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Moraitopoulou G, Pickard H, Simonoff E, Pickles A, Bedford R, Carter Leno V. No association between alexithymia and emotion recognition or theory of mind in a sample of adolescents enhanced for autistic traits. AUTISM : THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND PRACTICE 2024; 28:2066-2079. [PMID: 38240268 PMCID: PMC11301953 DOI: 10.1177/13623613231221928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/07/2024]
Abstract
LAY ABSTRACT Alexithymia is a sub-clinical condition characterised by difficulties identifying and describing one's own emotions, which is found in many, but not all autistic people. The alexithymia hypothesis suggests that certain aspects of socio-cognitive functioning typically attributed to autism, namely difficulties in emotion recognition, might be better explained by often co-occurring alexithymia. It is important to understand what is specific to autism and what is due to other co-occurring characteristics to develop appropriate support for autistic people. However, most research on this topic has been conducted in adults, which limits our knowledge about the relevance of this theory to younger autistic populations. This study tested whether difficulties in emotion recognition and theory of mind traditionally associated with autism might be better explained by alexithymia in a sample of adolescents with and without a diagnosis of autism. Results found that difficulties in emotion recognition and theory of mind were both associated with autistic traits, and this was not accounted for by individual differences in levels of alexithymia. This research suggests that more work is needed to understand the applicability of the alexithymia hypothesis in younger populations, but that at least in adolescents and when using parent-report measures, alexithymia may not account for emotion recognition or theory of mind difficulties associated with autistic traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Georgianna Moraitopoulou
- Social Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London, London, UK
| | - Hannah Pickard
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London, London, UK
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK
| | - Emily Simonoff
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London, London, UK
| | - Andrew Pickles
- Department of Biostatistics and Health Informatics, Institute of
Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London, London, UK
| | - Rachael Bedford
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London, London, UK
- Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, UK
| | - Virginia Carter Leno
- Department of Biostatistics and Health Informatics, Institute of
Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London, London, UK
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Antezana L, Valdespino A, Wieckowski AT, Coffman MC, Carlton CN, Garcia KM, Gracanin D, White SW, Richey JA. Social Anxiety Symptoms Predict Poorer Facial Emotion Recognition in Autistic Male Adolescents and Young Adults Without Intellectual Disability. J Autism Dev Disord 2024; 54:2454-2470. [PMID: 37120659 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-023-05998-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/17/2023] [Indexed: 05/01/2023]
Abstract
Utilizing a novel computerized task, we aimed to examine whether social anxiety symptoms would be related to individual differences in facial emotion recognition (FER) in a sample of autistic male adolescents and young adults without intellectual disability. Results indicated that social anxiety and IQ predicted poorer FER, irrespective of specific emotion type. When probing specific effects within emotion and condition types, social anxiety impacted surprise and disgust FER during a truncated viewing condition and not full viewing condition. Collectively, results suggest that social anxiety in autism may play a larger role in FER than previously thought. Future work should consider the role of social anxiety within autism as a factor that may meaningfully relate to FER assessment and intervention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ligia Antezana
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, 109 Williams Hall, 890 Drillfield Drive, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
| | - Andrew Valdespino
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, 109 Williams Hall, 890 Drillfield Drive, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA
- James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital, Tampa, FL, USA
| | - Andrea T Wieckowski
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, 109 Williams Hall, 890 Drillfield Drive, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA
- A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Marika C Coffman
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, 109 Williams Hall, 890 Drillfield Drive, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA
- Duke University Center for Autism and Brain Development, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Corinne N Carlton
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, 109 Williams Hall, 890 Drillfield Drive, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA
| | - Katelyn M Garcia
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, 109 Williams Hall, 890 Drillfield Drive, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA
| | - Denis Gracanin
- Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | - Susan W White
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, 109 Williams Hall, 890 Drillfield Drive, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA
- Center for Youth Development and Intervention and Department of Psychology, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA
| | - John A Richey
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, 109 Williams Hall, 890 Drillfield Drive, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA
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Venticinque JS, McMillan SJ, Guyer AE. Expanding understanding of adolescent neural sensitivity to peers: Using social information processing theory to generate new lines of research. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2024; 67:101395. [PMID: 38823235 PMCID: PMC11176966 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2024.101395] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2023] [Revised: 05/21/2024] [Accepted: 05/23/2024] [Indexed: 06/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Adolescence is a period of normative heightened sensitivity to peer influence. Individual differences in susceptibility to peers is related to individual differences in neural sensitivity, particularly in brain regions that support an increasingly greater orientation toward peers. Despite these empirically-established patterns, the more specific psychosocial and socio-cognitive factors associated with individual differences in neural sensitivity to peer influence are just beginning to gain research attention. Specific features of the factors that contribute to how adolescents process social information can inform understanding of the psychological and neurobiological processes involved in what renders adolescents to be more or less susceptible to peer influences. In this paper, we (1) review the literature about peer, family, and broader contextual influences on sensitivity to peers' positive and negative behaviors, (2) outline components of social information processing theories, and (3) discuss features of these models from the perspectives and social cognitive development and social neuroscience. We identify gaps in the current literature that need to be addressed in order to gain a more comprehensive view of adolescent neural sensitivity to peer influence. We conclude by suggesting how future neuroimaging studies can adopt components of this social information processing model to generate new lines of research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph S Venticinque
- Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis 267 Cousteau Pl, Davis, CA 95618, USA; Department of Human Ecology, University of California, Davis 1 Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
| | - Sarah J McMillan
- Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis 267 Cousteau Pl, Davis, CA 95618, USA; Department of Human Ecology, University of California, Davis 1 Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
| | - Amanda E Guyer
- Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis 267 Cousteau Pl, Davis, CA 95618, USA; Department of Human Ecology, University of California, Davis 1 Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
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Fantozzi PM, Anil A, McHugh S, Srsich AR, Zope M, Parish-Morris J, Schultz RT, Herrington J, Hocking MC. Social impairment in survivors of pediatric brain tumors via reduced social attention and emotion-specific facial expression recognition. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2024; 71:e30943. [PMID: 38470289 PMCID: PMC11039359 DOI: 10.1002/pbc.30943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2023] [Revised: 02/05/2024] [Accepted: 02/20/2024] [Indexed: 03/13/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES Survivors of pediatric brain tumors (SPBT) experience significant social challenges, including fewer friends and greater isolation than peers. Difficulties in face processing and visual social attention have been implicated in these outcomes. This study evaluated facial expression recognition (FER), social attention, and their associations with social impairments in SPBT. METHODS SPBT (N = 54; ages 7-16) at least 2 years post treatment completed a measure of FER, while parents completed measures of social impairment. A subset (N = 30) completed a social attention assessment that recorded eye gaze patterns while watching videos depicting pairs of children engaged in joint play. Social Prioritization scores were calculated, with higher scores indicating more face looking. Correlations and regression analyses evaluated associations between variables, while a path analysis modeling tool (PROCESS) evaluated the indirect effects of Social Prioritization on social impairments through emotion-specific FER. RESULTS Poorer recognition of angry and sad facial expressions was significantly correlated with greater social impairment. Social Prioritization was positively correlated with angry FER but no other emotions. Social Prioritization had significant indirect effects on social impairments through angry FER. CONCLUSION Findings suggest interventions aimed at improving recognition of specific emotions may mitigate social impairments in SPBT. Further, reduced social attention (i.e., diminished face looking) could be a factor in reduced face processing ability, which may result in social impairments. Longitudinal research is needed to elucidate temporal associations between social attention, face processing, and social impairments.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ashley Anil
- The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Sean McHugh
- The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
| | | | - Manali Zope
- The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Julia Parish-Morris
- The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
- Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Robert T. Schultz
- The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
- Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
| | - John Herrington
- The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
- Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Matthew C. Hocking
- The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
- Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
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Wang Y, Luo Q, Zhang Y, Zhao K. Synchrony or asynchrony: development of facial expression recognition from childhood to adolescence based on large-scale evidence. Front Psychol 2024; 15:1379652. [PMID: 38725946 PMCID: PMC11079229 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1379652] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2024] [Accepted: 04/09/2024] [Indexed: 05/12/2024] Open
Abstract
The development of facial expression recognition ability in children is crucial for their emotional cognition and social interactions. In this study, 510 children aged between 6 and 15 participated in a two forced-choice task of facial expression recognition. The findings supported that recognition of the six basic facial expressions reached a relatively stable mature level around 8-9 years old. Additionally, model fitting results indicated that children showed the most significant improvement in recognizing expressions of disgust, closely followed by fear. Conversely, recognition of expressions of happiness and sadness showed slower improvement across different age groups. Regarding gender differences, girls exhibited a more pronounced advantage. Further model fitting revealed that boys showed more pronounced improvements in recognizing expressions of disgust, fear, and anger, while girls showed more pronounced improvements in recognizing expressions of surprise, sadness, and happiness. These clear findings suggested the synchronous developmental trajectory of facial expression recognition from childhood to adolescence, likely influenced by socialization processes and interactions related to brain maturation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yihan Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Qian Luo
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Yuanmeng Zhang
- College of Letters and Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
| | - Ke Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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Scarth M, Hauger LE, Thorsby PM, Leknes S, Hullstein IR, Westlye LT, Bjørnebekk A. Supraphysiological testosterone levels from anabolic steroid use and reduced sensitivity to negative facial expressions in men. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2024; 241:701-715. [PMID: 37993638 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-023-06497-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2023] [Accepted: 11/03/2023] [Indexed: 11/24/2023]
Abstract
