Comparison of social cognition in adolescents diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze social cognition deficits in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) regarding their performance in explicit and applied measures of theory of mind (ToM) skills. Method: This study comprised 60 patients with ADHD and 60 patients with ASD according to DSM-5 between the ages of 12 and 16 years and 60 adolescents without any psychiatric diagnosis. The Turkish version of the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and lifetime version (K-SADS-PL) was administered in order to assess their psychopathology. Participants’ intelligence levels were assessed with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised. Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test, Faux Pas Recognition Test, and the Hinting Task were used in patients to evaluate ToM skills. Results: Adolescent patients with ADHD or ASD have difficulties in ToM skills. Adolescents diagnosed with ASD had more difficulties in ToM skills than adolescents with ADHD. Conclusion: This study supports the idea that ADHD or ASD are related to deficits in social cognition skills. Therefore, interventions to improve social cognition skills may help improve compliance with treatment and increase treatment effectiveness in ADHD and ASD cases.

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