Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32041577›Full record

Trial reportBMC psychiatry2020

Theory of mind, emotion recognition, delusions and the quality of the therapeutic relationship in patients with psychosis - a secondary analysis of a randomized-controlled therapy trial.

Stephanie Mehl, Klaus Hesse, Anna-Christine Schmidt, Martin W Landsberg, Daniel Soll, Andreas Bechdolf, Jutta Herrlich, Tilo Kircher, Stefan Klingberg, Bernhard W Müller and 4 more

Open access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMC psychiatry, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.8field-weighted citation impact, top 31% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Triple-Network Functional Connectivity in Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder Compared to Early-Onset Psychosis.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors at 8 institutions in 1 country.

Stephanie MehlDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Straße 25, 53105, Bonn, Germany. stephanie.mehl@staff.uni-marburg.de.ORCID 0000-0003-2157-5543
Klaus HesseDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Calwerstraße 14, 72076, Tübingen, Germany.
Anna-Christine SchmidtDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Straße 25, 53105, Bonn, Germany.
Martin W LandsbergDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Straße 25, 53105, Bonn, Germany.
Daniel SollDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University of Marburg, Rudolf-Bultmann-Straße 8, 35039, Marburg, Germany.
Andreas BechdolfDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Cologne, Gleuler Straße, 50931, Köln, Germany.
Jutta HerrlichDepartment of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic and Psychotherapy, University of Frankfurt, Heinrich-Hoffmann-Straße 10, 60528, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Tilo KircherDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University of Marburg, Rudolf-Bultmann-Straße 8, 35039, Marburg, Germany.
Stefan KlingbergDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Calwerstraße 14, 72076, Tübingen, Germany.
Bernhard W MüllerDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Duisburg- Essen, Virchowstraße 147, 45147, Essen, Germany.
Georg WiedemannDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Hospital Fulda, Pacelliallee 4, 36043, Fulda, Germany.
Andreas WittorfDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Calwerstraße 14, 72076, Tübingen, Germany.
Wolfgang WölwerDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine University of Düsseldorf, Bergische Landstraße 2, 40629, Düsseldorf, Germany.
Michael WagnerDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Straße 25, 53105, Bonn, Germany.
University of Bonn · DEUniversity of Tübingen · DEPhilipps University of Marburg · DEGoethe University Frankfurt · DEHeinrich Heine University Düsseldorf · DEKlinikum Fulda · DEUniversity of Cologne · DEUniversity of Duisburg-Essen · DE

Funding

Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung 01GV0618Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung 01GV0620
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCognitive models of psychosis postulate an important role of Theory of mind (ToM) in the formation and maintenance of delusions, but research on this plausible conjecture has gathered conflicting findings. In addition, it is still an open question whether problems in emotion recognition (ER) are associated with delusions. We examined the association of problems in ToM and ER with different aspects of delusions in a large sample of patients with psychosis enrolled in a therapy trial. This also enabled us to explore the possible impact of ToM and ER on one part of patients' social life: the quality of their therapeutic relationship.

methodsPatients with psychotic disorders and delusions and/or hallucinations (n = 185) and healthy controls (n = 48) completed a ToM picture sequencing task and an ER task. Subsequently, patients were enrolled in a randomized-controlled Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) trial (ISRCTN29242879). Patients and therapists rated the quality of the therapeutic relationship during the first five sessions of therapy.

resultsIn comparison to controls, patients were impaired in both ToM and ER. Patients with deficits in ER experienced more severe delusional distress, whereas ToM problems were not related to delusions. In addition, deficits in ER predicted a less favorable therapeutic relationship and interactional problems viewed by the therapist. Impaired ER also moderated (increased) the negative influence of delusions on the therapeutic relationship and interactional difficulties viewed by the therapist.

conclusionsCognitive models on the formation and maintenance of delusions should consider ER as a potential candidate that might be related to the formation and maintenance of delusional distress, whereas problems in ToM might not be directly related to delusions and secondary dimensions of delusions. In addition, problems in ER in patients with psychosis might have an impact on the quality of the therapeutic relationship and patients with problems in ER are more likely to be viewed as problematic by their therapists. Nevertheless, training ER might be a way to improve the quality of the therapeutic relationship and potentially the effectiveness of CBT or other interventions for patients with psychosis.

Indexed as

DelusionsEmotionsTheory of MindAdultFemaleHallucinationsHumansMalePsychotic DisordersDelusionsEmotion recognitionInteractional problemsQuality of the therapeutic relationshipSchizophreniaTheory of mind

Identifiers

PMID32041577
PMCPMC7011563
OpenAlexW3011075142

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.