RATIONALE Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) are used to improve physical performance and appearance, but have been associated with deficits in social cognitive functioning. Approximately 30% of people who use AAS develop a dependence, increasing the risk for undesired effects. OBJECTIVES To assess the relationship between AAS use (current/previous), AAS dependence, and the ability to recognize emotional facial expressions, and investigate the potential mediating role of hormone levels. METHODS In total 156 male weightlifters, including those with current (n = 45) or previous (n = 34) AAS use and never-using controls (n = 77), completed a facial Emotion Recognition Task (ERT). Participants were presented with faces expressing one out of six emotions (sadness, happiness, fear, anger, disgust, and surprise) and were instructed to indicate which of the six emotions each face displayed. ERT accuracy and response time were recorded and evaluated for association with AAS use status, AAS dependence, and serum reproductive hormone levels. Mediation models were used to evaluate the mediating role of androgens in the relationship between AAS use and ERT performance. RESULTS Compared to never-using controls, men currently using AAS exhibited lower recognition accuracy for facial emotional expressions, particularly anger (Cohen's d = -0.57, pFDR = 0.03) and disgust (d = -0.51, pFDR = 0.05). Those with AAS dependence (n = 47) demonstrated worse recognition of fear relative to men without dependence (d = 0.58, p = 0.03). Recognition of disgust was negatively correlated with serum free testosterone index (FTI); however, FTI did not significantly mediate the association between AAS use and recognition of disgust. CONCLUSIONS Our findings demonstrate impaired facial emotion recognition among men currently using AAS compared to controls. While further studies are needed to investigate potential mechanisms, our analysis did not support a simple mediation effect of serum FTI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgan Scarth
- Anabolic Androgenic Steroid Research Group, Section for Clinical Addiction Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Postbox 4959, Nydalen, 0424, Oslo, Norway.
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
| | - Lisa Evju Hauger
- Anabolic Androgenic Steroid Research Group, Section for Clinical Addiction Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Postbox 4959, Nydalen, 0424, Oslo, Norway
| | - Per Medbøe Thorsby
- Hormone laboratory, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biochemical endocrinology and metabolism research group, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
- Institute of Clinical Medicine and University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Siri Leknes
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Diagnostic Physics, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Ingunn R Hullstein
- Norwegian Doping Control Laboratory, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Lars T Westlye
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- KG Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Astrid Bjørnebekk
- Anabolic Androgenic Steroid Research Group, Section for Clinical Addiction Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Postbox 4959, Nydalen, 0424, Oslo, Norway
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Chandra M, Paray AA. Natural Physiological Changes During Pregnancy. THE YALE JOURNAL OF BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE 2024; 97:85-92. [PMID: 38559455 PMCID: PMC10964813 DOI: 10.59249/jtiv4138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
Pregnancy causes physiological changes that support the growing fetus and get the mother ready for labor and delivery. Some of these modifications affect biochemical levels; they are normally stable, while others could imitate symptoms of illness. It is critical to distinguish between pathology associated with disease and typical physiological changes. This review article focuses on the significant changes that occur throughout a typical pregnancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mahesh Chandra
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research, Adesh University, Bathinda,
India
| | - Ansar Ahmad Paray
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research, Adesh University, Bathinda,
India
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Nesbit RJ, Watling D. Comparing two versions of the Chimeric Face Test: A pilot investigation. Laterality 2024; 29:19-36. [PMID: 37676081 DOI: 10.1080/1357650x.2023.2252569] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2023] [Accepted: 08/22/2023] [Indexed: 09/08/2023]
Abstract
The Chimeric Face Test (CFT) is a widely used behavioral measure of degree of lateralization for emotion processing. The Pictures of Facial Affect (Ekman, 1976 [Pictures of facial affect. Consulting Psychologists Press.]) have often been used to create chimeras for this task but have widely been critiqued due to lack of ethnic diversity and small stimuli numbers. In this brief study participants (N = 45) completed two Chimeric Face Tests, one using the Pictures of Facial Affect and one using the NimStim facial stimuli (Tottenham et al., 2009 [The NimStim set of facial expressions: Judgments from untrained research participants. Psychiatry Research, 168(3), 242-249]). The laterality scores were compared across measures. The results show the two measures are related; laterality quotients showed a strong correlation between the two tasks. Participants showed a left-visual field bias on both tasks, indicative of a right-hemisphere bias for the processing of emotions. The NimStim Chimeric Face Test however was found to give a more conservative estimate of degree of lateralization. The NimStim Chimeric Face Test is discussed as a valid measure for examining lateralization for emotion processing, The extent to which different versions of the Chimeric Face Test are comparable is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Dawn Watling
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK
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Zhang L, Liang H, Bjureberg J, Xiong F, Cai Z. The Association Between Emotion Recognition and Internalizing Problems in Children and Adolescents: A Three-Level Meta-Analysis. J Youth Adolesc 2024; 53:1-20. [PMID: 37991601 DOI: 10.1007/s10964-023-01891-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2023] [Accepted: 10/17/2023] [Indexed: 11/23/2023]
Abstract
Numerous studies have explored the link between how well youth recognize emotions and their internalizing problems, but a consensus remains elusive. This study used a three-level meta-analysis model to quantitatively synthesize the findings of existing studies to assess the relationship. A moderation analysis was also conducted to explore the sources of research heterogeneity. Through a systematic literature search, a total of 42 studies with 201 effect sizes were retrieved for the current meta-analysis, and 7579 participants were included. Emotion recognition was negatively correlated with internalizing problems. Children and adolescents with weaker emotion recognition skills were more likely to have internalizing problems. In addition, this meta-analysis found that publication year had a significant moderating effect. The correlation between emotion recognition and internalizing problems decreased over time. The degree of internalizing problems was also found to be a significant moderator. The correlation between emotion recognition and internalizing disorders was higher than the correlation between emotion recognition and internalizing symptoms. Deficits in emotion recognition might be relevant for the development and/or maintenance of internalizing problems in children and adolescents. The overall effect was small and future research should explore the clinical relevance of the association.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lin Zhang
- School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China.
- Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior, Ministry of Education, Wuhan, China.
- Key Laboratory of Human Development and Mental Health of Hubei Province, Wuhan, China.
| | - Heting Liang
- School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
- Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior, Ministry of Education, Wuhan, China
- Key Laboratory of Human Development and Mental Health of Hubei Province, Wuhan, China
| | - Johan Bjureberg
- Centre for Psychiatry Research, Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm Health Care Services, Stockholm County Council, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Fen Xiong
- School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
- Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior, Ministry of Education, Wuhan, China
- Key Laboratory of Human Development and Mental Health of Hubei Province, Wuhan, China
| | - Zhihui Cai
- School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
- Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior, Ministry of Education, Wuhan, China
- Key Laboratory of Human Development and Mental Health of Hubei Province, Wuhan, China
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Franca M, Bolognini N, Brysbaert M. Seeing emotions in the eyes: a validated test to study individual differences in the perception of basic emotions. Cogn Res Princ Implic 2023; 8:67. [PMID: 37919608 PMCID: PMC10622392 DOI: 10.1186/s41235-023-00521-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2023] [Accepted: 10/20/2023] [Indexed: 11/04/2023] Open
Abstract
People are able to perceive emotions in the eyes of others and can therefore see emotions when individuals wear face masks. Research has been hampered by the lack of a good test to measure basic emotions in the eyes. In two studies respectively with 358 and 200 participants, we developed a test to see anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness and surprise in images of eyes. Each emotion is measured with 8 stimuli (4 male actors and 4 female actors), matched in terms of difficulty and item discrimination. Participants reliably differed in their performance on the Seeing Emotions in the Eyes test (SEE-48). The test correlated well not only with Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) but also with the Situational Test of Emotion Understanding (STEU), indicating that the SEE-48 not only measures low-level perceptual skills but also broader skills of emotion perception and emotional intelligence. The test is freely available for research and clinical purposes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Franca
- Ph.D. Program in Neuroscience, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Italy
| | - Nadia Bolognini
- Department of Psychology and NeuroMI - Milan Centre for Neuroscience, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
- Laboratory of Neuropsychology, Department of Neurorehabilitation Sciences, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Via Mercalli 32, 20122, Milan, Italy.
| | - Marc Brysbaert
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, H. Dunantlaan 2, 9000, Ghent, Belgium.
