Şizofreni Hastalarının Ebeveynlerinde Mentalizasyon Problemleri: Çapraz Kesitsel Bir Çalışma

Objectives: Although, there is an increasing number of studies about cognitive and neuropsychological deficits in the parents of patients with schizophrenia, there are few studies on mentalizing in this population. The aims of this study are to determine the presence of mentalizing deficits as an endophenotype in parents of patients with schizophrenia, as well as in patients with schizophrenia. Materials and Methods: Fifty parents of patients with schizophrenia were selected according to the DSM IV-TR criteria. For the comparison group, 50 parents of patients suffering from chronic physical diseases were also included in the study for a total of 100 participants. We used the Dokuz Eylul Theory of Mind Scale to assess the parents of patients with schizophrenia and the healthy comparisons.  Results: When compared with healthy comparisons, the parents of patients with schizophrenia showed lower performance in first degree wrong belief, metaphor, irony coupler, faux pas coupler, and empathic understanding tests with all components of mentalizing. Conclusion: Our finding determining that mentalizing deficits in parents of patients with schizophrenia suggest that mentalizing deficits indicates a possible endophenotype of schizophrenia. However, many studies supporting these conclusion are needed.