Implications of social competence among thirty-month-old toddlers: a theory of mind perspective.
BACKGROUND
The purpose of this study was to examine the relations between children's social competence and initial index of theory of mind at 30 months of age.


METHODS
The participants of the study were 322 toddlers and parents/caregivers who were registered with the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) project. They completed a five-minute interaction session, which was coded using the Interaction Rating Scale (IRS) as an evidence-based practical index of children's social competence. In addition, the children were asked to complete a diverse-desire task as a ToM (theory of mind) index.


RESULTS
The results showed that the ToM index was related to the total score and subscales of the IRS, such as Empathy and Emotional regulation.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings show that the IRS score was related to ToM task performance at 30 months of age.
Tanaka
Emiko
E
Research Institute of Science and Technology for Society, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Tokyo, Japan.
Tomisaki
Etsuko
E
Shinohara
Ryoji
R
Sugisawa
Yuka
Y
Tong
Lian
L
Watanabe
Taeko
T
Onda
Yoko
Y
Kawashima
Yuri
Y
Hirano
Maki
M
Mochizuki
Yukiko
Y
Morita
Kentaro
K
Gan-Yadam
Amarsanaa
A
Yato
Yuko
Y
Yamakawa
Noriko
N
Itakura
Shoji
S
Ogura
Tamiko
T
Kutsuki
Aya
A
Kuroki
Misa
M
Anme
Tokie
T
D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D012919:Social Behavior; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D056345:Theory of Mind