title: Measurement of Social Cognition in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Population Based Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rapidly progressive neurodegenerative disease. Executive dysfunction is common in patients with ALS, with up to 50% of patients performing within an impaired range. There is evidence that social cognitive deficits associated with ALS are a function of deficits in executive function. The 'Reading the Mind in the Eyes' Test is a recognized test of social cognitive function, although the reliability of this instrument remains to be established.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with ALS (n = 106), and age and IQ matched controls (n = 50) were recruited and asked to perform the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test as part of an on-going population-based study of cognitive function. ALS patients were sub-stratified based on the presence, and/or extent of executive dysfunction.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cronbach's Alpha of .73 was observed, indicating good reliability on this measure. Split-half reliability analysis further confirms these findings (p = 0.826). The Reading the Mind in the Eyes test had excellent psychometric properties when discriminating between ALS patients who are cognitively intact, and those who have executive impairment, with an overall medium difficulty. There was a large magnitude significant difference between patients and controls (p< 0.001; η2 = .19). Post-hoc analysis revealed that controls performed significantly higher than patients with executive impairment (p< 0.001), and patients with single executive deficits (p = 0.002).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Executive dysfunction impacts on social cognitive performance. This study contributes not only to the psychometric knowledge of this measure, but also to the usability, efficacy, and reliability of social cognitive assessment in ALS. Using population-specific normative data, we confirm the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test is a reliable measure of social cognitive processes in ALS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, 9, Ireland.|Academic Unit of Neurology, Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, Dublin, 2, Ireland.
authors.forename: Tom
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6563-1597
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Burke
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, 9, Ireland.|Academic Unit of Neurology, Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, Dublin, 2, Ireland.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pinto-Grau
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, 9, Ireland.|Academic Unit of Neurology, Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, Dublin, 2, Ireland.
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lonergan
authors.affiliation: Academic Unit of Neurology, Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, Dublin, 2, Ireland.
authors.forename: Marwa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elamin
authors.affiliation: Academic Unit of Neurology, Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, Dublin, 2, Ireland.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bede
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, 9, Ireland.
authors.forename: Emmet
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Costello
authors.affiliation: Academic Unit of Neurology, Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, Dublin, 2, Ireland.|Department of Neurology, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, 9, Ireland.
authors.forename: Orla
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hardiman
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, 9, Ireland.|Academic Unit of Neurology, Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, Dublin, 2, Ireland.|Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, 2, Ireland.
authors.forename: Niall
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pender
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect; D000368:Aged; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003071:Cognition; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007494:Ireland; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011594:Psychometrics; D012042:Registries