Emotion perception, non-social cognition and symptoms as predictors of theory of mind in schizophrenia

Impairments in social cognitions in schizophrenia are increasingly reported in the last decade but only a few studies have come from Asia. The objective of the study was to evaluated emotion perception, theory of mind and social knowledge in people with schizophrenia compared to healthy controls. Participants were 36 clinically stable outpatients with schizophrenia and 36 normal controls with comparable age and level of education. We administered general neurocognition test (the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination), emotion perception (the Faces Test), theory of mind (the Eyes Test) and social knowledge (the Situational Features Recognition Test; SFRT). Schizophrenia patients displayed obvious impairment in all three social cognition domains i.e. the Faces Test [13.7 (2.9) vs 15.7 (1.9), P=0.001], the Eyes Test [18.9 (4.4) vs 23.5 (4.4), P<0.001] and SFRT [0.85 (0.09) vs 0.9 (0.05), P=0.002]. The performances on three social cognition tests did not correlate with positive symptoms. Only the Faces Test seemed to be related to negative symptoms. The results demonstrated that there are deficits of social cognitions in schizophrenia even in a clinically stable population.

Download Full-text

Transportability and Feasibility of Social Cognition and Interaction Training (SCIT) in Community Settings

Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy ◽

10.1017/s1352465809990464 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 38 (1) ◽

pp. 35-47 ◽

Cited By ~ 51

Author(s):

David L. Roberts ◽

David L. Penn ◽

Daniella Labate ◽

Seth A. Margolis ◽

Abram Sterne

Keyword(s):

Social Cognition ◽

Theory Of Mind ◽

Social Cognitive ◽

Emotion Perception ◽

Cognitive Outcome ◽

Routine Practice ◽

Clinical Approach ◽

Preliminary Evaluation ◽

Community Settings ◽

Attributional Bias

Background: Social Cognition and Interaction Training (SCIT) is a manual-based group intervention designed to improve social cognition in schizophrenia. Initial studies conducted by the developers of SCIT suggest that the intervention has promise in ameliorating social cognitive dysfunction in both inpatients and outpatients. Aims: The current study is a preliminary evaluation of SCIT in community samples. Method: An uncontrolled, pre-post design was used in this initial feasibility study. A collaborative research-clinical approach was employed to enable research evaluation while also meeting the administrative goals of participating clinics, and working within the constraints of real-world clinical practice. Transportability, acceptability, and feasibility of SCIT were evaluated in terms of pre- and post-treatment evaluations, client attendance data (N = 50), and clinic administrators’ decisions about whether to integrate SCIT into regular programming. Social-cognitive outcome measures assessed emotion perception, Theory of Mind, and attributional bias. Results: These support the transportability, acceptability, and feasibility of SCIT in community settings. SCIT has been integrated into routine practice at several test sites. Tentative support was found for improvement in emotion perception and Theory of Mind, but not attributional bias. Conclusions: SCIT may be a promising intervention for community agencies serving individuals with psychotic disorders who seek to improve their social functioning.

Download Full-text

Social Cognition and Its Neural Correlates in Schizophrenia and Autism

CNS Spectrums ◽

10.1017/s1092852900009317 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 9 (5) ◽

pp. 335-343 ◽

Cited By ~ 53

Author(s):

Zeinab Abdi ◽

Tonmoy Sharma

Keyword(s):

Social Cognition ◽

Theory Of Mind ◽

Frontal Cortex ◽

Psychiatric Disorders ◽

Social Functioning ◽

Emotion Perception ◽

Cognitive Remediation ◽

Neural Correlates ◽

Cognitive Remediation Therapy ◽

Cognitive Enhancers

AbstractThe study of social cognition in psychiatric disorders has become increasingly popular in recent years. This is due to the its proposed link to social functioning and the inability of general neurocognitive skills to explain the spectrum of impairments observed in patients. This article reviews research into two of the processes thought to underlie social cognition (emotion perception and theory of mind) in schizophrenia and autism. This is followed by a look at neuroimaging studies and their efforts to localize the neural correlates of emotion perception and theory of mind in the two disorders. We concluded that while a specific impairment in emotion perception and theory of mind skills cannot be generalized to all individuals with autism and schizophrenia, there are subpopulations that have lingering deficits of social cognition tasks. Neuroimaging work consistently points to the involvement of the fusiform gyrus and amygdala in emotion processing, while the medial prefrontal and frontal cortex are implicated in tasks invoking theory of mind. We propose that deficits of social cognition may benefit from cognitive remediation therapy and pharmacological cognitive enhancers.

