A systematic review of the evidence for impaired cognitive theory of mind in maltreated children

作者：Benarous Xavier^*; Guile Jean Marc; Consoli Angele; Cohen David

来源：Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2015, 6: 108.

DOI：10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00108

• theory of mind
• false-belief
• perspective-taking
• attribution biases
• child abuse
• maltreatment
• systematic review
• social cognitionIntroduction

Compared to the large number of studies exploring difficulties in emotion recognition in maltreated children, few (N = 12) have explored the cognitive aspect of theory of mind (TOM), i.e., the ability to understand others' thoughts and intentions. A systematic review of these studies shows inconsistent results regarding cognitive ToM tasks. Youths with a history of maltreatment are more likely to fail at false-belief tasks (N = 2). However, results are less conclusive regarding other tasks (perspective taking tasks, N = 4; and hostile attribution tasks, N = 7). Additionally, only one study controlled for potential psychopathology. Measures of psychopathology and other cognitive abilities, in addition to ToM, are required to establish a specific association between maltreatment and the cognitive dimension of ToM.

• 出版日期2015-7-28