreatment) were controlled for. Emotional and behavioural problems during middle childhood did not modify the association between poor ToM and adolescent bullying experiences. Conclusion:  Identifying and supporting children with poor ToM early in life could help reduce their vulnerability for involvement in bullying and thus limit its adverse effects on mental health.


Language: en

NEW SEARCH


All SafetyLit records are available for automatic download to Zotero & Mendeley
Print