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Face perception predicts affective theory of mind in autism spectrum disorder but not schizophrenia or typical development.

ABSTRACT: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SCZ) have overlapping symptomatology related to difficulties with social cognition. Yet, few studies have directly compared social cognition in ASD, SCZ, and typical development (TD). The current study examined individual differences in face recognition and its relation to affective theory of mind (ToM) in each diagnostic group. Adults with ASD (n = 31), SCZ (n = 43), and TD (n = 47) between the ages of 18 and 48 years-old with full scale IQ above 80 participated in this study. The Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) measured affective ToM, and the Benton Facial Recognition Test (BFRT) measured face perception. Adults with ASD and SCZ did not differ in their affective ToM abilities, and both groups showed affective ToM difficulties compared with TD. However, better face recognition ability uniquely predicted better affective ToM ability in ASD. Results suggest that affective ToM difficulties may relate to face processing in ASD but not SCZ. By clarifying the complex nature of individual differences in affective ToM and face recognition difficulties in these disorders, the present study suggests there may be divergent mechanisms underlying pathways to social dysfunction in ASD compared with SCZ. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

SUBMITTER: Altschuler MR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8244155 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Face perception predicts affective theory of mind in autism spectrum disorder but not schizophrenia or typical development.

Altschuler Melody R MR Trevisan Dominic A DA Wolf Julie M JM Naples Adam J AJ Foss-Feig Jennifer H JH Srihari Vinod H VH McPartland James C JC

Journal of abnormal psychology 20210501 4

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SCZ) have overlapping symptomatology related to difficulties with social cognition. Yet, few studies have directly compared social cognition in ASD, SCZ, and typical development (TD). The current study examined individual differences in face recognition and its relation to affective theory of mind (ToM) in each diagnostic group. Adults with ASD (n = 31), SCZ (n = 43), and TD (n = 47) between the ages of 18 and 48 years-old with ...[more]

PMID: 34180705

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Project description:PurposeThis study examined the impact of bilingualism on affective theory of mind (ToM) and social prioritization (SP) among autistic adults compared to neurotypical comparison participants.MethodFifty-two (25 autistic, 27 neurotypical) adult participants (ages 21-35 years) with varying second language (L2) experience, ranging from monolingual to bilingual, completed an affective ToM task. A subset of this sample also completed a dynamic eye-tracking task designed to capture differences in time spent looking at social aspects of a scene (SP). Four language groups were compared on task performance (monolingual autism and neurotypical, bilingual autism and neurotypical), followed by analyses examining the contribution of L2 experience, autism characteristics, and social face prioritization on affective ToM, controlling for verbal IQ. Finally, we conducted an analysis to identify the contribution of SP on affective ToM when moderated by autism status and L2 experience, controlling for verbal IQ.ResultsThe monolingual autism group performed significantly worse than the other three groups (bilingual autism, monolingual neurotypical, and bilingual neurotypical) on the affective ToM task; however, there were no significant differences between the bilingual autism group compared to the monolingual and bilingual neurotypical groups. For autistic individuals, affective ToM capabilities were positively associated with both verbal IQ and L2 experience but did not relate to autism characteristics or SP during eye tracking. Neurotypical participants showed greater SP during the eye-tracking task, and SP did not relate to L2 or autism characteristics for autistic individuals. SP and verbal IQ predicted affective ToM performance across autism and neurotypical groups, but this relationship was moderated by L2 experience; SP more strongly predicted affective ToM performance among participants with lower L2 experience (e.g., monolingual) and had less of an impact for those with higher L2 experience.ConclusionThis study provides support for a bilingual advantage in affective ToM for autistic individuals.Supplemental materialhttps://doi.org/10.23641/asha.25696083.

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Face perception predicts affective theory of mind in autism spectrum disorder but not schizophrenia or typical development.

Publications

Face perception predicts affective theory of mind in autism spectrum disorder but not schizophrenia or typical development.

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