Mentalizing self and others: A controlled study investigating the relationship between alexithymia and theory of mind in major depressive disorder

Reading language of the eyes in female depression

Aberrations in non-verbal social cognition have been reported to coincide with major depressive disorder. Yet little is known about the role of the eyes. To fill this gap, the present study explores whether and, if so, how reading language of the eyes is altered in depression. For this purpose, patients and person-by-person matched typically developing individuals were administered the Emotions in Masked Faces task and Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test, modified, both of which contained a comparable amount of visual information available. For achieving group homogeneity, we set a focus on females as major depressive disorder displays a gender-specific profile. The findings show that facial masks selectively affect inferring emotions: recognition of sadness and anger are more heavily compromised in major depressive disorder as compared with typically developing controls, whereas the recognition of fear, happiness, and neutral expressions remains unhindered. Disgust, the forgotten emotion of psychiatry, is the least recognizable emotion in both groups. On the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test patients exhibit lower accuracy on positive expressions than their typically developing peers, but do not differ on negative items. In both depressive and typically developing individuals, the ability to recognize emotions behind a mask and performance on the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test are linked to each other in processing speed, but not recognition accuracy. The outcome provides a blueprint for understanding the complexities of reading language of the eyes within and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

Childhood maltreatment and suicide risk: The mediating role of self-compassion, mentalization, depression

BACKGROUND

Childhood maltreatment (CM) is a well-established risk factor for depression and increased suicide risk. This study aimed to investigate the distinctive mechanisms of individual types of CM on young adult suicide risk, by exploring the potential mediating role of mentalization, self-compassion, and depression.

METHODS

A total of 4873 adults completed a survey screening for experiences of CM, self-compassion, mentalization, depression, and suicide risk.

RESULTS

The path analysis revealed significant direct effects of mentalization, self-compassion, and depression on suicide risk. Moreover, mentalization, self-compassion, and depression mediated the relationship between emotional abuse/neglect and suicide risk, whereas physical neglect contributed to suicide risk only through mentalization and depression. Furthermore, sexual abuse had a significant direct effect on suicide risk, whereas physical abuse did not show any direct or indirect effects.

LIMITATIONS

The cross-sectional design of the study limits its ability to establish causality, and the risk of recall bias in reporting physical or sexual abuse cannot be ignored.

CONCLUSIONS

This study represents the first identification of disturbances in self-compassion, mentalization, and depression that mediate the relationship between various types of CM and suicide risk in young adults. Our findings suggest substantive differences in the impact of emotional CM compared to other forms of CM. Enhancing self-compassion and mentalization abilities could be valuable intervention strategies for individuals with a history of emotional CM. Addressing factors that hinder the recall of relevant subjective experiences of physical and sexual abuse is also critical.

Theory of Mind in Somatization and Depression: Is It Cause or Phenomenon?

ABSTRACT

Although mentalization is important in somatic symptom disorder (SSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD), it is not fully understood. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relation between somatic and depressive symptoms with mentalization. A total of 48 patients diagnosed with SSD, 50 patients diagnosed with MDD, and 50 healthy individuals, participated the study. The Montgomery-Asperg Depression Scale, Symptom Checklist-90 Revised, and Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) were applied to the participants. The patients with SSD showed significantly the lowest performance of theory of mind. There was no significant difference between MDD and healthy controls. High somatization score was found to be a predictor for low RMET scores (95% confidence interval, -0.339; p = 0.014). Mentalization deficit seems to be associated with somatization rather than depression.