older sibling, younger sibling and partner/friend at Time 2
Correlations between mothers’ levels of representational mind-mindedness with older sibling, younger sibling and partner/friend are shown for mental attribute frequency in Table 8.17 and for mental attribute proportion in Table 8.18.
Table 8.17. Correlations between levels of representational mind-mindedness (mental
attribute frequency) with older sibling, younger sibling and partner/friend at Time 2
Variable Mental attrib (freq)
(Older sibling)
Mental attrib (freq) (Younger sibling)
Mental attrib (freq) (Partner/friend) Mental attrib (freq)
(Older sibling)
– Mental attrib (freq)
(Younger sibling)
.41* –
Mental attrib (freq) (Partner/friend)
.38* .15 –
1RWHMental attrib (freq) = mental attribute frequency. S
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At Time 2, two significant positive correlations were found, both showing a medium effect size. Mothers’ mental attribute frequency with older siblings was significantly positively correlated with younger siblings (UV = .41, S = .03). Mothers’ mental
attribute frequency with older siblings was also significantly positively correlated with partners/friends (UV = .38, S = .04). Therefore, this set of correlations showed a
relationship between mothers’ levels of representational mind-mindedness indexed by the frequency of mental attributes given in their descriptions of older siblings with younger siblings, and older siblings with partners/friends. However, no relationship was found between the frequency of mental attributes with younger siblings and partners/friends.
Table 8.18. Correlations between levels of representational mind-mindedness (mental
attribute proportion) with older sibling, younger sibling and partner/friend at Time 2
Variable Mental attrib (prop)
(Older sibling)
Mental attrib (prop) (Younger sibling)
Mental attrib (prop) (Partner/friend) Mental attrib (prop)
(Older sibling)
– Mental attrib (prop)
(Younger sibling)
.36* –
Mental attrib (prop) (Partner/friend)
.30 .48** –
1RWHMental attrib (prop) = mental attributes proportion. S S
Mothers’ mental attribute proportion showed two medium significant correlations at Time 2. Mothers’ mental attribute proportion with older siblings was significantly positively correlated with younger siblings (U= .36, S = .049) but only with a marginal significance level. Mothers’ mental attribute proportion with younger siblings was significantly positively correlated with partners/friends (U= .48, S = .008). When verbosity was controlled for, the significant relationships found with mental attribute frequency were not duplicated in their entirety. The positive relationship between mothers’ levels of representational mind-mindedness measured by the frequency of mental attributes in their descriptions of older siblings and younger siblings
remained significant with the proportion of mental attributes, but there was no longer a relationship between mothers’ levels of representational mind-mindedness in descriptions of older siblings and partners/friends. Instead, a relationship was found with mental attribute proportion between mothers’ levels of representational mind-
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mindedness with younger siblings and partners/friends which did not exist with mental attribute frequency.
Relations between mothers’ levels of interactional mind-mindedness with older sibling and younger sibling at Time 2
Correlations between mothers’ levels of interactional mind-mindedness (frequency and proportion of appropriate mind-related comments) with the older sibling and the younger sibling are presented in Table 8.19.
Table 8.19. Correlations between levels of interactional mind-mindedness (frequency
and proportion of appropriate mind-related comments) with older sibling and younger sibling at Time 2
Variable AMRC frequency
(Older sibling) AMRC proportion (Older sibling) AMRC frequency (Younger sibling) .61*** – AMRC proportion (Younger sibling) – .59**
1RWH AMRC = appropriate mind-related comments. S S
At Time 2, mothers’ interactional mind-mindedness, measured using the frequency of appropriate mind-related comments made by a mother in a play session with a child, showed a significant positive relationship between older siblings and younger siblings, with a large effect size (U = .61 S < .001). Mothers’ interactional mind- mindedness, measured using the proportion of appropriate mind-related comments made by a mother with a child, also showed a significant positive relationship
between older siblings and younger siblings, again with a large effect size (U = .59, S = .001).
8.3.12 Descriptive statistics for emotional content of mind-mindedness at Time 2
Descriptive statistics for emotional content of representational mind- mindedness at Time 2
The descriptive statistics for the emotional content of mothers’ representational mind-mindedness for older and younger sibling can be seen for frequency and proportion scores in Table 8.20. This table shows the number of mothers who gave
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a mental attribute in their description and so were included in the calculation of the variable.