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Van der Donck S, Hendriks M, Vos S, Op de Beeck H, Boets B. Neural sensitivity to facial identity and facial expression discrimination in adults with autism. Autism Res 2023; 16:2110-2124. [PMID: 37823568 DOI: 10.1002/aur.3036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2023] [Accepted: 09/15/2023] [Indexed: 10/13/2023]
Abstract
The fluent processing of faces can be challenging for autistic individuals. Here, we assessed the neural sensitivity to rapid changes in subtle facial cues in 23 autistic men and 23 age and IQ matched non-autistic (NA) controls using frequency-tagging electroencephalography (EEG). In oddball paradigms examining the automatic and implicit discrimination of facial identity and facial expression, base rate images were presented at 6 Hz, periodically interleaved every fifth image with an oddball image (i.e. 1.2 Hz oddball frequency). These distinctive frequency tags for base rate and oddball stimuli allowed direct and objective quantification of the neural discrimination responses. We found no large differences in the neural sensitivity of participants in both groups, not for facial identity discrimination, nor for facial expression discrimination. Both groups also showed a clear face-inversion effect, with reduced brain responses for inverted versus upright faces. Furthermore, sad faces generally elicited significantly lower neural amplitudes than angry, fearful and happy faces. The only minor group difference is the larger involvement of high-level right-hemisphere visual areas in NA men for facial expression processing. These findings are discussed from a developmental perspective, as they strikingly contrast with robust face processing deficits observed in autistic children using identical EEG paradigms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie Van der Donck
- Center for Developmental Psychiatry, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Michelle Hendriks
- Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Research Unit Brain and Cognition, Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuve, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Silke Vos
- Center for Developmental Psychiatry, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Hans Op de Beeck
- Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Research Unit Brain and Cognition, Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuve, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Bart Boets
- Center for Developmental Psychiatry, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Leuven Autism Research (LAuRes), KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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Hama T, Koeda M. Characteristics of healthy Japanese young adults with respect to recognition of facial expressions: a preliminary study. BMC Psychol 2023; 11:237. [PMID: 37592360 PMCID: PMC10436396 DOI: 10.1186/s40359-023-01281-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2022] [Accepted: 08/09/2023] [Indexed: 08/19/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Emotional cognitive impairment is a core phenotype of the clinical symptoms of psychiatric disorders. The ability to measure emotional cognition is useful for assessing neurodegenerative conditions and treatment responses. However, certain factors such as culture, gender, and generation influence emotional recognition, and these differences require examination. We investigated the characteristics of healthy young Japanese adults with respect to facial expression recognition. METHODS We generated 17 models of facial expressions for each of the six basic emotions (happiness, sadness, anger, fear, disgust, and surprise) at three levels of emotional intensity using the Facial Acting Coding System (FACS). Thirty healthy Japanese young adults evaluated the type of emotion and emotional intensity the models represented to them. RESULTS Assessment accuracy for all emotions, except fear, exceeded 60% in approximately half of the videos. Most facial expressions of fear were rarely accurately recognized. Gender differences were observed with respect to both faces and participants, indicating that expressions on female faces were more recognizable than those on male faces, and female participants had more accurate perceptions of facial emotions than males. CONCLUSION The videos used may constitute a dataset, with the possible exception of those that represent fear. The subject's ability to recognize the type and intensity of emotions was affected by the gender of the portrayed face and the evaluator's gender. These gender differences must be considered when developing a scale of facial expression recognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomoko Hama
- Department of Medical Technology, Ehime Prefectural University of Health Sciences, 543 Takoda, Tobe-Cho, Iyo-Gun, Ehime, 791-2101, Japan
| | - Michihiko Koeda
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Nippon Medical School, 1-1-5, Sendagi, Bunkyo-Ku, Tokyo, 113-8603, Japan.
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Nippon Medical School Tama Nagayama Hospital, 1-7-1, Nagayama, Tama, Tokyo, 206-8512, Japan.
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13
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Gordillo F, Arana JM, Lamas B, Pérez MÁ. Analysis of attentional biases in anxiety using 24 facial priming sequences. Cogn Process 2023; 24:339-351. [PMID: 36934379 DOI: 10.1007/s10339-023-01132-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2022] [Accepted: 03/07/2023] [Indexed: 03/20/2023]
Abstract
The processing of emotional facial expressions helps people to adjust to the physical and social environment. Furthermore, mental disorders such as anxiety have been linked to attentional biases in the processing of this type of information. Nevertheless, there are still contradictory results that might be due to the methodology used and to individual differences in the manifestation of anxiety. Our research goal was to use 24 facial priming sequences to analyse attentional biases in the detection of facial expressions of fear, considering the levels and the ways in which individuals express anxiety. With higher levels of cognitive anxiety and general trait anxiety, those sequences that began in the upper half (vs. lower half) elicited a speedier response in the detection of fear. The results are discussed within the context of other techniques and disorders that prompt a deficit in the processing of facial information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fernando Gordillo
- Departamento de Psicología Básica, Psicobiología y Metodología de las Ciencias del Comportamiento, Universidad de Salamanca, Avda. de La Merced, 109-131, 37005, Salamanca, Spain.
