A Systematic Review of the Evidence for Impaired Cognitive Theory of Mind in Maltreated Children

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.

• Publication year

  2015

• Venue

  Frontiers in Psychiatry

• Publication date

  2015-07-28

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Psychology

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00108PMID 26283975PMCID 4516890
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Barriers and facilitators related to the implementation of a physiological track and trigger system: A systematic review of the qualitative evidence

  2017cited by this paper
• わが国における成人市中肺炎の原因微生物の変遷(Meta‐analysis and systematic review)

  2017influential reference
• The University of Birmingham ( Live System ) Reduced orbitofrontal and temporal grey matter in a community sample of maltreated children

  2016cited by this paper
• The University of Birmingham ( Live System ) Neural responses to affective and cognitive theory of mind in children with conduct problems and varying levels of callous-unemotional traits

  2016cited by this paper
• Understanding Other Minds Perspectives From Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

  2016cited by this paper
• Shared and nonshared neural networks of cognitive and affective theory‐of‐mind: A neuroimaging study using cartoon picture stories

  2015cited by this paper
• The cognitive and neural time course of empathy and sympathy: an electrical neuroimaging study on self-other interaction.

  2014cited by this paper
• Cognitive but Not Affective Theory of Mind Deficits in Mild Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis

  2014cited by this paper
• Why Synchrony Matters during Mother-Child Interactions: A Systematic Review

  2014cited by this paper
• Abus, maltraitance et négligence : (1) épidémiologie et retentissements psychiques, somatiques et sociaux

  2014cited by this paper
• Childhood Maltreatment, Emotional Dysregulation, and Psychiatric Comorbidities

  2014cited by this paper
• Parental Practices and Theory of Mind Development

  2013cited by this paper
• Reduced orbitofrontal and temporal grey matter in a community sample of maltreated children.

  2013cited by this paper
• Probabilistic Perception, Empathy, and Dynamic Homeostasis: Insights in Autism Spectrum Disorders and Conduct Disorders

  2013cited by this paper
• A meta-analytic review of age differences in theory of mind.

  2013influential reference
• Differentiated associations between childhood maltreatment experiences and social understanding: A meta-analysis and systematic review

  2013cited by this paper
• Children's synchrony and rhythmicity in imitation of peers: toward a developmental model of empathy.

  2013cited by this paper
• A population-based epidemiological study

  2013cited by this paper
• A prospective longitudinal study of children's theory of mind and adolescent involvement in bullying.

  2012cited by this paper
• Systematic review of the neural basis of social cognition in patients with mood disorders.

  2012cited by this paper
• Pneumococcal Peptidoglycan-Polysaccharides Regulate Toll-Like Receptor 2 in the Mouse Middle Ear Epithelial Cells

  2011cited by this paper
• Theory of Mind and Neurodevelopmental Disorders of Childhood

  2011cited by this paper
• Feeling, caring, knowing: different types of empathy deficit in boys with psychopathic tendencies and autism spectrum disorder

  2010cited by this paper
• Probabilistic epigenesis: an alternative causal model for conduct disorders in children and adolescents.

  2010cited by this paper
• Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Acute Ischemic Stroke

  2010cited by this paper
• Are Empathic Abilities Impaired in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder?

  2010cited by this paper
• The role of the orbitofrontal cortex in affective theory of mind deficits in criminal offenders with psychopathic tendencies.

  2010cited by this paper
• Social Information-Processing Patterns of Maltreated Children in Two Social Domains.

  2009influential reference
• Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: the PRISMA Statement

  2009cited by this paper
• Burden and consequences of child maltreatment in high-income countries.

  2009influential reference
• Childhood Victimization: Violence, Crime, and Abuse in the Lives of Young People

  2008cited by this paper
• Attachment, parent -child discourse and theory of mind development

  2008cited by this paper
• Comprar Childhood Victimization Violence, crime, and abuse in the lives of young people | David Finkelhor | 9780195342857 | Oxford University Press

  2008cited by this paper
• Social cognition in schizophrenia: an NIMH workshop on definitions, assessment, and research opportunities.

  2008cited by this paper
• Exploration and validation of clusters of physically abused children.

  2008influential reference
• Now I see it but you don't: 14-month-olds can represent another person's visual perspective.

