The relationship between a child's affect regulation and their social cognition (theory of mind and empathy)

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dc.contributor.advisorMalcom-Smith, Susan
dc.contributor.advisorSusan
dc.contributor.authorDiara, Heesoo Melanie
dc.date.accessioned2026-04-22T12:23:22Z
dc.date.available2026-04-22T12:23:22Z
dc.date.issued2023
dc.date.updated2026-04-22T12:19:47Z
dc.description.abstractAffect regulation is an essential component of human development and is crucial for successful social functioning and emotional health. Similarly social cognitive skills like empathy and Theory of Mind (ToM) are also necessary for successful social understanding and interaction in childhood. Researchers have reported associations between affect regulation and social cognition. For example, research shows that affect regulation is essential for empathic concern and behaviour. Additionally, studies in clinical populations have highlighted the relationship between affect regulation and ToM. Based on the literature, it was inferred that successful regulation of one's affect would result in greater empathic and ToM ability. Hence the study hypothesized that children's affect regulation would positively predict their empathy and ToM, over and above any effects of the covariates (age, IQ and working memory, gender, household income or highest level of maternal education (HLOE)). Data collected from one hundred and eighty five (N = 185) neuro-typical primary school children between the ages of 6 and 13, from three mainstream public primary schools in Cape Town was analysed. The results found no significant association between participant affect regulation scores and their empathy and ToM scores. Thus, it was concluded that affect regulation was not a significant predictor of social cognition in this sample.
dc.identifier.apacitationDiara, H. M. (2023). <i>The relationship between a child's affect regulation and their social cognition (theory of mind and empathy)</i>. (). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Psychology. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43121en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationDiara, Heesoo Melanie. <i>"The relationship between a child's affect regulation and their social cognition (theory of mind and empathy)."</i> ., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Psychology, 2023. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43121en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationDiara, H.M. 2023. The relationship between a child's affect regulation and their social cognition (theory of mind and empathy). . University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Psychology. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43121en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Diara, Heesoo Melanie AB - Affect regulation is an essential component of human development and is crucial for successful social functioning and emotional health. Similarly social cognitive skills like empathy and Theory of Mind (ToM) are also necessary for successful social understanding and interaction in childhood. Researchers have reported associations between affect regulation and social cognition. For example, research shows that affect regulation is essential for empathic concern and behaviour. Additionally, studies in clinical populations have highlighted the relationship between affect regulation and ToM. Based on the literature, it was inferred that successful regulation of one's affect would result in greater empathic and ToM ability. Hence the study hypothesized that children's affect regulation would positively predict their empathy and ToM, over and above any effects of the covariates (age, IQ and working memory, gender, household income or highest level of maternal education (HLOE)). Data collected from one hundred and eighty five (N = 185) neuro-typical primary school children between the ages of 6 and 13, from three mainstream public primary schools in Cape Town was analysed. The results found no significant association between participant affect regulation scores and their empathy and ToM scores. Thus, it was concluded that affect regulation was not a significant predictor of social cognition in this sample. DA - 2023 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - Theory of Mind KW - social cognition KW - Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2023 T1 - The relationship between a child's affect regulation and their social cognition (theory of mind and empathy) TI - The relationship between a child's affect regulation and their social cognition (theory of mind and empathy) UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43121 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/43121
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationDiara HM. The relationship between a child's affect regulation and their social cognition (theory of mind and empathy). []. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Psychology, 2023 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43121en_ZA
dc.language.isoen
dc.language.rfc3066eng
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Psychology
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanities
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subjectTheory of Mind
dc.subjectsocial cognition
dc.subjectCape Town
dc.titleThe relationship between a child's affect regulation and their social cognition (theory of mind and empathy)
dc.typeThesis / Dissertation
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
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