| | - José M Arana
- Departamento de Psicología Básica, Psicobiología y Metodología de las Ciencias del Comportamiento, Universidad de Salamanca, Avda. de La Merced, 109-131, 37005, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Beatriz Lamas
- Departmento de Psicología, Universidad Camilo José Cela, Castillo de Alarcón nº 49, 28692-Villafranca del Castillo, Madrid, Spain
| | - Miguel Ángel Pérez
- Departmento de Psicología, Universidad Camilo José Cela, Castillo de Alarcón nº 49, 28692-Villafranca del Castillo, Madrid, Spain
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14
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Camacho MC, Nielsen AN, Balser D, Furtado E, Steinberger DC, Fruchtman L, Culver JP, Sylvester CM, Barch DM. Large-scale encoding of emotion concepts becomes increasingly similar between individuals from childhood to adolescence. Nat Neurosci 2023; 26:1256-1266. [PMID: 37291338 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-023-01358-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2022] [Accepted: 05/12/2023] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Humans require a shared conceptualization of others' emotions for adaptive social functioning. A concept is a mental blueprint that gives our brains parameters for predicting what will happen next. Emotion concepts undergo refinement with development, but it is not known whether their neural representations change in parallel. Here, in a sample of 5-15-year-old children (n = 823), we show that the brain represents different emotion concepts distinctly throughout the cortex, cerebellum and caudate. Patterns of activation to each emotion changed little across development. Using a model-free approach, we show that activation patterns were more similar between older children than between younger children. Moreover, scenes that required inferring negative emotional states elicited higher default mode network activation similarity in older children than younger children. These results suggest that representations of emotion concepts are relatively stable by mid to late childhood and synchronize between individuals during adolescence.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Catalina Camacho
- Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.
| | - Ashley N Nielsen
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Dori Balser
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Emily Furtado
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - David C Steinberger
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Leah Fruchtman
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Joseph P Culver
- Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
- Department of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
- Department of Physics, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
- Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Chad M Sylvester
- Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Deanna M Barch
- Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
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15
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Della Longa L, Carnevali L, Farroni T. The role of affective touch in modulating emotion processing among preschool children. J Exp Child Psychol 2023; 235:105726. [PMID: 37336064 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2023.105726] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2023] [Revised: 05/26/2023] [Accepted: 05/29/2023] [Indexed: 06/21/2023]
Abstract
Recognizing emotional expressions is a prerequisite for understanding others' feelings and intentions, a key component of social interactions that develops throughout childhood. In multisensory social environments, touch may be crucial for emotion processing, linking external sensory information with internal affective states. The current study investigated whether affective touch facilitates recognition of emotional expressions throughout childhood. Preschool children (N = 121 3- to 6-year-olds) were presented with different tactile stimulations followed by an emotion-matching task. Results revealed that affective touch fosters the recognition of negative emotions and increases the speed of association of positive emotions, highlighting the centrality of tactile experiences for socioemotional understanding. The current research opens new perspectives on how to support emotional recognition with potential consequences for the development of social functioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Letizia Della Longa
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy.
| | - Laura Carnevali
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Teresa Farroni
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
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16
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Igoshina E, Wu LC, Moxon-Emre I, Mabbott DJ. Social affective outcomes and brain injury in children and adolescents treated for brain tumours. THE LANCET. CHILD & ADOLESCENT HEALTH 2023:S2352-4642(23)00079-2. [PMID: 37263284 DOI: 10.1016/s2352-4642(23)00079-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2022] [Revised: 03/06/2023] [Accepted: 03/21/2023] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
In this Review we critically evaluate the empirical literature investigating the effect of paediatric brain tumours and their treatment on social affective function. We focus specifically on relations between social affective function and compromised brain structure and function associated with treatment for a paediatric brain tumour. We concentrate on emotion recognition and regulation, because these are core components of social affective function. First, we provide an overview of the literature in typically developing children and discuss the underlying brain networks thought to subserve emotion (ie, limbic system and supporting white matter microstructure). We then focus on how damage to brain structure and function after treatment for a paediatric brain tumour might be related to compromised emotion recognition and regulation-as well as broader social affective outcomes. On the basis of our review of the literature across typically developing children and those with a paediatric brain tumour, we suggest that structural changes to fronto-limbic tracts might interrupt social network neural communication in children and adolescents treated for brain tumours. A critical analysis of the reviewed literature suggests a relationship between social affective dysfunction and childhood-acquired injury to white matter microstructure. We argue that the knowledge synthesised regarding paediatric brain tumours could extend to other neurological disorders. Finally, we identify considerations for future investigation and recommend research practices to be adopted in forthcoming studies to establish causal links between brain structure and function to social affective processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizaveta Igoshina
- Department of Psychology, The University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Neurosciences and Mental Health Research Program, The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Liliana C Wu
- Department of Psychology, The University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Neurosciences and Mental Health Research Program, The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Iska Moxon-Emre
- The Margaret and Wallace McCain Centre for Child, Youth & Family Mental Health, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Donald J Mabbott
- Department of Psychology, The University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Neurosciences and Mental Health Research Program, The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada.
