Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T20:07:27.616Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The effects of reading literary fiction on the measurement and development of mentalization skills among schizophrenic patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2022

J. Fekete ,
T. Tényi ,
Z. Pótó ,
E. Varga  and
R. Herold
J. Fekete*
Affiliation:
University of Pécs, Department Of Languages For Biomedical Purposes And Communication, Pécs, Hungary
T. Tényi
Affiliation:
Medical Faculty, University of Pécs, Hungary, Department Of Psychiatry And Psychotherapy, Pécs, Hungary
Z. Pótó
Affiliation:
University of Pécs, Faculty Of Humanities And Social Sciences, Pécs, Hungary
E. Varga
Affiliation:
Medical Faculty, University of Pécs, Hungary, Department Of Psychiatry And Psychotherapy, Pécs, Hungary
R. Herold
Affiliation:
Medical Faculty, University of Pécs, Hungary, Department Of Psychiatry And Psychotherapy, Pécs, Hungary
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Introduction

Following the mentalization of interpersonal relations can be improved through reading for which the influence of literary fiction can also serve as a model. Schizophrenia is characterized by extensive deficits in mentalization, and the amelioration of these impairments is a major focus in psychosocial treatment research. Reading literature can be a potential tool in improving mentalizing skills.

Objectives

We aimed to examine and compare healthy participants with patients living with schizophrenia, focusing on measuring mentalizing skills and the impact of reading literary fiction on their mentalization skills.

Methods

47 persons with schizophrenia in remission and 48 healthy controls were assessed and compared with Short Story Task (SST) a new measurement of ToM. SST proved to be a sensitive tool, to individual differences. After reading the short story “The End of Something” (Hemingway) a structured interview was done with 14 questions.

Results

We found that patients with schizophrenia performed significantly worse in their ToM scores compared to healthy controls (ANOVA test, p<0,05 ). Previous reading experiences correlated significantly with mentalizing scores not just in healthy controls (Independent Samples T-test, p<0,05) but also in patients with schizophrenia. ToM scores were twice as high among those who had prior reading experiences in the schizophrenia group ((MS= 3,91, SD=3,166, M=8,08, SD=4,542; p<0,05, t=-3,509).

Conclusions

We found that mentalization skills could be improved by regular reading. Our results could also be influenced by several other factors such as empathy skills, identification with the characters etc. Our results and conclusions are in line with the results of international research on this topic.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.

Keywords

theory of mindschizophreniamentalisationreadingliterary fiction
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 65 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 30th European Congress of Psychiatry , June 2022 , pp. S154
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.