Knight Matthew J, Baune Bernhard T
Discipline of Psychiatry, Adelaide Medical School, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia.
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Münster, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
Front Psychiatry. 2019 May 17;10:347. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00347. eCollection 2019.
Recent evidence suggests that depressed patients experience social cognitive deficits (e.g., poor affect recognition). However, very little is known regarding the contribution of social cognitive deficits to psychosocial dysfunction (e.g., occupational functioning). In particular, the mechanistic roles of depression severity and cognitive deficits (e.g., memory) in this domain have not been explored. The current study evaluated the extent to which mood symptoms and cognitive deficits provide a mechanistic explanation for the relationship between social cognitive and psychosocial deficits in major depressive disorder (MDD). Data were obtained from 111 participants with MDD (75 Female, mean age = 35, 84% Caucasian, 12% Asian, 4% Other) in the Cognitive Function and Mood Study (CoFaM-S), a cross-sectional study of mood, social cognition, cognition, and psychosocial functioning in mood disorders. Social cognitive abilities were assessed using the Social Perception subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, and psychosocial dysfunction was clinically evaluated with the Functioning Assessment Short Test (FAST). Cognitive deficits and mood symptoms did not significantly mediate relationships between social cognitive ability and psychosocial dysfunction. The exception was executive function, which mediated an indirect relationship between meaning interpretation (i.e., theory of mind) and self-perceived cognitive dysfunction. The results suggest that the relationship between social cognitive deficits and psychosocial dysfunction is not mechanistically explained by mood symptoms or nonsocial cognition. Development of treatment strategies targeting social cognitive deficits in patients with MDD is warranted.
近期证据表明，抑郁症患者存在社会认知缺陷（例如，情感识别能力差）。然而，关于社会认知缺陷对心理社会功能障碍（例如，职业功能）的影响，我们知之甚少。特别是，抑郁症严重程度和认知缺陷（例如，记忆）在这一领域的机制性作用尚未得到探讨。本研究评估了情绪症状和认知缺陷在多大程度上能够为重度抑郁症（MDD）患者的社会认知缺陷与心理社会缺陷之间的关系提供一种机制性解释。数据来自认知功能与情绪研究（CoFaM-S）中的111名MDD患者（75名女性，平均年龄 = 35岁，84%为白种人，12%为亚洲人，4%为其他种族），这是一项关于情绪障碍患者的情绪、社会认知、认知和心理社会功能的横断面研究。社会认知能力通过韦氏成人智力量表的社会知觉分测验进行评估，心理社会功能障碍则通过功能评估简短测验（FAST）进行临床评估。认知缺陷和情绪症状并未显著介导社会认知能力与心理社会功能障碍之间的关系。唯一的例外是执行功能，它介导了意义解释（即心理理论）与自我感知的认知功能障碍之间的间接关系。研究结果表明，情绪症状或非社会认知并不能从机制上解释社会认知缺陷与心理社会功能障碍之间的关系。有必要针对MDD患者的社会认知缺陷制定治疗策略。
