Attachment styles moderate Theory of Mind differences between persons with schizophrenia, first-degree relatives and controls.

Relationships with significant others might be a factor that influences the way in which social information is processed by persons with a diagnosis of a psychotic disorder. In patients, higher levels of attachment anxiety - that is, low self-worth, fear of abandonment and rejection, continuous vigilance of threat-related cues - were associated with a lower ability to understand the mental states of others. However, at lower levels of attachment anxiety, their ToM performance was comparable to that of relatives and controls. This effect was not influenced by symptom severity. Further research is required to confirm the potential influence of attachment insecurity on ToM ability as the latter is strongly related to patient's functional outcomes.