Theory of Mind, Emotion Recognition and SocialCognition in Adolescents With Generalized AnxietyDisorder and Healthy Controls

Background: people with generalized anxiety disorder (gad) may experience adverseconsequences due to difficulty understanding and interacting with others.objectives: this study was conducted to compare the theory of mind, emotion recognition, andsocial cognition in teenagers with gad and healthy controls.materials & methods: this case-control study was conducted on 60 patients with gad and 60 sampleof teenagers without gad in tehran, during 2022-2023. the gad was diagnosed based on dsm-iv_trcriteria. the data collection tools included theory of mind scale (tom), social cognition questionnaireand ekman 60-faces test (ek-60f). one-way analysis of variance and post hoc test were performed toanalyze the data using spss software, version 27 with a two-tailed 5% level of significance.results: the results observed significant differences in the mean values of all variables in fourgroups of females with and without generalized anxiety disorder, and males with and withoutgeneralized anxiety disorder. comparing the means of study groups, it can be observed that femaleshave higher mean values for their study variables compared to males (p<0.05).conclusion: the findings indicated that teenagers with generalized anxiety disorder were moreprone to experiencing difficulties in theory of mind, emotional perception, and social cognition,particularly among females, compared to their counterparts without the disorder. during adolescence,it is vital to possess the skills of emotional management and the absence of anxiety to establishrelationships, nurture meaningful friendships, and actively participate in social interactions.