Download Full-text

Social cognition across stages and forms of schizophrenia

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/j.eurpsy.2016.01.664 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 33 (S1) ◽

pp. s260-s260 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

O. Papsuev ◽

M. Minyaycheva ◽

L. Movina ◽

I. Gurovich

Keyword(s):

Social Cognition ◽

Theory Of Mind ◽

Attributional Style ◽

Schizoaffective Disorder ◽

Social Cognitive ◽

Emotion Perception ◽

First Episode ◽

Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽

Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorders

IntroductionSocial cognition is considered as a main predictor of functional outcomes and a candidate for endophenotype of schizophrenia. We hypothesize that social cognition capacities follow the course of schizophrenia as a progredient disorder.ObjectiveTo investigate social cognition across different groups of patients with schizophrenia and schizophrenia spectrum disorders.AimsTo evaluate social cognitive impairments in patients with first episode psychoses (FEP), chronic schizophrenia (CS) and schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (SSD).MethodsIn a cross-sectional study, 71 patients with FEP, CS and SSD were assessed with a battery of clinical and social cognitive tests. Three key social cognitive domains were assessed: emotion perception, Theory of Mind and attributional style.ResultsPatients with schizoaffective disorder and schizotypal disorder showed better scores in Hinting task (mean ranks: 47.0 and 39.9 respectively) than patients with less favourable forms of schizophrenia (mean ranks: 24.7 and 30.2 respectively) (P = 0.003). Patients with FEP showed better results in Hinting task (18.1 ± 2.4) versus CS patients (17.4 ± 2.0) (P < 0.05). No differences in emotion perception (Ekman-60 task) among FEP and CS patients were detected. Patients with schizoaffective disorder showed better scores in emotional processing comparing to all forms of schizophrenia patients (mean ranks 49.1 vs. 30.1, 34.5, 28.0, P < 0.05). No significant differences in attributional style were registered.ConclusionsEmotion perception and Theory of Mind domains show different level of impairment across FEP and CS patients and across forms of schizophrenia. Further longitudinal studies to establish how social cognition domains mirror the course and severity of schizophrenia and SSD are needed.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Download Full-text

Social cognition in schizophrenia

Mental Illness ◽

10.1108/mi.2017.7054 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 16-19 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Thammanard Charernboon ◽

Jayanton Patumanond

Keyword(s):

Social Cognition ◽

Theory Of Mind ◽

Negative Symptoms ◽

Emotion Perception ◽

Test Theory ◽

Social Knowledge ◽

Social Cognitions ◽

Perception Theory ◽

Normal Controls ◽

Addenbrooke’S Cognitive Examination

Impairments in social cognitions in schizophrenia are increasingly reported in the last decade but only a few studies have come from Asia. The objective of the study was to evaluated emotion perception, theory of mind and social knowledge in people with schizophrenia compared to healthy controls. Participants were 36 clinically stable outpatients with schizophrenia and 36 normal controls with comparable age and level of education. We administered general neurocognition test (the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination), emotion perception (the Faces Test), theory of mind (the Eyes Test) and social knowledge (the Situational Features Recognition Test; SFRT). Schizophrenia patients displayed obvious impairment in all three social cognition domains i.e. the Faces Test [13.7 (2.9) vs 15.7 (1.9), P=0.001], the Eyes Test [18.9 (4.4) vs 23.5 (4.4), P<0.001] and SFRT [0.85 (0.09) vs 0.9 (0.05), P=0.002]. The performances on three social cognition tests did not correlate with positive symptoms. Only the Faces Test seemed to be related to negative symptoms. The results demonstrated that there are deficits of social cognitions in schizophrenia even in a clinically stable population.

Download Full-text

Are Deficits in Social Cognition Linked to Autobiographical Memory in Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease?

Zeitschrift für Neuropsychologie ◽

10.1024/1016-264x/a000187 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 27 (4) ◽

pp. 257-264 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Johannes H. Scheidemann ◽

Franz Petermann ◽

Marc Schipper

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Social Cognition ◽

Theory Of Mind ◽

Autobiographical Memory ◽

Positive Relationship ◽

Neuropsychological Test ◽

Clinical Group ◽

Neuropsychological Test Battery ◽

Fluency Task

Abstract. We investigated theory of mind (ToM) deficits in Alzheimer‘s disease (AD) and its possible connection to autobiographical memory (ABM). Patients and matched controls were evaluated and compared using a video-based ToM test, an autobiographical fluency task, and a neuropsychological test battery. We found that ToM deficits were positively associated with semantic ABM in the clinical group, whereas a positive relationship appeared between ToM and episodic ABM in controls. We hypothesize that this reflects the course of the disease as well as that semantic ABM is used for ToM processing, being still accessible in AD. Furthermore, we assume that it is also less efficient, which in turn leads to a specific deficit profile of social cognition.

