Implications of social competence among thirty-month-old toddlers: a theory of mind perspective

The purpose of this study was to examine the relations between children's social competence and initial index of theory of mind at 30 months of age. The participants of the study were 322 toddlers and parents/caregivers who were registered with the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) project. They completed a five-minute interaction session, which was coded using the Interaction Rating Scale (IRS) as an evidence-based practical index of children's social competence. In addition, the children were asked to complete a diverse-desire task as a ToM (theory of mind) index. The results showed that the ToM index was related to the total score and subscales of the IRS, such as Empathy and Emotional regulation. These findings show that the IRS score was related to ToM task performance at 30 months of age.