Maternal mind-mindedness: Transmission mechanisms and predicting development into early adulthood

意志力是一种能够“调谐”婴儿的想法或感觉的能力。一位父母通过和宝宝谈论自己的想法和感受来表明他们是有头脑的--说如果她指着车，宝宝就想要它，或者当玩具开始弹奏曲子时，如果他睁大眼睛看起来很惊讶。我们之前的ESRC研究已经调查了母亲的心智如何预测孩子未来的发展。在这项研究中，我们招募了大约200名母亲和儿童的两个不同的样本。这两个样本都是从孩子出生的第一年开始研究的。拟议的项目将在关键年龄跟踪这两个样本：学龄前和成年早期。之前的研究表明，心智可以很好地预测孩子在11岁之前的发展。研究表明，出生第一年的心智水平越高，孩子在4岁时就能更好地理解他人的想法和感受。拥有一位善于读心的父母似乎反过来会让你成为一名更好的读心人。但目前，我们还不了解父母的心态如何影响孩子后来对人的心理状态的理解。这项拟议的研究将试图回答这个问题。一个可能很重要的因素是儿童在学龄前几年控制自己情绪和行为的能力。先前的研究表明，意志力预测学龄前儿童的自我控制能力，这些能力预测儿童后来对人的心理状态的理解。该项目将首次在同一组家庭中调查学龄前儿童的心智、自我控制和对心理状态的理解。我们的研究将揭示从父母与年幼婴儿的心灵互动到儿童理解人类行为是由人们的想法、感觉和信念决定的发展路径。通过跟进我们的第二个样本，拟议的项目也代表着一个独特的机会，可以深入地纵向记录儿童从出生第一年到成年早期的发展。在之前的一些ESRC奖项中，我们收集了这些儿童从出生第一年到11岁的数据。这些儿童来自广泛的社会和经济背景。在贫困家庭的孩子中，我们的发现表明，母亲的早期思维与孩子在学龄前几年行为问题较少，以及在7岁和11岁时在国家标准化评估测试(SAT)中取得更好的成绩有关。这项拟议的研究计划与年满18岁的孩子同时进行，许多关键因素将在这个年龄进行评估。我们将收集16岁和18岁儿童的学习表现以及大学和职业目的地的数据。冒险行为和寻求刺激的反应将通过电脑驾驶任务和虚拟现实过山车来评估。这些年轻人还将完成关于他们的心理健康、参与危险行为以及他们对与父母、与同伴和恋人的关系的感受的自我报告。在成年早期跟踪这个样本将使我们能够调查母亲在生命第一年的心智是否预示着她们孩子18年后的发展。我们还将探讨心智对弱势儿童教育成就的积极影响是否会在青春期后期和成年早期持续下去。拟议的项目有相当大的潜力来确定较差的心理健康和成年早期的危险行为的预测因素，并为针对贫困的负面影响的干预措施提供信息。

Mind-mindedness is the ability to 'tune in' to what babies are thinking or feeling. A parent shows they are being mind-minded by talking to their baby about his her her thoughts and feelings - saying that the baby wants the car if she gestures towards it, or is surprised if he looks wide-eyed when the toy starts playing a tune. Our previous ESRC research has investigated how mothers' mind-mindedness predicts children's later development. In this research, we have recruited two separate samples of around 200 mothers and children. Both samples have been studied from the first year of the children's lives. The proposed project will follow up the two samples at critical ages: the preschool years and early adulthood. Previous research has shown that mind-mindedness is a good predictor of children's development up to age 11. Research has shown that higher levels of mind-mindedness in the first year of life predict children having a better understanding of other people's thoughts and feelings at age 4. Having a parent who is good at reading your mind seems in turn to make you a better mind-reader. But at present, we do not understand how parents' mind-mindedness impacts on children's later understanding of people's mental states. The proposed research will attempt to answer this question. One factor that may be important is children's ability to control their emotions and behaviour in the preschool years. Previous research has shown that mind-mindedness predicts preschoolers' self-control abilities, and that these abilities predict children's later understanding of people's mental states. This project will be the first to investigate mind-mindedness, self-control in the preschool years and children's mental state understanding in the same group of families. Our investigation will shed light on the developmental pathways from parents' mind-minded interactions with their young babies to children's understanding that human behaviour is governed by what people think, feel and believe.By following up our second sample, the proposed project also represents a unique opportunity to provide an in-depth longitudinal record of children's development from the first year of life to early adulthood. In a number of previous ESRC awards, we have collected data on these children from the first year of life until age 11. The children come from wide-ranging social and economic backgrounds. In the children from disadvantaged backgrounds, our findings show that mothers' early mind-mindedness is related to children having fewer behaviour problems in the preschool years and to better achievement in national standardised assessment tests (SATs) at ages 7 and 11. The proposed study is scheduled to coincide with the children turning age 18, and a number of key factors will be assessed at this age. We will collect data on children's academic performance at ages 16 and 18, as well as university and career destinations. Risk-taking behaviours and thrill-seeking responses will be assessed using a computer driving task and a virtual reality roller coaster ride. The young adults will also complete self-report measures on their mental health, engagement in risky behaviours and their feelings about their relationships with both parents and with peers and romantic partners. Following up this sample in early adulthood will allow us to investigate whether mothers' mind-mindedness in the first year of life predicts their children's development 18 years later. We will also explore whether the positive effect of mind-mindedness on disadvantaged children's educational attainment is sustained in late adolescence and early adulthood. The proposed project has considerable potential for identifying predictors of poorer mental health and risky behaviours in early adulthood, and for informing interventions targeting the negative impact of poverty.