TY - JOUR

T1 - The Role of Socioeconomic Adversity and Armed Conflict in Executive Function, Theory of Mind and Empathy in Children

AU - Kara, Buket

AU - Selcuk, Bilge

PY - 2023/4/1

Y1 - 2023/4/1

N2 - This study investigates the role of socioeconomic adversity and armed conflict in executive function (EF), theory of mind (ToM) and empathy in a rarely studied group, children living in eastern Turkey. The data were collected from 115 children (60 girls) aged 39 to 95 months (M = 68.22, SD = 14.62). Results revealed that children’s performance was low in the EF and ToM tasks, and high in the empathy task. In path analysis, controlling for age, armed conflict experience predicted lower EF (β = − 0.15) and higher empathy (β = 0.21), and socioeconomic adversity predicted lower ToM (β = 0.20). These findings contribute to our knowledge on cognitive and emotional development of children who live in such disadvantaged contexts.

AB - This study investigates the role of socioeconomic adversity and armed conflict in executive function (EF), theory of mind (ToM) and empathy in a rarely studied group, children living in eastern Turkey. The data were collected from 115 children (60 girls) aged 39 to 95 months (M = 68.22, SD = 14.62). Results revealed that children’s performance was low in the EF and ToM tasks, and high in the empathy task. In path analysis, controlling for age, armed conflict experience predicted lower EF (β = − 0.15) and higher empathy (β = 0.21), and socioeconomic adversity predicted lower ToM (β = 0.20). These findings contribute to our knowledge on cognitive and emotional development of children who live in such disadvantaged contexts.

U2 - 10.1007/s10578-021-01270-y

DO - 10.1007/s10578-021-01270-y

M3 - Journal article

VL - 54

SP - 533

EP - 545

JO - Child psychiatry and human development

JF - Child psychiatry and human development

SN - 1573-3327

IS - 1

ER -