Reading the Mind in the Eyes: Theory of Mind in Acute Psychosis and Schizophrenia

Background: The extant literature indicates that patients with acute psychosis or schizophrenia, as well as non-psychotic first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia, all exhibit “Theory of Mind” (TOM) impairments. Objec-tive: To assess TOM functioning and identify its correlates among a sample of patients with acute psychosis, schizophrenia and healthy controls. Methods: Case control study conducted on 20 patients with acute psychosis, 40 patients with schizophrenia and 60 healthy control volunteers. Patients admitted at Okasha Institute of Psychiatry, Ain Shams University Hospitals, diagnosed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I). Severity of symptoms assessed by the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms and the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms, while volunteers were assessed by General health questionnaire. All groups were assessed by Reading the mind in the eyes test (RMET). Results: There was significant difference between patients with schizophrenia who scored worse at the RMET than patients with acute psychosis while both have TOM deficit in comparison with the control group. No significant correlation between age or gender in all the three groups and their TOM functioning. There was significant negative correlation between duration of illness of patients with schizophrenia and their TOM functioning. In patients with acute psychosis group, negative symptoms were negatively correlated with the TOM functioning, while in patients with schizophrenia group positive and negative symptoms were negatively correlated with their TOM functioning.