Download Full-text

Cognición social en niños con trastorno por déficit de atención con hiperactividad: una revisión narrativa de la literatura

Archivos de Neurociencias ◽

10.31157/archneurosciencesmex.v24i2.177 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 24 (2) ◽

pp. 43-58

Author(s):

Ma. Guillermina Yáñez-Téllez ◽

Daniel Hernández-Torres

Keyword(s):

Social Cognition ◽

Theory Of Mind ◽

Emotion Recognition ◽

Pragmatic Language ◽

Affective Prosody ◽

Palabras Clave

Los niños con trastorno por déficit de atención con hiperactividad (TDAH) presentan problemas en la interacción social, los cuales pueden ser atribuidos a deficiencias en la cognición social (CS), no obstante, esta función ha sido poco estudiada en esta población. El objetivo de este trabajo fue realizar una revisión de la literatura de los últimos 18 años acerca de la CS en niños con TDAH, en los subdominios de teoría de la mente, reconocimiento de emociones en rostros, lenguaje pragmático y prosodia afectiva. Se realizó una búsqueda en las bases de datos PubMed y Scopus, combinando las siguientes palabras clave: “ADHD”, “social cognition”, “theory of mind”, “emotion recognition”, “pragmatic language” y “affective prosody”. Se seleccionaron artículos desde el 2000 hasta el 2018. El reconocimiento de emociones en rostros es el déficit en CS más reportado, encontrándose fallas en la comprensión de gestos de miedo, tristeza, felicidad y enojo, aunque no de manera consistente. Asimismo, se reportan deficiencias en la teoría de la mente, principalmente en la referencia social, entendimiento de emociones básicas, metarrepresentaciones, inferencias de segundo orden y comprensión de juicios sociales complejos.

Download Full-text

Machine learning-based ability to classify psychosis and early stages of disease through parenting and attachment-related variables is associated with social cognition

BMC Psychology ◽

10.1186/s40359-021-00552-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Linda A. Antonucci ◽

Alessandra Raio ◽

Giulio Pergola ◽

Barbara Gelao ◽

Marco Papalino ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Machine Learning ◽

Social Cognition ◽

Attachment Style ◽

Learning Algorithm ◽

Early Recognition ◽

Emotion Perception ◽

First Episode ◽

Support Vector ◽

Significant Group ◽

Early Stages

Abstract Background Recent views posited that negative parenting and attachment insecurity can be considered as general environmental factors of vulnerability for psychosis, specifically for individuals diagnosed with psychosis (PSY). Furthermore, evidence highlighted a tight relationship between attachment style and social cognition abilities, a key PSY behavioral phenotype. The aim of this study is to generate a machine learning algorithm based on the perceived quality of parenting and attachment style-related features to discriminate between PSY and healthy controls (HC) and to investigate its ability to track PSY early stages and risk conditions, as well as its association with social cognition performance. Methods Perceived maternal and paternal parenting, as well as attachment anxiety and avoidance scores, were trained to separate 71 HC from 34 PSY (20 individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia + 14 diagnosed with bipolar disorder with psychotic manifestations) using support vector classification and repeated nested cross-validation. We then validated this model on independent datasets including individuals at the early stages of disease (ESD, i.e. first episode of psychosis or depression, or at-risk mental state for psychosis) and with familial high risk for PSY (FHR, i.e. having a first-degree relative suffering from psychosis). Then, we performed factorial analyses to test the group x classification rate interaction on emotion perception, social inference and managing of emotions abilities. Results The perceived parenting and attachment-based machine learning model discriminated PSY from HC with a Balanced Accuracy (BAC) of 72.2%. Slightly lower classification performance was measured in the ESD sample (HC-ESD BAC = 63.5%), while the model could not discriminate between FHR and HC (BAC = 44.2%). We observed a significant group x classification interaction in PSY and HC from the discovery sample on emotion perception and on the ability to manage emotions (both p = 0.02). The interaction on managing of emotion abilities was replicated in the ESD and HC validation sample (p = 0.03). Conclusion Our results suggest that parenting and attachment-related variables bear significant classification power when applied to both PSY and its early stages and are associated with variability in emotion processing. These variables could therefore be useful in psychosis early recognition programs aimed at softening the psychosis-associated disability.

