title: Impaired social cognition in anorexia nervosa patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of social cognition in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN).
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighteen female patients with AN (mean age =35.4±8.6 years) and 18 female healthy controls (HC) (mean age =32.8±9.4 years) participated in the study. Their social cognition was assessed with the Social Cognition Screening Questionnaire (SCSQ).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results showed that total score of the SCSQ and scores of theory of mind and metacognition were significantly lower in AN group than those in HC group. Moreover, significant differences in theory of mind, metacognition, and total score of the SCSQ remained when the effects of depression, anxiety, and starvation were eliminated statistically.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that patients with AN may have difficulty inferring other people's intention and also monitoring and evaluating their own cognitive activities. Therefore, these features may explain some aspects of the pathology of AN.
authors: Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Tokushima University.
authors: Sayo
authors: S
authors: Hamatani
authors: Department of Mental Health, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University Graduate School.
authors: Masahito
authors: M
authors: Tomotake
authors: Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Tokushima University.
authors: Tomoya
authors: T
authors: Takeda
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Tokushima University Hospital.
authors: Naomi
authors: N
authors: Kameoka
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Tokushima University Hospital.
authors: Masashi
authors: M
authors: Kawabata
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Tokushima University Hospital.
authors: Hiroko
authors: H
authors: Kubo
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Tokushima University Hospital.
authors: Yukio
authors: Y
authors: Tada
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University Graduate School, Tokushima, Japan.
authors: Yukiko
authors: Y
authors: Tomioka
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University Graduate School, Tokushima, Japan.
authors: Shinya
authors: S
authors: Watanabe
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima University Graduate School, Tokushima, Japan.
authors: Tetsuro
authors: T
authors: Ohmori
keywords: anorexia nervosa; metacognition; social cognition; theory of mind