Background: Several adult depression studies have investigated mental state decoding, the basis for theory of mind, using the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test. Findings have been mixed, but a comprehensive study found a greater severity of depression to be associated with poorer mental state decoding. Importantly, there has yet to be a similar study of adolescent depression. Converging evidence suggests that atypical mental state decoding may have particularly profound effects for psychosocial functioning among depressed adolescent boys. Sampling and Methods: Adolescent boys with major depressive disorder (MDD, n = 33) and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs, n = 84) completed structured clinical interviews, self-report measures of psychopathology and the Child Eyes Test (CET). Results: The MDD group performed significantly better than HCs on the CET overall (p = 0.002), underscored by greater accuracy for negatively valenced items (p = 0.003). Group differences on items depicting positive (p = 0.129) and neutral mental states (p = 0.081) were nonsignificant. Conclusions: Enhanced mental state decoding among depressed adolescent boys may play a role in the maintenance of and vulnerability to adolescent depression. Findings and implications are discussed. Limitations of this study include a reliance on self-report data for HC boys, as well as a lack of ‘pure' depression among the boys with MDD.

Keywords:
Theory of mind, Depression, Teenage, Male subjects, Mentalizing, Social cognition, Child Eyes Test, Major depressive disorder
1.
American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, ed 5. Arlington, American Psychiatric Publishing, 2013.
2.
Richards D: Prevalence and clinical course of depression: a review. Clin Psychol Rev 2011;7:1117-1125.
3.
Goodyer IM, Sharp C: Childhood depression; in Hopkins B, Barr RG, Michel GF, Rochat P (eds): The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Child Development. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2005.
4.
Connolly J, Geller S, Marton P, Kutcher S: Peer responses to social interaction with depressed adolescents. J Clin Child Psychol 1992;4:365-370.
5.
Jaycox LH, Stein BD, Paddock S, Miles JV, Chandra A, Meredith LS, Burnam MA: Impact of teen depression on academic, social, and physical functioning. Pediatrics 2009;4:e596-e605.
6.
Derdikman-Eiron R, Indredavik MS, Bratberg GH, Taraldsen G, Bakken I, Colton M: Gender differences in subjective well-being, self-esteem and psychosocial functioning in adolescents with symptoms of anxiety and depression: findings from the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study. Scand J Psychol 2011;3:261-267.
7.
Moskowitz GB: Social Cognition: Understanding Self and Others. New York, Guilford Press, 2005.
8.
Premack D, Woodruff G: Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind? Behav Brain Sci 1978;4:515-526.
9.
Tager-Flusberg H, Sullivan K: A componential view of theory of mind: evidence from Williams syndrome. Cognition 2000;1:59-89.
10.
Sharp C, Vanwoerden S: Social cognition: empirical contribution. The developmental building blocks of psychopathic traits: revisiting the role of theory of mind. J Personal Disord 2014;1:78-95.
11.
Manstead AR, Dosmukhambetova D, Shearn J, Clifton A: The influence of dysphoria and depression on mental state decoding. J S Clin Psychol 2013;1:116-133.
12.
Bazin N, Brunet-Gouet E, Bourdet C, Kayser N, Falissard B, Hardy-Baylé M, Passerieux C: Quantitative assessment of attribution of intentions to others in schizophrenia using an ecological video-based task: a comparison with manic and depressed patients. Psychiatry Res 2009;1-2:28-35.
13.
Wilbertz G, Brakemeier E, Zobel I, Härter M, Schramm E: Exploring preoperational features in chronic depression. J Affect Disord 2010;3:262-269.
14.
Baron-Cohen S, Wheelwright S, Hill J, Raste Y, Plumb I: The ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes' Test revised version: a study with normal adults, and adults with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2001;2:241-251.
15.
Baron-Cohen S, Jolliffe T, Mortimore C, Robertson M: Another advanced test of theory of mind: evidence from very high functioning adults with autism or Asperger syndrome. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 1997;7:813-822.
16.
Rudolph KD: Adolescent depression; in Gotlib IH, Hammen C (eds): Handbook of Depression. New York, Guilford Press, 2009, pp 444-466.
17.
Lee L, Harkness KL, Sabbagh MA, Jacobson JA: Mental state decoding abilities in clinical depression. J Affect Disord 2005;2-3:247-258.
18.
Wang Y, Wang Y, Chen S, Zhu C, Wang K: Theory of mind disability in major depression with or without psychotic symptoms: a componential view. Psychiatry Res 2008;161:153-161.
19.
Wolkenstein L, Schönenberg M, Schirm E, Hautzinger M: I can see what you feel, but I can't deal with it: impaired theory of mind in depression. J Affect Disord 2011;1-2:104-111.
20.
Kettle JL, O'Brien-Simpson L, Allen NB: Impaired theory of mind in first-episode schizophrenia: comparison with community, university and depressed controls. Schizophr Res 2008;1-3:96-102.
21.
Harkness KL, Sabbagh MA, Jacobson JA, Chowdrey NK, Chen T: Enhanced accuracy of mental state decoding in dysphoric college students. Cogn Emot 2005;7:999-1025.
22.
Nowicki SJ, Carton E: The relation of nonverbal processing ability of faces and voices and children's feelings of depression and competence. J Genet Psychol 1997;3:357-363.
23.
Van Beek Y, Dubas JS: Decoding basic and non-basic facial expressions and depressive symptoms in late childhood and adolescence. J Nonverbal Behav 2008;1:53-64.
24.
Walker E: Emotion recognition in disturbed and normal children: a research note. Child Psychol Psychiatry 1981;3:263-268.
25.
Lenti C, Giacobbe A, Pegna C: Recognition of emotional facial expressions in depressed children and adolescents. Percept Motor Skills 2000;1:227-236.
26.
