Early childhood theory of mind and effortful control underpin preadolescent thought and attention problems.

Chi-Lin Yu, Sujin Lee, Sheryl L Olson

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Article in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Chi-Lin YuDepartment of Psychology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA. chilin.yu@okstate.edu.

Sujin LeeDepartment of Psychiatry, Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.

Sheryl L OlsonDepartment of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.

Funding

SOCIAL RISK AND SELF REGULATION PROBLEMS IN CHILDHOODR01MH057489 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI OLSON, SHERYL L · 1998 to 2002

$1.3M

NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH057489NIMH NIH HHS R01MH57489

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Thought problems and attention problems are common in childhood and are important for later-emerging psychological disorders, yet less is known about the early childhood predictors underpinning such problems. We examined whether early childhood theory of mind (ToM) and effortful control (EC) constitute predictors for preadolescent thought and attention problems. We longitudinally tracked 214 children's ToM and EC, assessed with behavioral tasks, at ages 3 and 6, along with their thought and attention problems at ages 6 and 10, assessed using maternal report. Findings show that poorer ToM at age 6 predicted more severe development of thought problems emerging between ages 6 and 10, and poorer EC at age 6 predicted more attention problems at age 10. These findings reveal the developmental links between ToM, EC, thought problems, and attention problems, offering implications for developmental-psychopathology accounts and highlighting the importance of early childhood predictors on developing thought and attention problems' symptomology.

Indexed as

AttentionAttention Deficit Disorder with HyperactivityTheory of MindThinkingChildChild DevelopmentChild, PreschoolFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleAttention problemsDevelopmental psychopathologyEffortful controlLongitudinalTheory of mindThought problems

Identifiers

PMID41253883

DOI10.1038/s41598-025-24007-6

PMCPMC12627420

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.