Mindreading and assertiveness in school-aged children: The role of problem-solving coping strategies

Being assertive means being able to communicate to others our opinions, desires and feelings in a direct and positive way, without judging other people’s thoughts. In the school context, assertiveness can facilitate interpersonal relationships (Lane & Bowman, 2022). Assertive children are usually considered by teachers as socially mature and less aggressive (Diesendruck & Ben-Eliyahu, 2006). Interestingly, assertiveness has been found to be positively related to prosocial behavior in children performing well in making inferences about others' behaviors (Barrett & Yarrow, 1977). Nonetheless, theory-of-mind skills are also known to be associated with the capacity of forming and managing peer relationships, which includes abilities like understanding the needs of others and being assertive (Devine & Apperly, 2022; Peterson et al., 2007, 2016). In a recent work, Caputi and Schoenborn (2018) found novel associations between theory-of-mind skills and coping strategies. Specifically, children and preadolescents who were more proficient in a theory-of-mind task were more prone to use problem-solving strategies and less prone to use externalizing and trivializing strategies. The main aim of the present study was to investigate the links among theory-of-mind skills, coping strategies and assertiveness in school-aged children. A further aim was testing the hypothesis that problem-solving strategies mediate the relationship between theory-of-mind skills and assertiveness. A sample of 462 students (252 boys) attending 3rd to 8th grade was recruited in Northern Italy to participate in a short-term longitudinal study. Both at Time 1 (beginning of the school year) and at Time 2 (four months later), students completed a theory-of-mind test and self-reported about their coping strategies, while teachers were asked to evaluate students’ assertiveness. T1 theory-of-mind skills were positively associated with T2 assertiveness and T1 problem solving strategies; and negatively associated with T1 externalizing and trivializing strategies. T2 assertiveness was positively associated with T1 problem solving and distraction strategies. Hayes’ PROCESS mediation tool showed that theory-of-mind skills were associated with higher levels of assertiveness only through the mediation of higher use of problem-solving strategies. That is, the combination of higher mindreading skills with coping strategies based on active problem solving led to higher assertiveness perceived by teachers. The identification of such a mediation pattern suggests that assertiveness is an important interpersonal skill that indirectly relates to theory of mind, and partly develops thanks to the employment of adaptive coping strategies. That is, the more a child learns how to cope effectively with social dilemmas that may emerge during the school years, being skilled in ToM abilities may help them to be more assertive and stand up for themselves. As argued by Peterson and colleagues (2007), understanding others’ minds is crucial in complex social exchanges and learning how to cope with life events. When this ability is coupled with problem-solving strategies, children are viewed as more capable of asserting themselves appropriately, for example to express their voiced opinions, or when trying to convince peers. These results contribute to highlight a tight and complex link that connect mindreading abilities, coping strategies and social skills in school-aged children.