Table 8.20. Descriptive statistics for emotional content of representational mind-mindedness
(frequency and proportion of valence of mental attributes) at Time 2
Variable Mothers using valence (%)
(N = 30)
Mean SD Range
2OGHUVLEOLQJ Q
Positive mental attributes (freq) 25 (83.3) 1.70 1.24 0-4 Neutral mental attributes (freq)
Negative mental attributes (freq)
25 (83.3) 9 (30.0) 2.87 .43 2.87 .73 0-11 0-2 <RXQJHUVLEOLQJ Q
Positive mental attributes (freq) 19 (65.5) 1.17 1.20 0-5 Neutral mental attributes (freq) 28 (96.6) 2.83 1.81 0-7 Negative mental attributes (freq) 9 (31.0) .38 .62 0-2
3DUWQHUIULHQG Q
Positive mental attributes (freq) 20 (74.1) 1.56 1.40 0-5 Neutral mental attributes (freq) 20 (74.1) 1.93 1.77 0-6 Negative mental attributes (freq) 3 (11.1) .15 .46 0-2
2OGHUVLEOLQJ Q
Positive mental attributes (prop) 25 (83.3) .41 .31 0-1.00 Neutral mental attributes (prop) 25 (83.3) .51 .30 0-1.00 Negative mental attributes (prop) 9 (30.0) .08 .14 0-.50
<RXQJHUVLEOLQJ Q
Positive mental attributes (prop) 19 (65.5) .26 .25 0-.75 Neutral mental attributes (prop) 28 (96.6) .65 .27 0-1.00 Negative mental attributes (prop) 9 (31.0) .09 .16 0-.67
3DUWQHUIULHQG Q
Positive mental attributes (prop) 20 (74.1) .46 .38 0-1.00 Neutral mental attributes (prop) 20 (74.1) .50 .38 0-1.00 Negative mental attributes (prop) 3 (11.1) .04 .11 0-.33 1RWH Freq = frequency; Prop = proportion; Q = number of mothers who gave at least one mental attribute in description.
Mothers using positive mental attributes in the descriptions ranged from 65.5% to 83.3% of mothers. Neutral mental attributes were used more than the other
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categories of valence and ranged from 74.1% to 96.6% of mothers. Of the three valence measures, the smallest percentage of mothers described their children and partner/friend using negative mental attributes and this ranged from 11.1% to 31% of mothers.
Descriptive statistics for emotional content of interactional mind-mindedness at Time 2
The descriptive statistics for the emotional content of mothers’ interactional mind- mindedness for older sibling and younger sibling are shown for frequency and proportion scores in Table 8.21. This table shows the number of mothers who gave an appropriate mind-related comment in the play session and so were included in the calculation of the variable.
Table 8.21 Descriptive statistics for emotional content of interactional mind-mindedness
(frequency and proportion of valence of appropriate mind-related comments) at Time 2
Variable Mothers using valence (%)
(N = 30)
Mean SD Range
2OGHUVLEOLQJ Q
Positive AMRC (freq) 15 (50) .87 1.20 0-5
Neutral AMRC (freq) 30 (100) 8.63 5.09 1-18
Negative AMRC (freq) 0 (0) 0 0 0
<RXQJHUVLEOLQJ Q
Positive AMRC (freq) 15 (51.7) .90 1.29 0-6
Neutral AMRC (freq) 29 (100) 13.55 8.30 1-32
Negative AMRC (freq) 0 (0) 0 0 0
2OGHUVLEOLQJ Q
Positive AMRC (prop) 15 (50) .10 .15 0-.50
Neutral AMRC (prop) 30 (100) .90 .15 .50-1.00
Negative AMRC (prop) 0 (0) 0 0 0
<RXQJHUVLEOLQJ Q
Positive AMRC (prop) 15 (51.7) .06 .09 0-.29 Neutral AMRC (prop) 29 (100) .92 .11 .63-1.00
Negative AMRC (prop) 0 (0) 0 0 0
1RWH AMRC = appropriate mind-related comments; freq = frequency; prop = proportion; Q = number of mothers who gave at least one appropriate mind-related comment in play session.
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At Time 2, of the mothers who used an appropriate mind-related comment in an interaction, all gave at least one neutral appropriate mind-related comment. Approximately half the mothers used positive appropriate mind-related comments (ranged from 50% to 51.7%) in interactions. The same number of mothers (15) made a positive mind-related comment with their older child as those who made a positive mind-related comment with their younger child. Mothers’ positive
appropriate mind-related comments made with older siblings (0 = .87) and with younger siblings (0 = .90) were far fewer than neutral appropriate mind-related comments made with older siblings (0 = 8.63) and with younger siblings (0 = 13.55). No mother used a negative mind-related comment with either child and so this measure was not included in subsequent analysis at Time 2.
All mothers used mainly neutral valence, and as with Time 1, this led to an
investigation into the relationship between the frequency of appropriate mind-related comments and the frequency of neutral appropriate mind-related comments. The frequency of appropriate mind-related comments was highly positively correlated with the frequency of neutral appropriate mind-related comments for older siblings (UV = .96, S < .001) and for younger siblings (UV = .99, S < .001).
8.3.13 Consistency of relationships for emotional content of mind-