Theory of own mind and autobiographical memory in adults with ASD

• We investigate the differential relations of self- and other-related theory of mind skills and autobiographical memory.
• The overall results indicate a specific relation between recalled episodic autobiographical memories and self-related theory of mind skills.
• These relations are largely independent of verbal and non-verbal IQ.
• We discuss the implication of our findings for intervention strategies.

While there is solid evidence of other-related theory of mind (ToM) deficits in autism, there is less research addressing self-related ToM impairments. To date, relations between self-related ToM and other cognitive skills related to representing own mental states such as autobiographical memory have scarcely been investigated. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the differential relations of self-and other-related theory of mind skills and autobiographical memory in n = 20 adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder and n = 20 matched controls using standardized measures. The overall results indicated a specific relation between recalled episodic autobiographical memories on the episodic and semantic autobiographical memory interview and the performance on the mind-mindedness for oneself task in adults with ASD, which proved to be largely independent of verbal and nonverbal IQ.