Theory of mind and mothers' coparenting skills as predictors of children's prosocial behavior in middle childhood

The aim of this study is to examine the mediating role of theory of mind skills in the relationship between mothers' co-parenting skills and prosocial behaviors in children during middle childhood. Additionally, the study investigates whether children's prosocial behaviors, theory of mind skills, and mothers' co-parenting skills differ based on demographic variables (such as the child's age, gender, number of children in the family, and parental education level). The study sample consists of 290 children aged 7 to 11 attending public and private primary schools affiliated with the Ministry of National Education (MEB) in the province of Aksaray, and their mothers. The data were collected using the Child Prosociality Scale, the Theory of Mind Stories Test, and the Co-Parenting Scale. Depending on the nature of the variables, t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), correlation analysis, and regression analysis were used. The findings revealed that mothers' co-parenting skills significantly predicted both children's prosocial behaviors and their theory of mind skills. However, children's theory of mind skills did not significantly predict their prosocial behaviors. Furthermore, the results indicated that theory of mind skills played a mediating role in the relationship between mothers' co-parenting skills and children's prosocial behaviors as a whole. The study also found that children's prosocial behaviors did not significantly differ based on age or number of children in the family, but there were significant differences based on gender and parental education levels. Regarding theory of mind skills, no significant difference was found based on gender, while significant differences were observed in terms of age, number of children in the family, and parental education levels. Concerning mothers' co-parenting skills, no significant difference was found based on gender, but significant differences were identified based on age, number of children in the family, and the mother's educational level.