Decoding and reasoning mental states in major depression and social anxiety disorder
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Open Access
Decoding and reasoning mental states in major depression and social anxiety disorder Gheysar Maleki1* , Abbas Zabihzadeh1, Mara J. Richman2,3,4, Zsolt Demetrovics4,5 and Fatemeh Mohammadnejad6
Abstract Background: Major depression (MDD) and social anxiety (SAD) disorders are debilitating psychiatric conditions characterized by disturbed interpersonal relationships. Despite these impairments in social relationships, research has been limited in simultaneously evaluating the dysfunction in MDD or SAD within two aspects of theory of mind (ToM): decoding mental states (i.e., Affective ToM) and reasoning mental states (i.e., cognitive ToM). Taking this into consideration, the current study assesses both decoding and reasoning mental states abilities in MDD, SAD, and healthy controls (HC). Methods: Subjects included 37 patients with MDD, 35 patients with SAD, and 35 HCs. ToM was measured with the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) and the Faux Pas Task, which assess decoding and reasoning mental states, respectively. Results: Results revealed that in decoding of mental states, both the SAD and MDD groups had lower scores than the HC group; there was no significant difference between the SAD and MDD groups in decoding mental states. Conversely, in reasoning mental states, the SAD and HC groups had higher scores than the MDD group; no differences were found between the SAD and HC groups. Conclusions: Clinicians and researchers should further consider parsing generalized impairment in ToM into two aspects: decoding and reasoning of mental states by using the aforementioned measurements. By further understanding the two aspects, we can create a potentially new clinical profile for mental health disorders, such as in this context with both decoding and reasoning mental state impairment in MDD and just a decoding impairment in SAD. Keywords: Major depressive disorder, Social anxiety disorder, Theory of mind, Decoding, Reasoning
Background Theory of mind (ToM) has been recognized throughout the literature to be one of the most important characteristics of social cognition and has been defined as the ability to understand the mental states of others (i.e., wants, needs, beliefs, knowledge, emotions) [1–4] ToM * Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Department of Clinical Psychology, Shahid Behashti University, District 1, Evin, Daneshjou Boulevard, Tehran 1983969411, Iran Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
is crucial in the everyday interactions of humans as it sustains social interactions through understanding the mental and emotional states of others [5–8] Many studies have found impairments in ToM in mental health disorders such as mood disorders [9–11] personality disorders [7], anxiety disorders [12], psychotic disorders [13, 14] and Alzheimer disease [15]. Singer [16] parsed ToM into two parts: affective ToM, or decoding mental states, (i.e., the attribution of emotional states to others) and cognitive ToM or reasoning
© The Author(s). 2020 Op
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