Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42291682›Full record

ArticleJCPP advances2026

Mentalizing difficulties are transdiagnostic and explain links between mental health and neurodevelopmental symptoms and social adjustment in school-aged children.

Rory T Devine, Imogen Byrne, Venelin Kovatchev

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in JCPP advances, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Rory T DevineCentre for Developmental Science School of Psychology University of Birmingham Edgbaston UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3710-7878
Imogen ByrneCentre for Developmental Science School of Psychology University of Birmingham Edgbaston UK.
Venelin KovatchevSchool of Computer Science University of Birmingham Edgbaston UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions are a leading cause of disability in school-aged children and are associated with adverse social outcomes. The aim of the current study was to investigate the extent to which mentalizing (also called 'theory of mind'), the ability to reason about others' mental states is associated with specific mental health and neurodevelopmental symptoms or with a general vulnerability to psychopathology (the 'P- Factor') and whether mentalizing might explain why children with diverse mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions experience adverse social outcomes. Methods: In a pre-registered study using a transdiagnostic dimensional approach, we collected direct assessments of mentalizing, multi-informant measures of social adjustment at school, and teachers' ratings of mental health and neurodevelopmental symptoms from a diverse community sample of 1020 8- to 13-year-old children (54.5% girls). Results: High scores on the P-Factor (a general vulnerability to mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions) were negatively associated with children's mentalizing, Conclusions: The results indicate that theory-of-mind difficulties are transdiagnostic and underscore the need for longitudinal work examining whether mentalizing explains links between mental health, neurodiversity and social adjustment.

Indexed as

executive functionneurodevelopmental conditionspsychopathologysocial behaviortheory of mind

Identifiers

PMID42291682
PMCPMC13260679

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.