Mothers' mental-state references predict individual differences in preschoolers' false-belief (FB) understanding; less is known about the origins of corresponding variation in school-age children. To address this gap, 105 children completed observations with their mothers at child ages 2 and 6, three FB tasks and a verbal comprehension…

Early individual differences in prosocial behaviors are pivotal for children's peer relationships. To investigate the interplay among verbal ability, emotion understanding, and mother-child mutuality as predictors of prosocial behaviors, we observed 102 children at the ages of two, three, and four. All time points included verbal ability and…

Despite much research into individual differences in social understanding among preschoolers, little is known about corresponding individual differences within younger children. Likewise, although studies of preschoolers highlight the importance of mental-state references, other aspects of talk have received less attention. The current study…

This study examined the independence and interplay between cognitive risk factors (poor executive function/emotion understanding) and maternal risk factors (low education/high depression) for preschool problem behaviors, indexed by multi-measure, multi-informant (mother/teacher/ researcher) ratings. A socio-economically diverse sample of 235…

Background: Exposure to harsh parenting and children's skills in "Theory of Mind" (ToM) show independent and interacting associations with problem behaviors at age 2 (Hughes & Ensor, 2006). This study examined whether these age-2 measures also predict age-4 problem behaviors. Method: In a socially diverse sample (N = 120), multi-informant,…

Background. Associations between positive behaviour, emotion understanding and verbal ability have been reported in studies of preschoolers (Cassidy, Werner, Rourke, Zubernis, & Balaraman, 2003), but have yet to be investigated in younger children. Methods. In this study the performance of 36 toddlers (17 boys and 19 girls; mean age = 29…

Background: Cognitive and family factors are implicated in the origins of behavioural problems, but little is known about their independence or interplay. Methods: We present data from 127 two-year-olds from predominantly disadvantaged families who completed tests of "theory of mind" (ToM), executive function (EF) and verbal ability. Researchers'…