Theory of Mind Among Young Adult Children From Alcoholic Families

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Objective: Given the evidence that several cognitive and emotional functions are impaired in adult alcohol-dependent patients and the possibility that some of these defi cits are transmitted to their children, the objective of the present study was to test the hypothesis that the perception of complex mental states would be reduced in young adults from families with a positive family history of alcohol dependence. It was also anticipated that social-perceptual defi cits would confer unique predictive ability beyond that shared with other cognitive risk factors for alcohol dependence and/or substance use risk. Method: Data from 301 youth ages 18-21 years, recruited from an ongoing community longitudinal study of alcoholic and matched control families, were analyzed. Family history of alcohol dependence as well as alcohol-dependence diagnosis in the youth was based on diagnostic criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition. A substance use risk factor measured early problem alcohol/other drug use. The perception of mental states was measured with the computerized version of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET). Results: Children of alcohol-dependent parents did not show impairment in the mental states perception task, nor did social perception skills predict alcohol dependence in the youth. Correlational analysis performed between RMET and the substance use risk factor showed no signifi cant association between the variables. Conclusions: The study results do not confi rm the hypothesis that behaviorally measured social perception impairment is more prevalent in the children of alcohol-dependent parents. In addition, social-perceptual defi cits were not a unique marker of either alcohol dependence or high risk for alcohol dependence in this young adult sample. (J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs, 75, 889-894, 2014)

Alexithymia in Relation to Alcohol Use, Emotion Recognition, and Empathy: The Role of Externally Oriented Thinking

“…Like Lyvers et al, Demers and Koven found that EOT uniquely and negatively predicted variance in both facial emotion recognition (as indexed by RMET) and an index of emotional empathy that was similar to EC. Maurage et al (2011) reported that facial emotion recognition performance on the RMET was impaired in detoxified clients undergoing treatment for alcohol dependence compared to controls, a finding consistent with evidence of theory of mind deficits in alcohol use disorders (Kopera et al, 2014;Onuoha et al, 2016). Given the strong associations of trait alexithymia with alcohol and other substance use disorders (Lyvers, Hinton et al, 2014;Thorberg et al, 2009;Thorberg et al, 2016), deficient facial emotion recognition in an alcohol-dependent sample would seem plausibly attributable to the high levels of alexithymia commonly found in such samples; however, Maurage et al reported that the RMET performance of their alcohol dependent sample was independent of alexithymia and other trait factors.…”

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

“…Indeed, earlier studies have suggested that ToM impairments might be influenced by the duration of alcohol dependence, by the intensity of alcohol consumption, and by current craving for alcohol (Maurage et al., ). In the same vein, while it has been shown that ToM impairments are not present in high‐risk populations (i.e., children of ALC) before the development of alcohol dependence (Kopera et al., ), the causal link between ToM impairments and alcohol dependence should be further investigated, particularly in longitudinal studies. In addition, future research should explore the psychological processes responsible for affective ToM impairments and determine whether this deficit originates at the perceptual (e.g., inaccurate visual analysis of emotional scene), identification (e.g., wrong interpretation of affective cues), or mnesic (e.g., erroneous matching with memorized emotional labels) level, notably in view of the large‐scale metamemory impairments observed in this population, which might influence social interactions (LeBerre 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. 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., ]).…”

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

“…Although this finding suggests that deterioration or poor development of the decision‐making processes can occur before the emergence of AUD, it does not negate the hypothesis that decision making is also negatively affected as a result of chronic heavy drinking. Not all deficits, however, show a relationship with a positive family history of alcohol; for example, ToM impairment was not more prevalent in children of alcohol‐dependent parents (Kopera et al., ). Exploration of links between cognitive performance and alcohol use variables (i.e., length of alcoholism, usual daily alcohol intake, or number of withdrawals; cf., Duka et al., ; Loeber et al., ) could also constitute other ways to investigate this question.…”