The Relationship Between Theory of Mind and Listening Comprehension Among Chinese Preschoolers with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder

The study aimed to examine the performance on linguistic and cognitive tasks among Chinese preschool children with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and explore the direct and indirect relationships between theory of mind (ToM) and literal and inferential listening comprehension. Forty-nine (N = 49) children with ASD and fifty-two (N = 52) age- and gender-matched typically developing (TD) children participated in the study. All participants were administered tasks evaluating their listening comprehension of literal and inferential statements, ToM, as well as verbal and nonverbal IQ. Results showed that the ASD group performed statistically worse on listening comprehension, ToM abilities, verbal IQ, and nonverbal IQ than their TD peers. Further, we found statistically significant correlations between general ToM performance and overall listening comprehension among Chinese preschool children with and without ASD. More specifically, ToM abilities of children with ASD had an indirect effect on their literal listening comprehension via the mediation of verbal IQ, whereas ToM performance among TD children predicted their literal listening comprehension via the mediation of nonverbal IQ. The major findings were discussed in detail based on the situation model. The research facilitated insights into listening comprehension among Chinese preschool children with and without ASD, providing their caregivers and teachers with viable strategies to improve their listening comprehension.