Blakemore SJ: Development of the social brain in adolescence. J R Soc Med 2012;3:111-116.
27.
Baron-Cohen S, Wheelwright S, Spong A, Scahill V, Lawson J: Are intuitive physics and intuitive psychology independent? A test with children with Asperger syndrome. J Dev Learn Disord 2001;5:1-58.
28.
Kessler RC, Petukhova M, Sampson NA, Zaslavsky AM, Wittchen H: Twelve-month and lifetime prevalence and lifetime morbid risk of anxiety and mood disorders in the United States. Int J Methods Psychiatr Res 2012;3:169-184.
29.
Kessler RC, Avenevoli S, Costello EJ, Georgiades K, Green JG, Gruber MJ, Merikangas KR: Prevalence, persistence, and sociodemographic correlates of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication Adolescent Supplement. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2012;4:372-380.
30.
Wisdom JP, Rees AM, Riley KJ, Weis TR: Adolescents' perceptions of the gendered context of depression: ‘tough' boys and objectified girls. J Ment Health Couns 2007;2:144-162.
31.
Cochran SV, Rabinowitz FE: Gender-sensitive recommendations for assessment and treatment of depression in men. Prof Psychol Res Pract 2003;2:132-140.
32.
Achenbach TM, Rescorla LA: Manual for the ASEBA School-Age Forms and Profiles. Burlington, University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth and Families, 2001.
33.
Shaffer D, Fisher P, Lucas CP, Dulcan MK, Schwab Stone ME: NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children Version IV (NIMH DISC-IV): description, differences from previous versions, and reliability of some common diagnoses. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2000;1:28-38.
34.
Sharp C, Williams LL, Ha C, Baumgardner J, Michonski J, Seals R, Fonagy P: The development of a mentalization-based outcomes and research protocol for an adolescent inpatient unit. Bull Menninger Clin 2009;4:311-338.
35.
Chen LS, Eaton WW, Gallo JJ, Nestadt G: Understanding the heterogeneity of depression through the triad of symptoms, course and risk factors: a longitudinal, population-based study. J Affect Disord 2000;1:1-11.
36.
Baron-Cohen S: The extreme male brain theory of autism. Trends Cogn Sci 2002;6:248-254.
37.
Thayer JF, Johnsen B: Sex differences in judgement of facial affect: a multivariate analysis of recognition errors. Scand J Psychol 2000;3:243-246.
38.
Bouhuys AL, Geerts E, Gordijn MM: Depressed patients' perceptions of facial emotions in depressed and remitted states are associated with relapse: a longitudinal study. J Nerv Mental Dis 1999;10:595-602.
39.
Gotlib IH, Kasch KL, Traill S, Joormann J, Arnow BA, Johnson SL: Coherence and specificity of information-processing biases in depression and social phobia. J Abnorm Psychol 2004;3:386-398.
40.
Polce-Lynch M, Myers BJ, Kilmartin CT, Forssmann-Falck R, Kliewer W: Gender and age patterns in emotional expression, body image, and self-esteem: a qualitative analysis. Sex Roles 1998;11-12:1025-1048.
41.
Leppänen JM, Hietanen JK: Emotion recognition and social adjustment in school-aged girls and boys. Scand J Psychol 2001;5:429-435.
42.
Schreiter S, Pijnenborg GHM, Aan Het Rot M: Empathy in adults with clinical or subclinical depressive symptoms. J Affect Disord 2013;1:1-16.
43.
Stice E, Ragan J, Randall P: Prospective relations between social support and depression: differential direction of effects for parent and peer support? J Abnorm Psychol 2004;1:155.
44.
Keltner D, Kring AM: Emotion, social function, and psychopathology. Rev Gen Psychol 1998;3:320.
45.
Keulers EH, Evers EA, Stiers P, Jolles J: Age, sex, and pubertal phase influence mentalizing about emotions and actions in adolescents. Dev Neuropsychol 2010;5:555-569.
46.
McGivern RF, Andersen J, Byrd D, Mutter KL, Reilly J: Cognitive efficiency on a match to sample task decreases at the onset of puberty in children. Brain Cogn 2002;1:73-89.
47.
Maalouf FT, Clark L, Tavitian L, Sahakian BJ, Brent D, Phillips ML: Bias to negative emotions: a depression state-dependent marker in adolescent major depressive disorder. Psychiatry Res 2012;1:28-33.
48.
Blakemore S, Choudhury S: Development of the adolescent brain: implications for executive function and social cognition. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2006;3-4:296-312.
49.
Angold A, Costello EJ, Erkanli A, Worthman CM: Pubertal changes in hormone levels and depression in girls. Psychol Med 1999;5:1043-1053.
50.
Hankin BL, Wetter E, Cheely C: Sex differences in child and adolescent depression: a developmental psychopathological approach; in Abela JZ, Hankin BL (eds): Handbook of Depression in Children and Adolescents. New York, Guilford Press, 2008, pp 377-414.
© 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel
2016
Copyright / Drug Dosage / Disclaimer
Copyright: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated into other languages, reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, microcopying, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Drug Dosage: The authors and the publisher have exerted every effort to ensure that drug selection and dosage set forth in this text are in accord with current recommendations and practice at the time of publication. However, in view of ongoing research, changes in government regulations, and the constant flow of information relating to drug therapy and drug reactions, the reader is urged to check the package insert for each drug for any changes in indications and dosage and for added warnings and precautions. This is particularly important when the recommended agent is a new and/or infrequently employed drug.
Disclaimer: The statements, opinions and data contained in this publication are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and not of the publishers and the editor(s). The appearance of advertisements or/and product references in the publication is not a warranty, endorsement, or approval of the products or services advertised or of their effectiveness, quality or safety. The publisher and the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content or advertisements.
You do not currently have access to this content.