THE COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MIND-READING AND EMOTIONAL RECOGNITION ABILITIES OF SCHIZOPHRENIC PATIENTS AND THEIR HEALTHY SIBLINGS

Schizophrenia is a chronic mental disorder and one of the most common problems of the people suffering from this disorder is a decline in their cognitive abilities. Recognition of facial expressions is one of the aspects of human’s social cognition. Many symptoms of schizophrenic patients may be related to some of their cognitive disabilities in attribution of their mental states to themselves and others. The present study is aimed at examining the abilities of mind-reading and recognition of emotional states in schizophrenic patients and their healthy siblings in a comparative way. This is a case control study in which 30 patients (15 male and 15 female) hospitalized in Baharan Psychiatry Hospital of Zahedan in 2013 with an average age of 34.63 and 30 healthy siblings of schizophrenic patients (15 male and 15 female) with an average age of 30.56 were selected using convenience sampling. Neuropsychological test of Reading the Mind in the Eyes and the Neurological test of Pictures of Facial Affects were used to collect data. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS software, indices of descriptive statistics and statistical t-test. The results indicated that schizophrenic patients are less able than their healthy siblings in mind-reading ability (t = 6.79, df=58, p<0. 05). Also a comparison between the emotional recognition scores of schizophrenic patients and their healthy siblings showed a significant difference (t = 8.666, df=58, p<0.05). The results show that nonverbal behaviors, processing and emotion recognition are among variables in schizophrenic patients. Thus, reinforcement and improvement of cognitive and social skills can be used in therapeuti