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The Development of Epistemic Vigilance and Epistemic Trust Across the Lifespan: Perspectives from Empirical Research on Self-Regulatory Social Learning This article examines what we know about the development of epistemic vigilance and epistemic trust between early infancy and adolescence.With this brief review, we intend to help put into perspective the hypotheses advanced by Fonagy and his colleagues within the socio-epistemic theory of psychopathology, according to which psychopathology reflects a closure to interpersonal communication resulting from unfavorable learning experiences in early development. Here, we will discuss how children become sensitive to overt interpersonal communication, and what cognitive skills underpin such sensitivity. Next, we shall discuss the empirical evidence that children in the second year of life already possess a rudimentary capacity for epistemic vigilance: they seem to evaluate the competence of different adult informants and appear to seek information and learn from adults based on such evaluations. Third, we will outline studies showing that in the third year of life children appear to increasingly trust ostensive communication, up to the point of becoming (at least apparently) less sensitive to the possibility of being misinformed or deceived. Finally, we will discuss how, between late childhood and adolescence, children first learn to distinguish lies, then irony, and increasingly engage in complex communication ecologies. Our review simultaneously supports the basic principles of the socio-epistemic theory of psychopathology and suggests that the theory needs further refinement of its ontogenetic predictions.
RESUMO
Background: Since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, psychological distress is increased. Transdiagnostic mechanisms, including trauma, personality functioning, mentalizing and emotion regulation are considered relevant to the development and maintenance of mental health problems and therefore may play a role in individuals' reactions to the pandemic. Aim: To identify moderating and mediating factors associated with pandemic-related distress and mental health problems in adults and families, we aim to investigate the interactions of interpersonal trauma (childhood trauma and domestic violence), psychological capacities (personality functioning, mentalizing and emotion regulation) and pandemic-related adversity on psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, we aim to investigate behavioral and cognitive consequences of the pandemic (e.g., media consumption, vaccination status, conspiracy beliefs). Methods: Using an online-based cross-sectional and longitudinal design, we will investigate a sample of adult participants recruited via online platforms in German-speaking countries over the course of 1 year with four measurements points via self-report instruments (personality functioning: PID5BF +; mentalizing: MentS, PRFQ; emotion regulation: DERS-SF; mental health problems: PHQ-9, GAD-7; a composite pandemic-related stress score). Structural equation and multi-level modeling will be performed for data analyses. Implications: This study will provide data on the moderating and mediating effects of trauma, personality functioning and mentalizing during the pandemic in a large community sample, particularly on vulnerable groups like families. Identifying transdiagnostic mechanisms of psychopathology in the course of a pandemic crisis may provide valuable insight for the development of pre- and intervention measures for potential psychological distress during and post the pandemic.
