Table_1_The Direct and Indirect Relationship Between Social Cognition and Psychosocial Dysfunction in Major Depressive Disorder.doc

Background: Recent evidence suggests that depressed patients experience social cognitive deficits (e.g., poor affect recognition). However, very little is known regarding the contribution of social cognitive deficits to psychosocial dysfunction (e.g., occupational functioning). In particular, the mechanistic roles of depression severity and cognitive deficits (e.g., memory) in this domain have not been explored. The current study evaluated the extent to which mood symptoms and cognitive deficits provide a mechanistic explanation for the relationship between social cognitive and psychosocial deficits in major depressive disorder (MDD).Methods: Data were obtained from 111 participants with MDD (75 Female, mean age = 35, 84% Caucasian, 12% Asian, 4% Other) in the Cognitive Function and Mood Study (CoFaM-S), a cross-sectional study of mood, social cognition, cognition, and psychosocial functioning in mood disorders. Social cognitive abilities were assessed using the Social Perception subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, and psychosocial dysfunction was clinically evaluated with the Functioning Assessment Short Test (FAST).Results: Cognitive deficits and mood symptoms did not significantly mediate relationships between social cognitive ability and psychosocial dysfunction. The exception was executive function, which mediated an indirect relationship between meaning interpretation (i.e., theory of mind) and self-perceived cognitive dysfunction.Conclusion: The results suggest that the relationship between social cognitive deficits and psychosocial dysfunction is not mechanistically explained by mood symptoms or nonsocial cognition. Development of treatment strategies targeting social cognitive deficits in patients with MDD is warranted.

背景：近期的研究证据表明，抑郁症患者常出现社会认知缺陷（例如，情感识别能力下降）。然而，关于社会认知缺陷对心理社会功能障碍（例如，职业功能）的贡献，我们所知甚少。特别是，抑郁症严重程度和认知缺陷（例如，记忆力）在此领域的机制作用尚未得到充分探讨。本研究旨在评估情绪症状和认知缺陷在解释社会认知缺陷与重度抑郁症（MDD）患者心理社会功能障碍之间关系中的机制作用。方法：数据来源于111名MDD患者（女性75名，平均年龄35岁，84%为白人，12%为亚洲人，4%为其他种族）参与的认知功能与情绪研究（CoFaM-S），这是一项关于情绪、社会认知、认知和心理社会功能在情绪障碍中的横断面研究。社会认知能力通过韦氏成人智力量表的社交感知子测试进行评估，心理社会功能障碍则通过临床评估的职能评估简短测试（FAST）进行评定。结果：认知缺陷和情绪症状并未显著调节社会认知能力与心理社会功能障碍之间的关系。例外的是执行功能，它调节了意义解释（即心智理论）与自我感知的认知功能障碍之间的间接关系。结论：结果表明，社会认知缺陷与心理社会功能障碍之间的关系并非由情绪症状或非社会认知的机制所解释。针对MDD患者的社会认知缺陷开发治疗策略是必要的。