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

Mind-mindedness是一种“调谐”婴儿想法或感受的能力。父母通过和孩子谈论自己的想法和感受来表现出他们的用心——如果她向孩子做手势，孩子就想要那辆车，或者当玩具开始演奏曲子时，如果孩子睁大眼睛，他们会感到惊讶。我们之前的ESRC研究调查了母亲的思想倾向如何预测孩子的后期发展。在这项研究中，我们招募了大约200名母亲和儿童的两个独立样本。这两个样本都是从孩子一岁开始研究的。该项目将对两个关键年龄段的样本进行跟踪调查：学龄前和成年早期。先前的研究表明，思维倾向是11岁前儿童发展的一个很好的预测指标。研究表明，孩子在出生后第一年的心智水平越高，预示着他们在4岁时能更好地理解他人的想法和感受。有一个善于读心术的父母似乎反过来会让你成为一个更好的读心术者。但目前，我们还不清楚父母的心智是如何影响孩子后来对人的心理状态的理解的。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控制自己情绪和行为的能力。先前的研究表明，心智倾向预示着学龄前儿童的自我控制能力，而这些能力预示着儿童日后对人们精神状态的理解。这个项目将是第一个在同一组家庭中调查学龄前儿童的心智、自我控制和儿童心理状态理解的项目。我们的调查将揭示从父母与婴儿的心灵互动到孩子理解人类行为是由人们的想法、感觉和信仰所控制的发展途径。通过跟踪我们的第二个样本，拟议的项目也代表了一个独特的机会，为儿童从生命的第一年到成年早期的发展提供深入的纵向记录。在之前的一些ESRC奖项中，我们收集了这些孩子从一岁到11岁的数据。这些孩子来自广泛的社会和经济背景。在来自弱势家庭的孩子中，我们的研究结果表明，母亲早期的思维倾向与孩子在学龄前的行为问题较少以及在7岁和11岁的国家标准化评估测试（sat）中取得更好的成绩有关。拟议的研究计划与儿童年满18岁同时进行，并将在这个年龄段评估许多关键因素。我们将收集儿童在16岁和18岁时的学习成绩，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进行评估。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与父母、同龄人和恋人关系的感受的自我报告措施。在成年早期对这些样本进行跟踪调查，将使我们能够调查母亲在出生后第一年的思维方式是否能预测孩子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在青春期晚期和成年早期持续。拟议的项目在确定成年早期心理健康状况较差和危险行为的预测因素，以及为针对贫困负面影响的干预措施提供信息方面具有相当大的潜力。

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.