  2007cited by this paper
• Physical Abuse, Cognitive and Emotional Processes, and Aggressive/Disruptive Behavior Problems

  2007influential reference
• A Newroethological Framework for the Representation of Minds

  2007cited by this paper
• A longitudinal study of child siblings and theory of mind development

  2007cited by this paper
• Executive function and theory of mind: Predictive relations from ages 2 to 4.

  2007cited by this paper
• Conversations with siblings and with friends : Links between relationship quality and social understanding

  2006cited by this paper
• Social perspective-taking skills in maltreated children and adolescents.

  2006influential reference
• Cognitive and emotional differences in young maltreated children: A translational application of dynamic skill theory

  2006cited by this paper
• Human Empathy Through the Lens of Social Neuroscience

  2006influential reference
• Emotion understanding and theory of mind among maltreated children in foster care: Evidence of deficits

  2005cited by this paper
• Responding to the emotions of others: dissociating forms of empathy through the study of typical and psychiatric populations.

  2005cited by this paper
• Children's understanding of mental states as causes of emotions

  2005cited by this paper
• Hostile Attributional Tendencies in Maltreated Children

  2003influential reference
• What you believe versus what you think they believe: a neuroimaging study of conceptual perspective‐taking

  2003cited by this paper
• False belief understanding in maltreated children

  2003influential reference
• Maternal mind-mindedness and attachment security as predictors of theory of mind understanding.

  2002cited by this paper
• Meta-analysis of theory-of-mind development: the truth about false belief.

  2001cited by this paper
• The effects of early relational trauma on right brain development, affect regulation, and infant mental health.

  2001cited by this paper
• Gender differences in the risk for delinquency among youth exposed to family violence.

  2001cited by this paper
• Abnormalities in the awareness and control of action.

  2000cited by this paper
• A Longitudinal Study of Mother-Child Relationships and Theory of Mind in the Preschool Period

  2000cited by this paper
• Maltreatment and disabilities: a population-based epidemiological study.

  2000cited by this paper
• Recognizing emotion in faces: developmental effects of child abuse and neglect.

  2000cited by this paper
• A longitudinal study of the relation between language and theory-of-mind development.

  1999cited by this paper
• Social interaction skills and theory of mind in young children.

  1999cited by this paper
• Explaining Facial Imitation: A Theoretical Model.

  1997cited by this paper
• The relationship between belief-desire reasoning and a projective measure of attachment security (SAT)

  1997cited by this paper
• Mindblindness: An Essay on Autism and Theory of Mind

  1997cited by this paper
• Social influences on false belief access: specific sibling influences or general apprenticeship?

  1996cited by this paper
• Language development from two to three

  1995cited by this paper
• Social information-processing patterns partially mediate the effect of early physical abuse on later conduct problems.

  1995cited by this paper
• The role of age and verbal ability in the theory of mind task performance of subjects with autism.

  1995cited by this paper
• Parenting dysfunction in child maltreatment

  1995cited by this paper
• A review and reformulation of social information-processing mechanisms in children's social adjustment.

  1994influential reference
• Defining child maltreatment: The interface between policy and research

  1993cited by this paper
• A Neuroethological Framework for the Representation of Minds

  1992cited by this paper
• Young children's understanding of other people's feelings and beliefs: individual differences and their antecedents.

  1991cited by this paper
• Contributions from the study of high risk populations to understanding the development of emotion regulation

  1991cited by this paper
• The effects of familial risk factors on social-cognitive abilities in children

  1990influential reference
• Mechanisms in the cycle of violence.

  1990cited by this paper
• Social cognition and adjustment in children at risk for psychopathology.

  1989cited by this paper
• Abused, neglected, and nonmaltreated preschoolers' ability to discriminate emotions in others: the effects of IQ.

  1984cited by this paper
• Talking About Internal States: The Acquisition of an Explicit Theory of Mind

  1982cited by this paper
• The social cognitive development of abused children.

  1981influential reference
• Psychopathology of abused children.

  1978cited by this paper

• Linking interpersonal childhood adversity to mental health: A scoping review of trust, mentalizing, agency and interpersonal emotion regulation as candidate social-transactional mechanisms.

  2026cites this paper
• Childhood maltreatment and depressive symptoms among college students during the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions: the mediating roles of gratitude and self-compassion

  2025influential citation
• Neuroanatomical markers of social cognition in neglected adolescents

  2024cites this paper
• Childhood Trauma, Mentalization and Obsessive Compulsive Symptoms in a Non-Clinical Sample: A Mediation Analysis Study

  2024cites this paper
• Neural bases of social deficits in ADHD: a systematic review. Does the Theory of Mind matter?

