Patients with bipolar disorder show impaired performance on complex tests of social cognition

The literature concerning social cognitive performance in people with bipolar disorder (BD) reveals a mixed pattern of findings. We compared performance between patients with BD and matched controls on two social cognitive tasks that involved: (i) the decoding of mental states from pictures of eyes (Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test), and (ii) a video-based test that requires participants to discriminate social cues to make interpersonal judgments (Interpersonal Perception Task-15; IPT-15). We also sought to evaluate the association between symptom severity, social functioning, and social cognitive ability in patients with BD. Relative to controls, patients with BD were impaired at discriminating mental states from pictures of eyes and in making complex social judgments. Impaired responding on the IPT-15 was also associated with reduced psychosocial functioning. These results provide evidence of impaired performance on complex tests of social cognition in patients with BD. Impairments in social cognition may be associated with well-documented declines in the frequency of social interactions and development of interpersonal relationships found in this patient population.