Theory of mind and hypomanic traits in general population

• Published in: Psychiatry research Vol. 215; no. 3; pp. 694 - 699
• Main Authors: Terrien, Sarah, Stefaniak, Nicolas, Blondel, Marine, Mouras, Harold, Morvan, Yannick, Besche-Richard, Chrystel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ireland Ltd 30.03.2014; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Affect; Biological and medical sciences; Bipolar Disorder - complications; Bipolar Disorder - genetics; Bipolar Disorder - psychology; Female; Gender effect; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Hypomanic personality; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Miscellaneous; Mood disorders; Neuropsychological Tests; Personality disorders; Phenotype; Psychiatry; Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Theory of Mind; Vulnerability; Hypomanic personality; Vulnerability; Theory of mind; Gender effect; Mood disorder; Sex; Gender; Hypomania; Personality disorder; Hypomaniac personality; Social cognition
• ISSN: 0165-1781; 1872-7123
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2013.12.042

Abstract Theory of Mind (ToM) is the ability to assign a set of mental states to yourself and others. In bipolar disorders, alteration of social relationship can be explained by the impairment of the functioning of ToM. Deficit in ToM could be a trait marker of bipolar disorder and people in the general population with high hypomanic personality scores would be more likely to develop bipolar disorders. This study examined 298 participants. Measures of hypomanic personality were evaluated using the Hypomanic Personality Scale. ToM was explored using the Yoni task. Participants also completed the BDI-II. Forward multiple regressions were performed to examine the effect of components of the HPS on the total score in the ToM task. In the women's group, no subscales of the HPS were included in the model. Conversely, the analyses performed on men revealed that the mood vitality and excitement subscale was a significant predictor of ToM abilities. Our study is the first to show the impact of certain dimensions of hypomanic personality on performance in ToM in a male sample. This result supports the idea that deficits in ToM can be a trait marker of bipolar disorder in a healthy male population.