  2024cites this paper
• Specificity of Episodic Future Thinking in Adolescents: Comparing Childhood Maltreatment, Autism Spectrum, and Typical Development

  2024cites this paper
• A context-dependent model of resilient functioning after childhood maltreatment—the case for flexible biobehavioral synchrony

  2024cites this paper
• Hard-to-treat or hard-to-catch? Clinical features and therapeutic outcomes of help-seeking foster care youths with mood disorders

  2023cites this paper
• The effects of developmental trauma on theory of mind and its relationship to psychotic experiences: A behavioural study.

  2022cites this paper
• The development of empathy in child maltreatment contexts.

  2022cites this paper
• Editorial: Misunderstanding Others: Theory of Mind in Psychological Disorders

  2022cites this paper
• Exploring proximal mechanisms behind intergenerational association between maternal childhood abuse and Chinese preschool children's executive function.

  2022cites this paper
• Exploring Influences on Theory of Mind Impairment in Opioid Dependent Patients

  2021cites this paper
• Social Functioning in Individuals Affected by Childhood Maltreatment: Establishing a Research Agenda to Inform Interventions

  2021cites this paper
• Delinquent behaviour and emotional intelligence among inmates of juvenile homes in Kerala, India

  2021cites this paper
• Parenting style and empathy in youth

  2021cites this paper
• Social cognition.

  2020cites this paper
• Systematic Review and Inventory of Theory of Mind Measures for Young Children

  2020cites this paper
• Nonattachment Predicts Empathy, Rejection Sensitivity, and Symptom Reduction After a Mindfulness-Based Intervention Among Young Adults with a History of Childhood Maltreatment

  2020cites this paper
• Language, Social Pragmatic Communication, and Childhood Trauma

  2020cites this paper
• Early interpersonal trauma reduces temporoparietal junction activity during spontaneous mentalising

  2020cites this paper
• Sexual abuse and physical neglect in childhood are associated with affective theory of mind in adults with schizophrenia

  2020cites this paper
• How is Childhood Abuse Associated with Moral Disgust? The Mediating Role of Social Support and Gratitude——Based on the Theory of Mind

  2020influential citation
• Narrative and Other Pragmatic Language Abilities of Children With a History of Maltreatment

  2020cites this paper
• Childhood Abuse and Adult Sociocognitive Skills: Distinguishing Between Self and Other Following Early Trauma

  2019cites this paper
• Self-efficacy in abused and neglected pregnant women: attachment theory and theory of mind perspectives

  2019cites this paper
• Thinking about what he thinks of what I think: Assessing higher theory of mind abilities in Indian bilingual children between 3.0 and 8.11 years of age

  2019cites this paper
• Childhood Adversity Impairs Theory of Mind Abilities in Adult Patients With Major Depressive Disorder

  2019cites this paper
• Other Isms Due to Age, Language, Religion, and Region

  2018cites this paper
• Schizotypal personality traits and social cognition are associated with childhood trauma exposure

  2018cites this paper
• Meta-cognition and psychopathology in children and adolescents

  2018cites this paper
• Exploration de l’expérience de la maternité chez des jeunes femmes haïtiennes issues du milieu rural : enjeux économiques, culturels et affectifs

  2018cites this paper
• Language Profiles of Children Who Have Experienced Complex Trauma and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

  2018cites this paper
• An investigation of associations between experience of childhood trauma and political violence and theory of mind impairments in schizophrenia.

  2018cites this paper
• A Systematic Review of Reviews of the Outcome of Noninstitutional Child Maltreatment

  2018cites this paper
• Executive Function and Theory of Mind in Children with ADHD: a Systematic Review

  2018cites this paper
• Spontaneous mentalizing after early interpersonal trauma: Evidence for hypoactivation of the temporoparietal junction

  2018cites this paper
• Detecting an Intention to Communicate From Nonword Sounds

  2017cites this paper
• Childhood trauma-related alterations in brain function during a Theory-of-Mind task in schizophrenia.

  2017cites this paper
• The Role of Intelligence Quotient, Social Intelligence and Demographic Characteristics in Predicting Mind Reading of Children

  2017cites this paper