Beyond the Screen: Assessing Theory of Mind in Telepractice with the Theory of Mind Assessment Scale (Th.o.m.a.s.)

Telepractice (TP) refers to the use of telecommunication devices for remote psychological and medical assessment and treatment. To date, no study involving healthy adults has combined TP with Theory of Mind (ToM), that is, the ability to understand and attribute mental states and use this knowledge to explain actions and behavior. With this study we evaluated the feasibility and effectiveness of the Theory of Mind Assessment Scale (Th.o.m.a.s.) administered via TP. Th.o.m.a.s. is a semi-structured interview that investigates various aspects of ToM (first- and third-person, first- and second-order ToM, egocentric vs. allocentric perspectives) in healthy adults. It consists of 37 open-ended question items on four scales: Scale A (I-Me) examines first-person ToM in the egocentric perspective; Scale B (Other-Self) examines third-person ToM in the allocentric perspective; Scale C (I-Other) examines third-person ToM, in the egocentric perspective; and Scale D (Other-Me) examines first-person ToM in second-order ToM. The study sample was 80 healthy adults (36 men) divided into two groups, with one group assessed remotely and the other in-person (controls). There were no statistically significant differences in any of the measures between the two groups. Interrater agreement and internal consistency were consistently high. Th.o.m.a.s. proved a valid instrument for assessing ToM in TP. The present results have practical implications; a future area of focus could be to conduct remote assessment with Th.o.m.a.s. across different clinical or educational contexts.