Emerging research indicates that in addition to physical and cognitive deficits, individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) may also have impairments in social cognition, such as facial affect recognition and Theory of Mind (ToM). However, there is little research into how social cognition impairments relate to other domains in MS, such as mood and fatigue levels. The current study investigated whether social cognitive ability is associated with fatigue, depressive symptoms and anxiety in MS. Twenty‐eight individuals with MS completed questionnaires assessing fatigue (Modified Fatigue Impact Scale), depression (Beck Depression Inventory) and anxiety (State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory), as well as tasks of facial affect recognition and ToM (Reading the Mind in the Eyes; Strange Stories). Bivariate correlations were run to examine relationships between variables; partial correlations were subsequently used to ascertain whether these relationships persisted after controlling for cognitive ability (measured with the Symbol Digit Modalities Test). The results indicated that worse performance in both facial affect recognition and ToM were associated with higher rates of psychosocial fatigue, depressive symptoms, and anxiety levels; furthermore, these relationships were not explained by participants’ cognitive ability. These preliminary results help us better understand the association between social cognitive abilities and other symptoms in MS, including depressive symptomatology, anxiety and fatigue.

中文翻译：

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社会认知与多发性硬化症的疲劳，抑郁症状和焦虑之间的关系。

新兴研究表明，除了身体和认知缺陷外，患有多发性硬化症（MS）的人也可能在社交认知方面存在障碍，例如面部情感识别和心理理论（ToM）。但是，关于社交认知障碍与MS的其他领域（如情绪和疲劳程度）之间的关系的研究很少。当前的研究调查了社交认知能力是否与MS的疲劳，抑郁症状和焦虑有关。28名MS患者完成了问卷调查，评估疲劳（改良的疲劳影响量表），抑郁（贝克抑郁量表）和焦虑（状态-特质焦虑量表），以及面部表情识别和ToM（阅读眼神）的任务;奇怪的故事）。运行双变量相关性以检查变量之间的关系。随后使用部分相关性来确定控制认知能力后的这些关系是否持续（用符号数字模态测试测量）。结果表明，面部表情识别和ToM方面的较差表现与较高的社会心理疲劳率，抑郁症状和焦虑水平有关。此外，这些关系并不能由参与者的认知能力来解释。这些初步结果有助于我们更好地理解社交认知能力与MS的其他症状（包括抑郁症状，焦虑症和疲劳）之间的关联。随后使用部分相关性来确定控制认知能力后的这些关系是否持续（用符号数字模态测试测量）。结果表明，面部表情识别和ToM方面的较差表现与较高的社会心理疲劳率，抑郁症状和焦虑水平有关。此外，这些关系并不能由参与者的认知能力来解释。这些初步结果有助于我们更好地理解社交认知能力与MS的其他症状（包括抑郁症状，焦虑症和疲劳）之间的关联。随后使用部分相关性来确定控制认知能力后的这些关系是否持续（用符号数字模态测试测量）。结果表明，面部表情识别和ToM方面的较差表现与较高的社会心理疲劳率，抑郁症状和焦虑水平有关。此外，这些关系并不能由参与者的认知能力来解释。这些初步结果有助于我们更好地理解社交认知能力与MS的其他症状（包括抑郁症状，焦虑症和疲劳）之间的关联。抑郁症状和焦虑水平；此外，这些关系并不能由参与者的认知能力来解释。这些初步结果有助于我们更好地理解社交认知能力与MS的其他症状（包括抑郁症状，焦虑症和疲劳）之间的关联。抑郁症状和焦虑水平；此外，这些关系并不能由参与者的认知能力来解释。这些初步结果有助于我们更好地理解社交认知能力与MS的其他症状（包括抑郁症状，焦虑症和疲劳）之间的关联。