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Autistic traits and positive psychotic experiences modulate the association of psychopathic tendencies with theory of mind in opposite directions

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Steven Gillespie

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Abstract

Various clinical disorders, including psychopathy, and autism and schizophrenia spectrum disorders,have been linked with impairments in Theory of Mind (ToM). However, although these conditions canco-occur in the same individual, the effect of their inter-play on ToM abilities has not been investigated.Here we assessed ToM abilities in 55 healthy adults while performing a naturalistic ToM task, requiringparticipants to watch a short film and judge the actors’ mental states. The results reveal for the firsttime that autistic traits and positive psychotic experiences interact with psychopathic tendencies inopposite directions to predict ToM performance—the interaction of psychopathic tendencies withautism traits was associated with a decrement in performance, whereas the interaction of psychopathictendencies and positive psychotic experiences was associated with improved performance. Theseeffects were specific to cognitive rather than affective ToM. These results underscore the importanceof the simultaneous assessment of these dimensions within clinical settings. Future research in theseclinical populations may benefit by taking into account such individual differences.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Gillespie SM, Mitchell IJ, Abu-Akel A

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Scientific Reports

Year: 2017

Volume: 7

Online publication date: 25/07/2017

Acceptance date: 21/06/2017

Date deposited: 26/07/2017

ISSN (electronic): 2045-2322

Publisher: Nature

URL: http://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-06995-2

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-06995-2

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