Theory of mind and school achievement: The mediating role of social competence

•Early social understanding predicts later social competence.•Early social competence predicts later school achievement.•Social competence mediate the link between ToM and school achievement.

Recent findings have highlighted the importance of children's social understanding - specifically their reasoning about beliefs and emotions - for school achievement. However, little is known about the processes that may account for such a relationship. In this longitudinal study we examined the role of children's social competence (as indexed by peer relationships and social skills), using a multi-informant and multi-indicator approach. We followed 73 children during the transition to primary school, gathering data at three time points: Time 1 (age 5), Time 2 (age 7) and Time 3 (age 8). Structural equation modelling showed that Time 1 social understanding predicted Time 2 social competence, which in turn predicted Time 3 school achievement, independently of verbal ability. Moreover, social competence mediated the relationship between early social understanding and later school achievement. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.