AUTHOR=Benarous Xavier , Guilé Jean-Marc , Consoli Angèle , Cohen David 

TITLE=A Systematic Review of the Evidence for Impaired Cognitive Theory of Mind in Maltreated Children

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=6

YEAR=2015

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00108

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00108

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=<p>Compared to the large number of studies exploring difficulties in emotion recognition in maltreated children, few (<italic>N</italic> = 12) have explored the cognitive aspect of theory of mind (ToM), i.e., the ability to understand others’ thoughts and intentions. A systematic review of these studies shows inconsistent results regarding cognitive ToM tasks. Youths with a history of maltreatment are more likely to fail at false-belief tasks (<italic>N</italic> = 2). However, results are less conclusive regarding other tasks (perspective-taking tasks, <italic>N</italic> = 4; and hostile attribution tasks, <italic>N</italic> = 7). Additionally, only one study controlled for potential psychopathology. Measures of psychopathology and other cognitive abilities, in addition to ToM, are required to establish a specific association between maltreatment and the cognitive dimension of ToM.</p>