Maternal narrative and theory of mind in preschool children: systematic review

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7213/psicolargum.43.123.AO13

Abstract

The first interactions between parents and children, especially mothers' narratives, are essential in children's socio-emotional and cognitive development. This type of interaction helps the child understand and infer mental states, crucial for the formation of Theory of Mind (ToM). Although there are studies on the impact of maternal narrative on child development, there is a need for a more in-depth analysis of which mental state elements and terms are encoded, which tasks are used to observe and measure parental narrative, and also what are the main findings of the maternal narrative in the development of children's ToM. The objective of the study was to carry out a systematic review of the coding systems for mental elements/terms applied in studies on maternal narratives. The review was conducted according to the PRISMA method guidelines, and 36 articles were included that used maternal narrative tasks coded for mental state elements/terms and instruments that assessed child ToM. Most studies identified positive correlations between maternal narrative and the development of ToM, especially with the use of cognitive and emotional terms. Differences between studies, such as the coding systems used, limited generalization. Maternal narrative therefore contributes significantly to ToM, but the lack of standardization in methodologies suggests the need for more research to explore this relationship in diverse cultural and linguistic contexts.

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Published

2026-01-08

How to Cite

Antunes Vivian, F., Formiga, L. S., Lameira Nunes, L., & Xavier Arteche, A. (2026). Maternal narrative and theory of mind in preschool children: systematic review. Psicologia Argumento, 43(123). https://doi.org/10.7213/psicolargum.43.123.AO13