The child's internal working model of the parent as a mechanism linking parental mind-mindedness with the child's processing of relational events: A longitudinal study from infancy to preschool age

Juyoung Kim; Grazyna Kochanska; Lilly C Bendel-Stenzel; Neevetha Sivagurunathan

doi:10.1037/dev0002197

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The child's internal working model of the parent as a mechanism linking parental mind-mindedness with the child's processing of relational events: A longitudinal study from infancy to preschool age

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The child's internal working model of the parent as a mechanism linking parental mind-mindedness with the child's processing of relational events: A longitudinal study from infancy to preschool age

Juyoung Kim, Grazyna Kochanska, Lilly C Bendel-Stenzel and Neevetha Sivagurunathan

Developmental psychology

04/23/2026

DOI: 10.1037/dev0002197

PMCID: PMC13108519

PMID: 42024332

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Abstract

Internal working models (IWMs) are considered key mechanisms linking early parent-child relationships with children's sociocognitive outcomes, yet little research has integrated the roles of the parent and child IWMs in social information processing. We proposed a cascade from parental IWMs of the infant, defined as mind-mindedness (MM), to children's IWMs of parents in toddlerhood to children's memory for relational events at preschool age. In 200 mothers, fathers, and children in the U.S. Midwest (96 girls), parents' appropriate MM (aligned with infant mental state) was coded during interactions at 16 months. At 3 years, children's IWMs were assessed in narratives elicited by story stems. At 4.5 years, we assessed children's memory for key, relationship-themed details and extraneous details for stories depicting a responsive versus unresponsive caregiver. Children remembered responsive stories better than unresponsive ones, consistent with extant evidence that they generally expect caregivers to be responsive. In an innovative extension, we highlight a longitudinal path to individual differences. Parents' appropriate MM at 16 months predicted children's more positive IWMs of parents at 3 years, which predicted better recall for key details of stories depicting a responsive caregiver at 4.5 years, in both mother- and father-child dyads. We bridge research on parent-child relationships and social information processing by identifying parental MM as one critical early relational factor that shapes children's representational and memory systems and by providing novel evidence that children's IWMs function as cognitive filters, selectively enhancing memory for details congruent with their mental representations formed early in development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

mind-mindedness

internal working model

memory

social information processing

longitudinal study

Details

Title: Subtitle: The child's internal working model of the parent as a mechanism linking parental mind-mindedness with the child's processing of relational events: A longitudinal study from infancy to preschool age
Creators: Juyoung Kim - University of Iowa
Grazyna Kochanska - University of Iowa
Lilly C Bendel-Stenzel - University of Iowa
Neevetha Sivagurunathan - University of Iowa
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Developmental psychology
DOI: 10.1037/dev0002197
PMID: 42024332
PMCID: PMC13108519
NLM abbreviation: Dev Psychol
ISSN: 0012-1649
eISSN: 1939-0599
Publisher: American Psychological Association
Grant note: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development R01 HD091047 / NICHD NIH HHS R01 HD110427 / NICHD NIH HHS
Language: English
Electronic publication date: 04/23/2026
Academic Unit: Psychological and Brain Sciences
Record Identifier: 9985157601502771

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