The Edinburgh Social Cognition Test (ESCoT):Examining the effects of age on a new measure of theory of mind and social norm understanding

<div><p>Current measures of social cognition have shown inconsistent findings regarding the effects of healthy aging. Moreover, no tests are currently available that allow clinicians and researchers to examine cognitive and affective theory of mind (ToM) and understanding of social norms within the same test. To address these limitations, we present the Edinburgh Social Cognition Test (ESCoT) which assesses cognitive and affective ToM and inter- and intrapersonal understanding of social norms. We examined the effects of age, measures of intelligence and the Broader Autism Phenotype (BAP) on the ESCoT and established tests of social cognition. Additionally, we investigated the convergent validity of the ESCoT based on traditional social cognition measures. The ESCoT was administered alongside Reading the Mind in Films (RMF), Reading the Mind in Eyes (RME), Judgement of Preference and Social Norm Questionnaire to 91 participants (30 aged 18–35 years, 30 aged 45–60 years and 31 aged 65–85 years). Poorer performance on the cognitive and affective ToM ESCoT subtests were predicted by increasing age. The affective ToM ESCoT subtest and RMF were predicted by gender, where being female predicted better performance. Unlike the ESCoT, better performance on the RMF was predicted by higher verbal comprehension and perceptual reasoning abilities, while better performance on the RME was predicted by higher verbal comprehension scores. Lower scores on inter-and intrapersonal understanding of social norms were both predicted by the presence of more autism-like traits while poorer interpersonal understanding of social norms performance was predicted by increasing age. These findings show that the ESCoT is a useful measure of social cognition and, unlike established tests of social cognition, performance is not predicted by measures of verbal comprehension and perceptual reasoning. This is particularly valuable to obtain an accurate assessment of the influence of age on our social cognitive abilities.</p></div

Living with Hypoglycemia

OBJECTIVE: To increase understanding of the everyday experiences of hypoglycemia for patients with type 1 diabetes through the use of a narrative research approach. SETTING: Center for diabetes treatment and research. DESIGN: Cross-sectional assessment using a narrative research approach. PATIENTS/PARTICIPANTS: Twenty outpatients (aged 21–30 years) diagnosed with type 1 diabetes for at least 10 years. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Experiences of hypoglycemia were investigated during in-depth, semistructured interviews that were tape-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed to identify common themes. Self-report measures of depression (Revised Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression) and anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory) also were administered. Subjects reported the following common themes: interpersonal conflict including fears of dependency and loss of control and problems addressing concerns about hypoglycemia with significant others; difficulty making sense of their hypoglycemic behaviors in relation to their usual ways of functioning; and perceived lack of understanding by others, including physicians, about the emotional experiences of hypoglycemia. Subjects were neither clinically depressed nor anxious. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that type 1 diabetes patients' experiences of hypoglycemia negatively affect their interpersonal relationships and views of themselves. Hypoglycemia also was described as an extremely private experience that was rarely discussed with others. Patient education and professional support in the treatment of hypoglycemia are recommended to enhance treatment decision making for patients with type 1 diabetes