Cognitive and affective theory of mind abilities in alcohol-dependent patients: The role of autobiographical memory

Dissociating Affective and Cognitive Theory of Mind in Recently Detoxified Alcohol‐Dependent Individuals

“…While distinct results related to these two subcomponents have been reported in other psychiatric states (Buhlmann et al., ; Montag et al., ), underscoring the need to consider them separately, earlier studies on alcohol dependence mostly focused on a general exploration of ToM abilities. Indeed, only one study (Nandrino et al., ) explored these two components, showing preserved cognitive and impaired affective social cognition, but using different instruments (i.e., “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” questionnaire for affective ToM, Versailles‐Situational Intention Reading task for cognitive ToM) hampering a direct comparison between the two subcomponents. Our results thus go further by showing, for the first time in an integrated task, that ALC present a strong impairment for affective ToM but a preservation of cognitive ToM, leading to crucial new fundamental and clinical insights (Onuoha et al., ).…”

“…It is also worth noting that this ToM impairment is not present among non‐alcohol‐dependent young adults with alcohol‐dependent parents, suggesting that these impairments might be the direct consequence of installed alcohol dependence (Kopera et al., ). As a whole, and as further confirmed by a recent meta‐analysis (Onuoha et al., ), alcohol dependence appears to be directly associated with large‐scale impairments in ToM abilities, which might be partly underpinned by cognitive impairments (e.g., autobiographical memory [Nandrino et al., ]).…”

“…ToM can indeed be globally defined as the ability to infer mental states from others' social signals to predict their behaviors or actions (Premack and Woodruff, ) and is classically divided into affective (i.e., the ability to detect and experience others' feelings and emotions) and cognitive (i.e., the ability to identify others' thoughts or intentions) subcomponents (Shamay‐Tsoory et al., ). Very recent studies have confirmed this proposal of a ToM deficit in alcohol dependence by directly showing ToM impairments using specific tasks such as the Faux‐Pas task (Thoma et al., ), the False‐Beliefs task (Maurage et al., ), the Versailles‐Situational Intention Reading (Nandrino et al., ), or the Theory of Mind Assessment Scale (Bosco et al., ). The latter one, based on a multilevel assessment of ToM, described a generalized ToM deficit in alcohol dependence, including first‐person (i.e., identifying one's own feelings) and third‐person (i.e., identifying others' feelings) levels, as well as first‐order (i.e., understanding what others feel about an external event) and second‐order (i.e., understanding what others feel about another individual's feelings) perspectives.…”

“…Indeed, some tasks were purely focused on cognitive ToM (e.g., False‐Beliefs task [Maurage et al., ]; Versailles‐Situational Intention Reading [Nandrino et al., ]), while others presented affective and cognitive items but regrouped them into a global score (Bosco et al., ; Thoma et al., ). However, this distinction between affective and cognitive ToM is of crucial interest in alcohol dependence, as earlier results in this population have shown (i) a specific deficit for emotional empathy (with conversely preserved cognitive empathy), these abilities being strongly related to ToM (Ferrari et al., ; Maurage et al., ); and (ii) a marked deficit for emotional ToM in the “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” test (Baron‐Cohen et al., ), with, conversely, a preserved processing of nonemotional mental states (Maurage et al., ; Nandrino et al., ). These results suggest that alcohol dependence may not be related to a global ToM impairment as reported earlier, but rather to a dissociation between affective and cognitive subcomponents.…”

Executive Functions, Memory, and Social Cognitive Deficits and Recovery in Chronic Alcoholism: A Critical Review to Inform Future Research

“…Deficits in theory of mind (ToM) are consistently reported in alcoholics (Bosco et al., ; Maurage et al., , ; Nandrino et al., ; Onuoha et al., ; Thoma et al., ; Uekermann et al., ). ToM enables individuals to predict, anticipate, and interpret the behavior of others (Frith and Frith, ; Premack and Woodruff, ).…”