The Relationship between Cognitive Functions and Theory of Mind in Patients with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Theory of mind is the ability to attribute mental states beliefs, intents, desires, pretending, knowledge, etc. to oneself and others and to understand that others have beliefs, desires, and intentions that are different from one's own. The present study examined the relationship between the capacity of theory of mind and some cognitive functions of patients with obsessive- compulsive disorder. From among patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder referring to psychiatric and psychological treatment centers in Ardabil, 20 subjects were selected randomly and matched 20 normal people. The data were collected using tasks related to theory of mind, including first and second false belief tasks, and advanced test of theory of mind. Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and Associative Learning Test were also used for data collection. To analyze the data, two independent T tests and Pearson’s correlation coefficient were used. The performance of patients with obsessive- compulsive disorder in all task related to theory of mind was poorer than that of the normal group; however, the differences were significant only in the advanced test of theory of mind. Moreover, there was a significant relationship between the results of the advanced task of theory of mind and associated learning test results. While there was no significant relationship between the results of Wisconsin Card Test and the advanced test of theory of mind. Based on the findings, the basic capacities of theory of mind for patient with obsessive- compulsive disorder were generally maintained Patients; while, there was a significant decrease in the capacities of the advanced test of theory of mind. The decrease seems to be related to a reduction in the memory capacity of these patients. The possible links between memory and impaired theory of mind show the clinical importance of theory of mind deficits in treating patients with obsessive- compulsive disorder.