How Does Mind Reading Affect Story Reading Across Elementary School? Navigating the Cognitive and Emotional Pathways

ABSTRACT This study distinguished the cognitive and affective components of advanced theory of mind (AToM) and their distinct contributions to narrative reading comprehension (NRC) across different grades. In a longitudinal study (Time 1: April 2023) involving 344 Chinese children from Grades 2–5 (174 girls, M age = 9.60 years), results indicated that both AToM types develop in middle grades (2nd and 3rd) and stabilize by upper grades (4th and 5th), with affective AToM consistently higher than cognitive AToM. After accounting for 10 confounding variables, cognitive AToM was crucial in middle grades, enhancing NRC through metacognitive awareness of reading, while affective AToM became more prominent in upper grades, facilitating NRC through reading transportation. These findings provide insights for age‐appropriate educational interventions to foster literary appreciation.