Theory of Mind in Obsessive- Compulsive Disorder patients versus Normal Individuals

Theory of mind (ToM) is the abilityto infer other persons’ mental states and emotions. This ability has been found to be impaired in many psychiatricdisorders.The purpose of this study was to compare the theory of mind between obsessive-compulsive disorder patients and normal individuals. The present descriptive- comparative study recruited 90 subjectscomprising 45 patients with obsessive- compulsive disorderand 45 normal individuals who had been selected through available sampling method. All participants were asked to complete the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10), Maudsly Obsessive Compulsive Inventory, Theory of Mind Picture Stories Task and Strange Stories Task questionnaires. Data were analyzed using the Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA). Our results indicateda significant difference between obsessive- compulsive disorder patientsvs. normal individuals with regard to the subscales of theory of mind picture stories task(except for first-order false belief) and subscales of strange stories. The comparison ofpatients’ and control group’s mean scores from ToM tasks suggested a poorer performance in terms of ToM task amongst patients vs. healthy controls. Current results showed that patients’ performance in basic and advanced ToM abilities is notably compromised as compared to healthy individuals. The difference between these two groups may correspond to cognitive and emotional social impairments seen amongst individuals with obsessive- compulsive disorder.