Abstract:
Objectives: Patients with schizophrenia are characterized with deficiencies in various aspects
of social functioning. Given the relationship between social functioning deficits and relapse
in these patients, identification of underlying factors is of significant importance. Thus, in this
study, the contribution of each dimension of social cognition (Emotion Perception [EP], Theory
of Mind [ToM] and Attributional Style [AS]) in predicting the social function of schizophrenic
patients were examined.
Methods: The statistical population included all patients with chronic schizophrenia
hospitalized in Shiraz chronic healthcare centers. Of them, a total of 62 patients with
schizophrenia disorder were selected based on purposive sampling method from three chronic
care centers and were evaluated using social cognition tools (Hinting Task, Face Emotion
Identification Task, and The Ambiguous Intentions and Hostility Questionnaire) and the Social
Functioning Scale (SFS).
Results: The results showed that ToM and EP predicted social functioning in people with
schizophrenia but attributional style was not associated with social functioning.
Discussion: On the whole, ToM and EP are general abilities contributing in explaining social
functioning. However, the importance of attributional bias is significant when evaluating the
performance of a person in specific areas such as aggressive behaviors.
Machine summary:
Research Paper: The Role of Social Cognition in Predicting the Social Functioning in Patients With Chronic Schizophrenia Zahra Saffarian1 , Behrouz Doulatshahi1* , Abbas Pourshabaz1, Najmeh Rasti Kerdar2 1.
Thus, in this study, the contribution of each dimension of social cognition (Emotion Perception [EP], Theory of Mind [ToM] and Attributional Style [AS]) in predicting the social function of schizophrenic patients were examined.
Of them, a total of 62 patients with schizophrenia disorder were selected based on purposive sampling method from three chronic care centers and were evaluated using social cognition tools (Hinting Task, Face Emotion Identification Task, and The Ambiguous Intentions and Hostility Questionnaire) and the Social Functioning Scale (SFS).
com 239 September 2018, Volume 16, Number 3 Highlights I ranian Rehabilitation Journal ● Social cognition is a mental process that involves different abilities, including Theory of Mind (TOM), Emotion Perception (EP) and Attributional Styles (AS).
Therefore, we decided to investigate the three dimensions of social cognition (emotion perception, mind theory, and attributional bias) in schizophrenia patients and their contribution to the social functioning.
The results indicate that emotion perception and theory of mind can predict the social functioning of these patients, while attributional bias cannot.
Social cognition is a mental process that involves dif- ferent abilities, including the inference of mental states of others (Theory of Mind [ToM]) [7], the recognition of emotional facial expressions (Emotion Perception [EP]) [8] and individuals’ methods for explaining the causes of social incidents (Attributional Styles [AS]) [9].