Schwartz Offek Esther, Segal Osnat
Department of Communication Disorders, The Stanley Steyer School of Health Professions, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2022 Oct 14;18:2349-2359. doi: 10.2147/NDT.S331988. eCollection 2022.
Theory of mind (ToM) is the ability to recognize, comprehend, and consider oneself's and others' mental states and perspectives to predict and explain behaviors and motivations. It is widely accepted that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience difficulties with ToM. However, there are also findings suggesting that ToM abilities might also be compromised in children with Developmental Language Disorders (DLD).
To assess ToM abilities in three groups of children: 1. ASD with no language difficulties; 2. DLD, known for their language disorder; and 3. TD with no language issues.
A total of 41 preschool children aged 5-to-6 were examined and assigned to one of the three groups based on previous clinical reports and a standardized Hebrew language assessment tool. Nonverbal IQ was established with a standardized test to verify within average range placement (>75 IQ). ToM skills were examined with a Hebrew version of the and parent's questionnaire
Children with ASD had significantly lower ToM scores compared to the children with DLD, and TD. The ToM scores of the children with DLD were similar to the scores of the TD children. According to the parents' questionnaires, both the ASD children and the DLD children had less developed ToM skills compared to their TD peers.
The present findings suggest that children with ASD have a fundamental difficulty in ToM that is independent of their language abilities. Children with DLD show difficulties in everyday social interactions that involve ToM. It is possible that both ASD and language disorders influence ToM development, suggesting that different developmental routes affect the acquisition of ToM.
心理理论（ToM）是一种识别、理解并考虑自己和他人心理状态及观点，以预测和解释行为及动机的能力。人们普遍认为，自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童在心理理论方面存在困难。然而，也有研究结果表明，发育性语言障碍（DLD）儿童的心理理论能力也可能受损。
评估三组儿童的心理理论能力：1. 无语言困难的ASD儿童；2. 以语言障碍著称的DLD儿童；3. 无语言问题的发育正常（TD）儿童。
共对41名5至6岁的学龄前儿童进行了检查，并根据之前的临床报告和标准化的希伯来语语言评估工具将他们分配到三组中的一组。通过标准化测试确定非语言智商，以验证其处于平均范围（智商>75）。使用希伯来语版的[具体测试名称未给出]和家长问卷对心理理论技能进行了测试。
与DLD儿童和TD儿童相比，ASD儿童的心理理论得分显著更低。DLD儿童的心理理论得分与TD儿童的得分相似。根据家长问卷，与TD同龄人相比，ASD儿童和DLD儿童的心理理论技能发展较差。
目前的研究结果表明，ASD儿童在心理理论方面存在根本困难，这与他们的语言能力无关。DLD儿童在涉及心理理论的日常社交互动中表现出困难。ASD和语言障碍都可能影响心理理论的发展，这表明不同的发展路径会影响心理理论的习得。
