Social dysfunction is commonly present in neuropsychiatric disorders of schizophrenia (SZ) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Theory of Mind (ToM) deficits have been linked to social dysfunction in... Show moreSocial dysfunction is commonly present in neuropsychiatric disorders of schizophrenia (SZ) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Theory of Mind (ToM) deficits have been linked to social dysfunction in disease-specific studies. Nevertheless, it remains unclear how ToM is related to social functioning across these disorders, and which factors contribute to this relationship. We investigated transdiagnostic associations between ToM and social functioning among SZ/AD patients and healthy controls, and explored to what extent these associations relate to information processing speed or facial emotion recognition capacity. A total of 163 participants were included (SZ: n=56, AD: n=50 and age-matched controls: n=57). Social functioning was assessed with the Social Functioning Scale (SFS) and the De Jong-Gierveld Loneliness Scale (LON). ToM was measured with the Hinting Task. Information processing speed was measured by the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST) and facial emotion recognition capacity by the facial emotion recognition task (FERT). Case-control deficits in Hinting Task performance were larger in AD (r(rb) = -0.57) compared to SZ (r(rb) = -0.35). Poorer Hinting Task performance was transdiagnostically associated with the SFS (beta(Hinting-Task) = 1.20, p<0.01) and LON (beta(Hinting-Task) = 0.27, p<0.05). DSST, but not FERT, reduced the association between the SFS and Hinting Task performance, however the association remained significant (beta(Hinting-Task) = 0.95, p<0.05). DSST and FERT performances did not change the association between LON and Hinting Task performance. Taken together, ToM deficits are transdiagnostically associated with social dysfunction and this is partly related to reduced information processing speed. (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. Show less
Torre-Luque, A. de la; Viera-Campos, A.; Bilderbeck, A.C.; Carreras, M.T.; Vivancos, J.; Diaz-Caneja, C.M.; ... ; Arango, C. 2022
Background: Emotion recognition constitutes a pivotal process of social cognition. It involves decoding social cues (e.g., facial expressions) to maximise social adjustment. Current theoretical... Show moreBackground: Emotion recognition constitutes a pivotal process of social cognition. It involves decoding social cues (e.g., facial expressions) to maximise social adjustment. Current theoretical models posit the relationship between social withdrawal factors (social disengagement, lack of social interactions and loneliness) and emotion decoding. Objective: To investigate the role of social withdrawal in patients with schizophrenia (SZ) or probable Alzheimer's disease (AD), neuropsychiatric conditions associated with social dysfunction. Methods: A sample of 156 participants was recruited: schizophrenia patients (SZ; n = 53), Alzheimer's disease patients (AD; n = 46), and two age-matched control groups (SZc, n = 29; ADc, n = 28). All participants provided self-report measures of loneliness and social functioning, and completed a facial emotion detection task. Results: Neuropsychiatric patients (both groups) showed poorer performance in detecting both positive and negative emotions compared with their healthy counterparts (p < .01). Social withdrawal was associated with higher accuracy in negative emotion detection, across all groups. Additionally, neuropsychiatric patients with higher social withdrawal showed lower positive emotion misclassification. Conclusions: Our findings help to detail the similarities and differences in social function and facial emotion recognition in two disorders rarely studied in parallel, AD and SZ. Transdiagnostic patterns in these results suggest that social withdrawal is associated with heightened sensitivity to negative emotion expressions, potentially reflecting hypervigilance to social threat. Across the neuropsychiatric groups specifically, this hypervigilance associated with social withdrawal extended to positive emotion expressions, an emotionalcognitive bias that may impact social functioning in people with severe mental illness. Show less
Porcelli, S.; Wee, N. van der; Werff, S. van der; Aghajani, M.; Glennon, J.C.; Heukelum, S. van; ... ; Serretti, A. 2019
The human social brain is complex. Current knowledge fails to define the neurobiological processes underlying social behaviour involving the (patho-) physiological mechanisms that link system-level... Show moreThe human social brain is complex. Current knowledge fails to define the neurobiological processes underlying social behaviour involving the (patho-) physiological mechanisms that link system-level phenomena to the multiple hierarchies of brain function. Unfortunately, such a high complexity may also be associated with a high susceptibility to several pathogenic interventions. Consistently, social deficits sometimes represent the first signs of a number of neuropsychiatric disorders including schizophrenia (SCZ), Alzheimer's disease (AD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) which leads to a progressive social dysfunction. In the present review we summarize present knowledge linking neurobiological substrates sustaining social functioning, social dysfunction and social withdrawal in major psychiatric disorders. Interestingly, AD, SCZ, and MDD affect the social brain in similar ways. Thus, social dysfunction and its most evident clinical expression (i.e., social withdrawal) may represent an innovative transdiagnostic domain, with the potential of being an independent entity in terms of biological roots, with the perspective of targeted interventions. Show less
