Frontiers in Psychiatry (Nov 2022)
Assessment of theory of mind in Tunisian verbal children with autism spectrum disorder
- Selima Jelili,
- Selima Jelili,
- Soumeyya Halayem,
- Soumeyya Halayem,
- Olfa Rajhi,
- Olfa Rajhi,
- Zeineb Abbes,
- Zeineb Abbes,
- Hajer Ben Mansour,
- Hajer Ben Mansour,
- Sami Ouanes,
- Sami Ouanes,
- Amal Taamallah,
- Amal Taamallah,
- Selima Ennaifer,
- Selima Ennaifer,
- Houda Ben Yahia,
- Houda Ben Yahia,
- Melek Ghazzei,
- Melek Ghazzei,
- Ahmed Nabli,
- Malek Hajri,
- Malek Hajri,
- Radhouane Fakhfakh,
- Radhouane Fakhfakh,
- Ali Mrabet,
- Ali Mrabet,
- Asma Bouden,
- Asma Bouden
Affiliations
- Selima Jelili
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, Tunisia
- Selima Jelili
- Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia
- Soumeyya Halayem
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, Tunisia
- Soumeyya Halayem
- Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia
- Olfa Rajhi
- Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia
- Olfa Rajhi
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Versaille Hospital Center, Le Chesnay, France
- Zeineb Abbes
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, Tunisia
- Zeineb Abbes
- Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia
- Hajer Ben Mansour
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, Tunisia
- Hajer Ben Mansour
- Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia
- Sami Ouanes
- Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia
- Sami Ouanes
- Department of Psychiatry - Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
- Amal Taamallah
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, Tunisia
- Amal Taamallah
- Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia
- Selima Ennaifer
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, Tunisia
- Selima Ennaifer
- Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia
- Houda Ben Yahia
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, Tunisia
- Houda Ben Yahia
- Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia
- Melek Ghazzei
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, Tunisia
- Melek Ghazzei
- Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia
- Ahmed Nabli
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, Tunisia
- Malek Hajri
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, Tunisia
- Malek Hajri
- Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia
- Radhouane Fakhfakh
- Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia
- Radhouane Fakhfakh
- Department of Epidemiology and Statistics, Abderrahmen Mami Hospital, Tunis, Tunisia
- Ali Mrabet
- Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia
- Ali Mrabet
- Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Tunis, Tunisia
- Asma Bouden
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Razi Hospital, Manouba, Tunisia
- Asma Bouden
- Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.922873
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 13
Abstract
The present study examined performance in Theory of Mind (ToM) in a group of 31 Arabic-speaking verbal children (7–12 years-old) with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), in comparison with neurotypical controls (NT) matched for age and for cognitive abilities. An innovative task in a digital format named “The Tunisian Social Situations Instrument” (TSSI) was used and allowed us to study four different subdomains of ToM: attribution of intention and epistemic ToM (cognitive ToM), affective ToM, and detection of faux pas (advanced ToM). Our study showed impairments in ToM in children with ASD, similar to those reported in the literature. Our findings additionally suggested that affective and advanced ToM, specifically the detection of faux pas, might be more challenging for ASD children than other components of ToM. Future studies with larger number of children may lead us to specify which subdomains are the most impaired in order to develop specific tools targeting these specific impairments.
Keywords