Download Full-text

Self-serving social strategies: A systematic review of social cognition in narcissism

Current Psychology ◽

10.1007/s12144-021-01661-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Clare M. Eddy

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Social Cognition ◽

Theory Of Mind ◽

Emotion Recognition ◽

Cognitive Skills ◽

Cognitive Empathy ◽

Clinical Samples ◽

Social Strategies ◽

Concurrent Administration ◽

Narcissistic Personality

AbstractNarcissistic Personality Disorder is characterised by inflated self-importance, an excessive need for admiration, and a lack of empathy. The interpersonal difficulties associated with narcissistic personality may be becoming more widespread given its increasing prevalence within the general population. This systematic review investigated the relationship between narcissistic personality traits and social cognition (i.e. theory of mind; emotion recognition; empathy; emotional intelligence) in clinical and non-clinical samples. Cognitive empathy (i.e. perspective taking) appears unlikely to be impaired, while affective empathy (relating to another’s emotion state) may be reduced in association with narcissism. Those with grandiose narcissism rate their empathic skills more highly than those with vulnerable narcissism, but concurrent administration of objective measures is rare, limiting insight into the validity of self-ratings. Rather than deficits in aspects of social cognition, the overall pattern could reflect motivation, or advantageous use of social cognitive skills to serve the self. Indeed, interpersonal strategies associated with narcissism (e.g. deception; manipulation) suggest the application of understanding another’s beliefs or desires in the context of low empathy. Further research should seek to explore performance on a wider range of emotion recognition and theory of mind tasks, and whether characteristics such as excessive jealousy and paranoia could reflect hyper-mentalizing.

Download Full-text

Habilidades de Mindfulness y Cognición Social en la predicción de la sintomatología afectiva en Esquizofrenia, Trastorno Obsesivo-Compulsivo y controles sanos

Revista de Psicopatología y Psicología Clínica ◽

10.5944/rppc.24170 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Manuel González-Panzano ◽

Luis Borao ◽

Paola Herrera-Mercadal ◽

Daniel Campos ◽

Yolanda López-del-Hoyo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Cognition ◽

Theory Of Mind ◽

Attributional Style ◽

Short Form ◽

Depression Scale ◽

Anxiety And Depression ◽

Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire ◽

Obsessive Compulsive ◽

Compulsive Disorder ◽

Mindful Attention Awareness Scale

Abstract: Mindfulness and social cognition skills in the prediction of affective symptomatology in schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder and nonclinical participants. The aim of the study was to investigate significant predictors of affective symptomatology in schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder and healthy controls. The sample was of 91 participants who completed the following instruments: the Eye Test (emotional recognition), the Hinting Task (theory of mind), the Ambiguous Intentions and Hostility Questionnaire(AIHQ; attributional style), Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI; empathy), the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS; mindfulness trait), the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire-Short Form(FFMQ-SF), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale(HADS). Significant predictors of affective symptomatology were: mindfulness (dispositional or trait mindfulness, nonreactivity and nonjudgment), and social cognition (SC) (attributional style and theory of mind). Mediation analysis showed that theory of mind was the only significant mediator of affective symptomatology. This paper shows the role of mindfulness and SC skills in the prediction of affective symptomatology.Keywords: mindfulness, social cognition, theory of mind, affective symptomatology, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder.Resumen:El objetivo del estudio fue investigar predictores significativos de sintomatología afectiva en Esquizofrenia (EZ), trastorno obsesivo compulsivo (TOC) y controles no clínicos. La muestra fue de 91 participantes que completaron los siguientes instrumentos: Eyes Test (reconocimiento emocional), Hinting Task (teoría de la mente), Ambiguous Intentions and Hostility Questionnaire (AIHQ; estilo atribucional), Índice de Reactividad Interpersonal (IRI; empatía), Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS;mindfulness rasgo), Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire-Short Form (FFMQ-SF), y Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).Los resultados mostraron que el mindfulness (mindfulness rasgo, no reactividad y no juicio) y la cognición social (estilo atribucional y teoría de la mente) fueron predictores significativos. Los análisis de mediación señalaron la variable de teoría de la mente, como único mediador significativo de la sintomatología afectiva.Los resultados de este estudio señalan el papel de las habilidades de mindfulness y cognición social en la predicción de sintomatología afectiva.Palabras clave: mindfulness, cognición social, teoría de la mente, sintomatología afectiva, esquizofrenia, trastorno obsesivo-compulsivo.

Download Full-text