Table 3 Means and standard deviations for the socio-cognitive and psychological characteristics of the CM + MO, EM, and HC groups

Socio-cognitive abilities 

Faux Pas test (FP)

FP Cognitive ⁺

0–4

2.95 ± 0.99

2.82 ± 0.85^e

3.26 ± 0.82^e

4.80

0.009

0.04

FP Affective ⁺

0–4

2.77 ± 0.96^d

2.87 ± 0.92^e

3.39 ± 0.83^d,e

8.65

 < 0.001

0.08

Strange Stories task (SS)

SS Mentalistic

0–8

5.58 ± 1.77^d

5.92 ± 1.83^e

6.65 ± 1.20^d,e

8.91

 < 0.001

0.08

SS Physical

0–8

6.56 ± 1.10

6.11 ± 1.43

6.26 ± 1.35

2.08

0.127

0.02

Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET)

RMET Experimental

0–36

20.77 ± 4.38^c,d

23.62 ± 3.92^c

24.00 ± 3.16^d

15.31

 < 0.001

0.13

RMET Control

0–36

35.44 ± 1.28

35.20 ± 0.83

35.14 ± 0.74

1.90

0.152

0.02

Socio-cognitive beliefs

Tromsø Social Intelligence Scale (TSIS)

TSIS Total

21–147

94.59 ± 17.91

96.94 ± 14.69

98.35 ± 13.66

0.745

0.476

0.01

TSIS Social Information

7–49

29.65 ± 6.89

31.15 ± 7.80

31.90 ± 7.17

1.88

0.155

0.02

TSIS Social Skill

7–49

33.20 ± 8.98

32.96 ± 9.90

35.72 ± 7.81

2.02

0.135

0.02

TSIS Social Awareness

7–49

31.75 ± 6.91

32.84 ± 6.62

30.72 ± 6.63

2.36

0.097

0.02

Alexithymia and Autism traits

Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20)

TAS-20 Total

20–100

47.62 ± 10.12^c,d

42.61 ± 11.20^c

42.58 ± 10.20^d

5.85

0.003

0.05

TAS-20 Factor 1 (F1)

7–35

19.66 ± 5.02^c,d

17.28 ± 5.23^c

17.55 ± 3.90^d

6.01

0.003

0.05

TAS-20 Factor 2 (F2)

5–25

13.79 ± 3.66^d

12.70 ± 4.23

12.06 ± 3.74^d

3.93

0.021

0.04

TAS-20 Factor 3 (F3)

8–40

14.17 ± 4.20

12.62 ± 4.14

13.27 ± 4.42

3.93

0.093

0.04

Autism Quotient (AQ)

0–10

3.59 ± 2.52^c,d

2.26 ± 1.55^c

2.32 ± 2.08^d

8.34

 < 0.001

0.07

Social relationships

Lubben Social Network Scale – Revised (LSNS-R)

LSNS-R Total

0–30

38.79 ± 8.40

38.46 ± 7.31

37.31 ± 8.17

2.15

0.118

0.02

LSNS-R Family

0–15

20.66 ± 3.96^d

20.16 ± 4.78

18.47 ± 4.96^d

5.15

0.007

0.05

LSNS-R Friends

0–15

18.13 ± 6.05

18.29 ± 4.31

18.84 ± 5.33

0.05

0.948

0.01

Friendship Scale (FS)

FS Total

0–24

17.62 ± 5.77

18.39 ± 4.83

19.22 ± 3.94

1.44

0.238

0.01

FS social support (%)

11.80^a

0.019^a

0.24^b

 Low social support

33.8

21.3

15

 Moderate social support

8.5

19.7

25

 High social support

57.7

59

60

Psychological and Quality of Life assessment

Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)

HADS Anxiety

0–21

7.89 ± 4.12

7.33 ± 4.66

6.80 ± 4.21

0.94

0.391

0.01

HADS Depression

0–21

7.61 ± 5.05^c,d

5.64 ± 4.19^c

5.49 ± 3.67^d

4.25

0.016

0.016

The World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF)

8–40

25.97 ± 5.33^c,d

28.68 ± 4.96^c

29.97 ± 4.99^d

11.38

 < 0.001

0.11