Construct validity evidence reporting practices for the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test: A systematic scoping review

Higgins, Wendy C.; Kaplan, David M.; Deschrijver, Eliane; Ross, Robert M.

doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2023.102378

Cited by 15 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 110 publications

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“…Moreover, our study did not investigate possible ToM variations determined by age, symptomatology, nor severity of illness. Ultimately, we relied on RMET to preliminarily explore potential variations of ToM: psychometric properties of the test have been recently debated ( 85 ), despite the Italian validation study confirming its validity ( 54 ). Hence, these limitations contribute to the aforementioned preliminary and pilot nature of the current study, which should be further strengthened by recruiting a larger sample size, including adult subjects, with longitudinal design and a full set of rigorous social cognition assessment tools.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of Theory of Mind in the transition towards suicidal attempts in youth NSSI: an exploratory pilot study

Orsolini,

Corona,

Cervelli

et al. 2024

Front. Psychiatry

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Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) can both precede and co-occur with suicidal attempts (SA). Underlying mechanisms/factors leading to the transition to SA in NSSI youths have been proposed (including the role of social cognition), despite they should be yet confirmed. Therefore, the study aims at exploring the role of the Theory of Mind in the differentiation of a sample of NSSI youngsters (aged 15-24) according to the presence of SA. We divided the sample into 4 groups using the Deliberate Self Harm Inventory (DSHI) and Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS): control group (notNSSInotSA), NSSI without SA (NSSInotSA), NSSI with SA (NSSIplusSA), and SA without NSSI (SAonly). NSSIplusSA patients displayed higher Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) scores (indicative of ToM abilities) than both the NSSInotSA (p=0.0016) and SAonly groups (p=0.0198), while SAonly patients showed lower RMET scores compared to the control group (p=0.0214). Multiple regression models used to differentiate NSSInotSA and NSSIplusSA found a significant association between RMET and LOSCS-CSC (Level Of Self-Criticism Scale-Comparative Self-Criticism) (pC=0.0802, pD=0.0016, pG=0.0053). Our findings supported the hypothesis that a hypertrophic affective ToM may possibly be associated with the occurrence of SA in youth NSSI. Further larger and longitudinal studies should confirm these preliminary findings, by exploring all social cognition dimensions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of Theory of Mind in the transition towards suicidal attempts in youth NSSI: an exploratory pilot study

Orsolini,

Corona,

Cervelli

et al. 2024

Front. Psychiatry

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“…First, the reliability of established ToM assessments, such as the False Belief Test, Strange Stories, and the Reading the Mind in the Eye Test, has been increasingly questioned. These tests exhibit inconsistent effect sizes when compared to earlier, smaller-scale studies and show limited correlation with one another despite their aim of measuring the same ToM construct (Gernsbacher & Yergeau, 2019;Higgins et al, 2024;Schaafsma et al, 2015). Second, studies often fail to match autistic individuals with neurotypical controls based on language abilities in explicit tasks, i.e., requiring verbal responses or comprehension.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Preserved spontaneous mentalizing amid reduced intersubject variability in autism during a movie narrative

Mangnus,

Koch,

Cai

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Individuals with autism may perform well in structured Theory of Mind (ToM) tasks that assess their ability to infer mental states, yet encounter challenges in everyday social interactions. Using fMRI and pupillometry, we investigated whether this discrepancy stems from reduced spontaneous mentalizing or broader difficulties in unstructured environments. Autistic adults and neurotypical controls viewed a nonverbal animated movie featuring events known to evoke mental state inferences. Both groups exhibited similar ToM network activations and pupil responses to these events, alongside comparable verbal accounts of the mental states portrayed. However, intersubject correlation analysis revealed a significant reduction in response variability among autistic participants throughout the movie’s complex visual narrative, affecting brain regions beyond the ToM network. We suggest that the primary challenge for individuals with autism may lie in the idiosyncratic exploration of narratives in unstructured settings, regardless of whether mental state inferences are involved.

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Pupillary response during social emotion tasks in autism spectrum disorder

Lee,

Chang,

Tseng

et al. 2024

Autism Research

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Autistic individuals encounter challenges in recognizing emotional expressions of others. Pupillary response has been proposed as an indicator of arousal dysregulation or cognitive load. The pupillary response of autistic individuals during socio‐affective tasks remains unclear. This study investigated pupillary response in autistic adults when viewing emotional faces/eyes and recognizing emotions during the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) and watching interpersonal touch scenes in the social touch task. The study included 98 participants diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and 37 typically developing controls (TD). Pupil size was measured using the Tobii X2‐30 Eye Tracker. The results showed that autistic adults had larger maximal pupil sizes, smaller minimal pupil sizes, and greater change rates of pupil size, particularly during the RMET Eyes task. Clinical correlations revealed that attention switching difficulty positively correlated with mean pupil size in TD participants, while social communication deficits positively correlated with mean pupil size in autistic participants. In conclusion, our findings suggest atypical pupillary responses in autistic adults during socio‐affective tasks, indicating heightened cognitive demand. Further investigation is necessary to understand the underlying mechanisms and their association with autistic traits.

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Construct validity evidence reporting practices for the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test: A systematic scoping review

Cited by 15 publications

References 110 publications

The role of Theory of Mind in the transition towards suicidal attempts in youth NSSI: an exploratory pilot study

The role of Theory of Mind in the transition towards suicidal attempts in youth NSSI: an exploratory pilot study

Preserved spontaneous mentalizing amid reduced intersubject variability in autism during a movie narrative

Pupillary response during social emotion tasks in autism spectrum disorder

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