title: Theory of mind and language development in Japanese children with hearing loss.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study investigates the development of theory of mind (ToM) in Japanese children with hearing loss (HL) and its relationship with language abilities using the data of a large sample size.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were 369 children with HL, ranging from 4 to 12 years of age. The mean hearing level of the better ear was 100.7 dB. A "change in location"-type false belief task similar to the "Sally-Anne test" was given to the participants.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The pass rates for the false belief task were in the 20% range for 4 to 6-year-olds, 35.6% for 7-year-olds, 47.6% for 8-year-olds, and 63.6% for 9-year-olds. However, no children, even 12-year-olds, achieved a pass rate of 70%. A logistic regression analysis showed that the significant independent predictors of the false belief task performance were vocabulary age and syntactic comprehension level, and chronological age, hearing level, syntactic production level, and nonverbal intelligence were excluded.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results demonstrate that there is a delay in the development of ToM in Japanese children with HL. This finding is consistent with findings in English-speaking countries. Additionally, it is suggested that language abilities play an important role in the acquisition of ToM for children with HL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Special Needs Education, Tokyo Gakugei University, Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address: hfujino@u-gakugei.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fujino
authors.affiliation: Shinkurashiki Ear, Nose, and Throat Clinic, Japan; Department of Otolaryngology, Fukuoka University, Japan.
authors.forename: Kunihiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fukushima
authors.affiliation: Shinkurashiki Ear, Nose, and Throat Clinic, Japan.
authors.forename: Akie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fujiyoshi
mesh_terms: D044466:Asian People; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D007802:Language; D007804:Language Development; D008297:Male; D056345:Theory of Mind; D014825:Vocabulary
keywords: Children with hearing loss; Language development; Theory of mind