Hyper-Theory-of-Mind in children with psychotic experiences

Background: Alterations in Theory-of-Mind (ToM) are associated with psychotic disorder. In addition, studies in children have documented that alterations in ToM are associated with Psychotic Experiences (PE). Our aim was to examine associations between an exaggerated type of ToM (HyperToM) and PE in children. Children with this type of alteration in ToM infer mental states when none are obviously suggested, and predict behaviour on the basis of these erroneous beliefs. Individuals with HyperToM do not appear to have a conceptual deficit (i.e. lack of representational abilities), but rather they apply their theory of the minds of others in an incorrect or biased way. Method: Hypotheses were tested in two studies with two independent samples: (i) a general population sample of 1630 Danish children aged 11–12 years, (ii) a population-based sample of 259 Dutch children aged 12–13 years, pertaining to a case-control sampling frame of children with auditory verbal hallucinations. Multinomial ...研究背景：心理理论（Theory-of-Mind, ToM）的异常与精神病性障碍相关。此外，针对儿童的研究已证实，心理理论异常与精神病性体验（Psychotic Experiences, PE）存在关联。本研究旨在探讨过度型心理理论（HyperToM）与儿童精神病性体验之间的关联。具备此类心理理论异常的儿童，会在无明显线索的情况下推断他人心理状态，并基于这些错误信念预测行为。具有过度型心理理论特征的个体，并非存在概念性缺陷（即表征能力缺失），而是以错误或偏倚的方式运用其对他人心理的认知理论。 研究方法：本研究通过两项独立样本的研究验证假设：(1) 涵盖1630名11~12岁丹麦儿童的普通人群样本；(2) 针对存在言语性幻听儿童的病例对照抽样框架，纳入259名12~13岁荷兰儿童的基于人群的样本。本研究采用多项（Multinomial ...