{"title":"Thinking about Others' Minds: Mental State Inference in Boys with Conduct Problems and Callous-Unemotional Traits.","authors":"Ruth Roberts, Eamon McCrory, Geoffrey Bird, Molly Sharp, Linda Roberts, Essi Viding","doi":"10.1007/s10802-020-00664-1","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Children with conduct problems (CP) and high levels of callous-unemotional traits (CP/HCU) have been found to have an intact ability to represent other minds, however, they behave in ways that indicate a reduced propensity to consider other people's thoughts and feelings. Here we report findings from three tasks assessing different aspects of mentalising in 81 boys aged 11-16 [Typically developing (TD) n = 27; CP/HCU n = 28; CP and low levels of callous-unemotional traits (CP/LCU) n = 26]. Participants completed the Movie Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC), a task assessing ability/propensity to incorporate judgements concerning an individual's mind into mental state inference; provided a written description of a good friend to assess mind-mindedness; and completed the Social Judgement Task (SJT), a new measure assessing mentalising about antisocial actions. Boys with CP/HCU had more difficulty in accurately inferring others' mental states in the MASC than TD and CP/LCU boys. There were no group differences in the number of mind-related comments as assessed by the mind-mindedness protocol or in responses to the SJT task. These findings suggest that although the ability to represent mental states is intact, CP/HCU boys are less likely to update mental state inferences as a function of different minds.</p>","PeriodicalId":14810,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology","volume":"48 10","pages":"1279-1290"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6000,"publicationDate":"2020-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1007/s10802-020-00664-1","citationCount":"7","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-020-00664-1","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 7
Abstract
Children with conduct problems (CP) and high levels of callous-unemotional traits (CP/HCU) have been found to have an intact ability to represent other minds, however, they behave in ways that indicate a reduced propensity to consider other people's thoughts and feelings. Here we report findings from three tasks assessing different aspects of mentalising in 81 boys aged 11-16 [Typically developing (TD) n = 27; CP/HCU n = 28; CP and low levels of callous-unemotional traits (CP/LCU) n = 26]. Participants completed the Movie Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC), a task assessing ability/propensity to incorporate judgements concerning an individual's mind into mental state inference; provided a written description of a good friend to assess mind-mindedness; and completed the Social Judgement Task (SJT), a new measure assessing mentalising about antisocial actions. Boys with CP/HCU had more difficulty in accurately inferring others' mental states in the MASC than TD and CP/LCU boys. There were no group differences in the number of mind-related comments as assessed by the mind-mindedness protocol or in responses to the SJT task. These findings suggest that although the ability to represent mental states is intact, CP/HCU boys are less likely to update mental state inferences as a function of different minds.
有行为问题(CP)和高水平冷酷无情特征(CP/HCU)的儿童被发现具有完整的代表他人思想的能力,然而,他们的行为方式表明他们不太倾向于考虑他人的想法和感受。在这里,我们报告了81名11-16岁男孩的三个不同方面的智力评估任务的结果[典型发育(TD) n = 27;CP/HCU n = 28;CP和低水平冷酷无情特质(CP/LCU) n = 26]。参与者完成了电影社会认知评估(MASC),这是一项评估将个人心理判断纳入心理状态推断的能力/倾向的任务;提供一个好朋友的书面描述,以评估心智;并完成了社会判断任务(SJT),这是一项评估反社会行为心理化的新措施。CP/HCU男孩在MASC中比TD和CP/LCU男孩更难以准确推断他人的精神状态。在心智相关评论的数量和对SJT任务的反应上,没有组间差异。这些发现表明,尽管表现精神状态的能力是完整的,但CP/HCU男孩不太可能更新精神状态推断作为不同思维的功能。
期刊介绍:
Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology brings together the latest innovative research that advances knowledge of psychopathology from infancy through adolescence. The journal publishes studies that have a strong theoretical framework and use a diversity of methods, with an emphasis on empirical studies of the major forms of psychopathology found in childhood disorders (e.g., disruptive behavior disorders, depression, anxiety, and autism spectrum disorder). Studies focus on the epidemiology, etiology, assessment, treatment, prognosis, and developmental course of these forms of psychopathology. Studies highlighting risk and protective factors; the ecology and correlates of children''s emotional, social, and behavior problems; and advances in prevention and treatment are featured.
Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology is the official journal of the International Society for Research in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology (ISRCAP), a multidisciplinary scientific society.