ALPHA PSYCHIATRY
Original Articles

Emotion recognition and theory of mind deficits in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

1.

Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Izmir Tepecik Training and Research Hospital, Izmir, Turkey

2.

Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Mardin Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Mardin, Turkey

3.

Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Mardin State Hospital, Mardin, Turkey

4.

Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Izmir Tepecik Training and Research Hospital, Izmir, Turkey

5.

Department of Pediatrics, Division of Adolescent Medicine, Izmir Tepecik Training and Research Hospital, Izmir

Alpha Psychiatry 2017; 18: 250-256
DOI: 10.5455/apd.237695
Read: 931 Downloads: 463 Published: 01 June 2017

Objective: Children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) appear to represent insufficient social behavior. Emotion recognition and theory of mind (ToM) abilities are the main domains of social cognition. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the emotion recognition and ToM abilities of children with ADHD. Methods: Sixty-nine patients diagnosed with ADHD and 69 typically developing children participated as the control group in this study. ToM Tasks, Comprehension Test (CT) and Unexpected Outcomes Test (UOT) were applied in both groups. Results: According to the first order ToM Task scores, second order ToM Task scores and total scores of ToM Task, ADHD group have significantly lower scores compared to the controls. In addition, cases in the study group performed poorly on CT and UOT. The findings showed positive correlation between total ToM scores and UOT scores, ToM scores and CT scores, UOT scores and CT scores. Conclusion: Our results clearly revealed that children with ADHD encounter problems with ToM and emotion recognition. Elucidating the deficits in emotion recognition and ToM may contribute to the development of proper interventions in the children with ADHD. [Anadolu Psikiyatri Derg 2017; 18(3.000): 250-256]

Files
EISSN 2757-8038