In this thesis we examine how different aspects of emotion regulation are linked to social functioning and psychopathology in children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) compared... Show moreIn this thesis we examine how different aspects of emotion regulation are linked to social functioning and psychopathology in children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) compared to their typically developing (TD) peers. We take a broad perspective on emotion regulation by examining i) Emotion awareness, ii) Coping, and iii) Empathy. Main findings where that children with ASD scored lower on social functioning and higher on internalizing behavior, compared to their TD peers. Furthermore, all three aspects of emotion regulation were related with social functioning and psychopathology in both groups. Although children with ASD appeared to be motivated to engage in peer interactions, cognitive and affective impairments may prevent them from effectively deal with the own and other__s emotions. This thesis showed that internalizing and externalizing behavior in children with ASD mainly stems from impaired emotion regulation. Clinical implications and suggestions for further research are also given. Show less
In this thesis, four studies on children and adolescents with Down syndrome are described. The first study showed that the number of live births of children with Down syndrome in the Netherlands... Show moreIn this thesis, four studies on children and adolescents with Down syndrome are described. The first study showed that the number of live births of children with Down syndrome in the Netherlands remained stable over the period 1997-2007 on 14.6 per 10,000 births. Of these, 85% were live born. In the second study is observed that growth retardation in children with Down syndrome meanly occurs in three critical periods of growth, resulting in shorter final stature and smaller head circumference than the general Dutch population shows. Furthermore, Dutch children with Down syndrome have alarmingly high prevalence rates of overweight and obesity during childhood and adolescence. The third study showed that eight-year-old children with Down syndrome have an average developmental delay of four years, more often have emotional and behavioral problems, and have a less favorable health-related quality of life (HRQoL) compared with children from the general population. Children with Down syndrome and recurrent respiratory tract infections showed relatively more delayed development. In the fourth study, results showed that adolescents with Down syndrome remain dependent to a large degree and have serious difficulties in functioning socially. Additionally, results showed that serious problem behavior is highly prevalent in adolescents with Down syndrome. Show less
The aim of this thesis was to enhance our understanding of the concept of psychopathic traits in preadolescent children. It did so by investigating a new assessment tool providing a previously... Show moreThe aim of this thesis was to enhance our understanding of the concept of psychopathic traits in preadolescent children. It did so by investigating a new assessment tool providing a previously unexplored perspective on psychopathic traits in preadolescent children: that of the child itself. This is important because children are in the unique position to report on feelings, attitudes and behaviors across a range of situations, including the home, the classroom and the playground. Furthermore, it sought to provide a deeper understanding of the nature of psychopathic traits and their relations to problematic socio-emotional functioning. It was concluded that psychopathic traits can be indeed measured reliably and meaningfully through self-report in 9 to 12 year olds. Furthermore, children with high levels of psychopathic traits were shown to suffer from impaired social functioning emotionally, motivationally, and interpersonally. These problems may be important targets for future interventions for this group. Finally, it was demonstrated that that children with psychopathic traits are prone to act aggressively, but also that this aggression is dynamic and is dependent upon circumstances. Their aggression can be attenuated by a salient display of others__ distress. These results suggest that empathy based treatment techniques may reduce aggression in children with psychopathic traits. Show less
