Does emotional closeness with the teacher mediate the links between children’s AToM and social functioning?

• In Event: Theory of Mind and School Experiences in Children and Young Adolescents

Abstract

Research shows that advanced theory of mind (AToM) is meaningful for social functioning of children, i.e., their social skills (Slaughter et al., 2015) and loneliness (Bosacki et al., 2020). However, we still need to seek mechanisms that are responsible for this relation especially within the school context. Although research on theory of mind (ToM) development at school is increasing (Smogorzewska et al., 2020, 2022), few studies explore the role of ToM in children’s school lives. Accordingly, in this study test a mediating role of closeness between the children and their teacher in relation between AToM and social functioning of the children: loneliness and social skills.
We predicted that:
1) Closeness between the children and their teacher mediates the relations between children’s AToM and social skills;
2) Closeness between the children and their teacher mediates the relations between children’s AToM and loneliness.
Methods
Participants included 702 school-aged children (M= 7;2; SD= 0.48), and 41 teachers from 41 primary education classrooms in Poland.
Children completed 17 tasks on AToM (a combination of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th order false belief tasks,  = 0.78) and the Loneliness and Social Dissatisfaction Questionnaire (Cassidy & Asher, 1992; 15 items concerning loneliness:  = 0.87) with higher scores representing low scores in loneliness. Teachers completed: Social Skills Improvement System Rating Scales for Teachers (Gresham & Elliott, 2008,  = 0.97) and Student-Teacher Relationship Scale – Short Form (Pianta, 1992). We used the closeness scale from Pianta’s form (8 items,  = 0.74). In both measures, higher scores indicated higher social skills and positive relationships with the teacher.
Results
Correlational analysis showed that higher AToM skills were associated with stronger teacher-student bonds (r = .21**), higher social skills (r = .16**) and lower loneliness in children (r = .11**). Higher children’s social skills correlated with stronger teacher-student bonds (r = .60**), and lower loneliness (r = .20**). Mediation analysis involved two model that controlled for children’s gender and language skills. The first model (Fig. 1) revealed that closeness significantly mediated the relations between children’s ToM and social skills. Positive teacher-student emotional bonds enhanced the relations between ToM and social behaviors. The second model (Fig. 2) revealed that closeness significantly mediated the relations between children’s ToM and loneliness. Therefore, emotionally close relationships with the teacher help children feel less lonely. Our results, support data that shows teachers play crucial roles in the social-emotional and cognitive lives of children (Roorda et al., 2011), and on the other supports research that shows close student- teacher relationships increase ToM development within the school environment (Caputi et al., 2021). Implications include a relational approach to social cognition and social adjustment within the school context.
Fig 1. The relations between AToM, closeness, and social skills.




Fig. 2. The relations between AToM, closeness, and loneliness.

Group Authors

Joanna Smogorzewska*, University of Warsaw, Faculty of Education, [email protected]
Grzegorz Szumski, University of Warsaw, Faculty of Education, [email protected]
Sandra Bosacki, Brock University, Faculty of Education, [email protected]

Authors

• Joanna Smogorzewska, University of Warsaw
  Presenting Author

• Grzegorz Szumski, University of Warsaw

• Sandra Bosacki, Brock University