Morasse Frédérick, Bernier Annie, Lalonde Gabrielle, Hétu Sébastien, Beauchamp Miriam H
Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC H3C 3J7, Canada.
Centre de Recherche du CHU Sainte-Justine, Montreal, QC H3T 1C5, Canada.
Brain Sci. 2022 Sep 10;12(9):1226. doi: 10.3390/brainsci12091226.
Sociomoral reasoning (SMR) is an essential component of social functioning allowing children to establish judgments based on moral criteria. The progressive emergence and complexification of SMR during childhood is thought to be underpinned by a range of characteristics and abilities present in the preschool years. Past studies have mostly examined concurrent associations between individual factors and SMR. Using a more comprehensive and predictive approach to identify early predictors of school-age SMR would contribute to a more complete picture of SMR development. This study aimed to investigate the contribution of four domains of preschool predictors to SMR at school-age: demographic (age, sex, parental education), cognitive (executive and sociocognitive functions), behavioral (internalizing and externalizing behaviors), and familial (parent-child interactions, parental stress) factors. Parents of 122 children 3 to 5 years (M = 3.70, SD = 0.66 years, 51% girls) completed questionnaires and children were administered executive and sociocognitive tasks. Parent-child interactions were assessed using an observational approach. SMR was measured four years later using the SoMoral task. A four-step hierarchical regression analysis revealed that executive functions and internalizing problems were significant independent predictors of SMR. These findings provide a more comprehensive understanding of the early precursors of SMR during childhood.
社会道德推理（SMR）是社会功能的一个重要组成部分，它使儿童能够根据道德标准做出判断。儿童期SMR的逐步出现和复杂化被认为是由学前阶段存在的一系列特征和能力所支撑的。过去的研究大多考察了个体因素与SMR之间的同时期关联。采用更全面且具有预测性的方法来识别学龄期SMR的早期预测因素，将有助于更全面地了解SMR的发展。本研究旨在调查学前预测因素的四个领域对学龄期SMR的贡献：人口统计学因素（年龄、性别、父母教育程度）、认知因素（执行功能和社会认知功能）、行为因素（内化和外化行为）以及家庭因素（亲子互动、父母压力）。122名3至5岁儿童（平均年龄M = 3.70岁，标准差SD = 0.66岁，51%为女孩）的父母完成了问卷调查，儿童接受了执行功能和社会认知任务测试。亲子互动采用观察法进行评估。四年后使用SoMoral任务测量SMR。四步层次回归分析表明，执行功能和内化问题是SMR的重要独立预测因素。这些发现为儿童期SMR的早期先兆提供了更全面的理解。
