Major Depressive Disorder: A Comparative Study on Social-Emotional Cognition and Executive Functions

Abstract The present study aimed to assess socioemotional cognition and executive functions in patients with unipolar Major Depressive Disorder. The sample included 22 patients between 36 and 93 years of age (M = 59.32; SD = 12.89) and 23 patients between 30 and 81 years of age (M = 63.00; SD = 13.56) controls. In addition to demographic data, symptoms of anxiety and depression, empathy, theory of mind, recognition of emotions, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility and phonemic verbal fluency were obtained. There was no statistical difference between the groups regarding age and education. Patients had significantly more anxiety, depression and personal distress than controls. Individuals with more severe depressive symptoms had a lower processing speed than the others.