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17
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Rodger H, Sokhn N, Lao J, Liu Y, Caldara R. Developmental eye movement strategies for decoding facial expressions of emotion. J Exp Child Psychol 2023; 229:105622. [PMID: 36641829 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2022.105622] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2022] [Revised: 12/21/2022] [Accepted: 12/23/2022] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
In our daily lives, we routinely look at the faces of others to try to understand how they are feeling. Few studies have examined the perceptual strategies that are used to recognize facial expressions of emotion, and none have attempted to isolate visual information use with eye movements throughout development. Therefore, we recorded the eye movements of children from 5 years of age up to adulthood during recognition of the six "basic emotions" to investigate when perceptual strategies for emotion recognition become mature (i.e., most adult-like). Using iMap4, we identified the eye movement fixation patterns for recognition of the six emotions across age groups in natural viewing and gaze-contingent (i.e., expanding spotlight) conditions. While univariate analyses failed to reveal significant differences in fixation patterns, more sensitive multivariate distance analyses revealed a U-shaped developmental trajectory with the eye movement strategies of the 17- to 18-year-old group most similar to adults for all expressions. A developmental dip in strategy similarity was found for each emotional expression revealing which age group had the most distinct eye movement strategy from the adult group: the 13- to 14-year-olds for sadness recognition; the 11- to 12-year-olds for fear, anger, surprise, and disgust; and the 7- to 8-year-olds for happiness. Recognition performance for happy, angry, and sad expressions did not differ significantly across age groups, but the eye movement strategies for these expressions diverged for each group. Therefore, a unique strategy was not a prerequisite for optimal recognition performance for these expressions. Our data provide novel insights into the developmental trajectories underlying facial expression recognition, a critical ability for adaptive social relations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helen Rodger
- Eye and Brain Mapping Laboratory (iBMLab), Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland.
| | - Nayla Sokhn
- Eye and Brain Mapping Laboratory (iBMLab), Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Junpeng Lao
- Eye and Brain Mapping Laboratory (iBMLab), Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Yingdi Liu
- Eye and Brain Mapping Laboratory (iBMLab), Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Roberto Caldara
- Eye and Brain Mapping Laboratory (iBMLab), Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland.
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18
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Gul H, Torun YT, Cakmak FH, Gul A. Facial emotion recognition in adolescent depression: The role of childhood traumas, emotion regulation difficulties, alexithymia and empathy. Indian J Psychiatry 2023; 65:443-452. [PMID: 37325105 PMCID: PMC10263086 DOI: 10.4103/indianjpsychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_284_22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2022] [Revised: 09/09/2022] [Accepted: 12/17/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Facial emotion recognition (FER) is crucial for effective social competency, and problems in this skill are linked depression during adolescence. In this study, we aimed to find the rates of FER accuracy for negative (fearful, sad, angry, disgusted), positive (happy, surprised), and neutral emotions, and the possible predictors of FER skill for most confusing emotions. Subjects and Methods A total of 67 drug-naive adolescents with depression (11 boys, 56 girls; 11-17 years) were recruited for the study. The facial emotion recognition test, childhood trauma questionnaire and basic empathy, difficulty of emotion regulation, and Toronto alexithymia scales were used. Results The analysis demonstrated that adolescents have more difficulties in recognizing negative emotions when compared the positive ones. The most confusing emotion is fear (39.8% of fear was recognized as surprise). Boys have lower fear recognition skill than girls and higher childhood emotional abuse, physical abuse, emotional neglect, and difficulty in describing feelings to predict lower fear recognition skill. For sadness recognition skill, emotional neglect, difficulty in describing feelings, and depression severity were the negative predictors. Emotional empathy has a positive effect on disgust recognition skill. Conclusion Our findings demonstrated that impairment of FER skill for negative emotions is associated with childhood traumas, emotion regulation difficulties, alexithymia, and empathy symptoms in adolescent depression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hesna Gul
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychiatry, Ufuk University School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Yasemin Tas Torun
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Gazi University School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Fatma Hulya Cakmak
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Sami Ulus Research and Training Hospital, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Ahmet Gul
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychiatry, Ufuk University School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
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19
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Maletta T, Palummieri M, Correa J, Holahan MR. Preadolescent exposure to a sexually mature, unrelated male rat reduces postadolescent social recognition memory and CA2 c-Fos labeling. Front Behav Neurosci 2023; 17:1104866. [PMID: 36778132 PMCID: PMC9908592 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1104866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2022] [Accepted: 01/13/2023] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Social memory involves social recognition: the ability to discriminate between two or more conspecifics when one has been previously encountered. The CA2 region of the hippocampus has been implicated in social memory, as lesions and dysfunction to this area lead to social memory impairments. A variety of psychogenic manipulations during postnatal sensitive developmental periods are associated with social memory impairments later in life. Methods In this study, we exposed preadolescent rats to a sexually, mature unrelated male and examined whether this was associated with changes in postadolescent social memory and c-Fos labeling in the CA2 region. Male and female Long-Evans rats were exposed to a male, adult rat on postnatal days 19-21 (P19-21). Social memory was measured during the postadolescent period and defined as increased interactions towards a novel age-matched rat in contrast to a previously-encountered age-matched rat. After the test, rats were euthanized and brain tissue was then collected to quantify c-Fos labeling within the CA2 region. Results Compared to home cage controls and controls not exposed to the adult male, male and female rats exposed to the unrelated adult during preadolescence were unable to discriminate between a novel and previously encountered conspecific during the postadolescent test showing social memory deficits. The groups that showed social recognition deficits also had significantly fewer c-Fos-positive cells within the CA2 region compared to the control groups. Discussion These findings indicate that threatening psychogenic encounters during preadolescence can have detrimental long-term effects on social memory potentially via disrupted activity in the CA2 hippocampal region.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teresa Maletta
- Department of Neuroscience, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | | | - Jeff Correa
- Department of Neuroscience, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
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20
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Leung FYN, Stojanovik V, Micai M, Jiang C, Liu F. Emotion recognition in autism spectrum disorder across age groups: A cross-sectional investigation of various visual and auditory communicative domains. Autism Res 2023; 16:783-801. [PMID: 36727629 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2896] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2022] [Accepted: 01/19/2023] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Previous research on emotion processing in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has predominantly focused on human faces and speech prosody, with little attention paid to other domains such as nonhuman faces and music. In addition, emotion processing in different domains was often examined in separate studies, making it challenging to evaluate whether emotion recognition difficulties in ASD generalize across domains and age cohorts. The present study investigated: (i) the recognition of basic emotions (angry, scared, happy, and sad) across four domains (human faces, face-like objects, speech prosody, and song) in 38 autistic and 38 neurotypical (NT) children, adolescents, and adults in a forced-choice labeling task, and (ii) the impact of pitch and visual processing profiles on this ability. Results showed similar recognition accuracy between the ASD and NT groups across age groups for all domains and emotion types, although processing speed was slower in the ASD compared to the NT group. Age-related differences were seen in both groups, which varied by emotion, domain, and performance index. Visual processing style was associated with facial emotion recognition speed and pitch perception ability with auditory emotion recognition in the NT group but not in the ASD group. These findings suggest that autistic individuals may employ different emotion processing strategies compared to NT individuals, and that emotion recognition difficulties as manifested by slower response times may result from a generalized, rather than a domain-specific underlying mechanism that governs emotion recognition processes across domains in ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florence Y N Leung
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK.,Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, UK
| | - Vesna Stojanovik
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - Martina Micai
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - Cunmei Jiang
- Music College, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Fang Liu
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
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21
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Cuzzocrea F, Gugliandolo MC, Cannavò M, Liga F. Emotion recognition in individuals wearing facemasks: a preliminary analysis of age-related differences. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2023; 42:1-4. [PMID: 36684462 PMCID: PMC9843093 DOI: 10.1007/s12144-023-04239-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2022] [Revised: 11/11/2022] [Accepted: 01/03/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
COVID-19 is severely affecting individuals' lives worldwide. Previous research warned that facial occlusion may impair facial emotion recognition, whilst other findings suggested that age-related differences may be relevant in emotion recognition in others' faces. However, studies observing individuals' ability to interpret others' facial mimicry are heterogenous, thus precluding the generalizability of the findings. This preliminary study examined age-related differences and the influence of different covering types (with and without face masks) in determining different levels of facial emotion recognition. 131 participants were split into 3 age-groups (10-14; 15-17; 20-25) and were asked to complete an emotion recognition task. Participants were better able to recognize facial emotions without any occlusion, and happiness was the most recognizable emotion. Moreover, adolescent group performed better in recognizing anger and fear in stimuli depicting masked and unmasked faces. Current results suggest the importance of monitoring emotion recognition abilities in developing individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Cuzzocrea
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi “Magna Graecia” di Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy
| | | | - Marco Cannavò
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi “Magna Graecia” di Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy
| | - Francesca Liga
- Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, Università degli Studi di Messina, Messina, Italy
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22
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Facial Emotion Recognition Deficit in Children with Moderate/Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Brain Sci 2022; 12:brainsci12121688. [PMID: 36552148 PMCID: PMC9776404 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12121688] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2022] [Revised: 12/03/2022] [Accepted: 12/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Although previous studies have reported a facial expression classification deficit among adults with SDB, we do not know whether these findings can be generalized to children. In our study, children with sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) were divided into three groups: primary snoring (n = 51), mild obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) (n = 39), and moderate/severe OSA (n = 26). All participants, including 20 healthy controls, underwent an overnight polysomnography recording and the Emotional Expression Recognition Task. Psychosocial problems were evaluated using the parent-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). There was a borderline significant interaction between expression category and group on reaction times. Further analysis revealed that positive classification advantage (PCA) disappeared in the moderate/severe OSA group, whereas it persisted in the control, primary snoring, and mild OSA groups. Emotional symptoms were positively correlated with OAHI. In both the happy and sad conditions, RT was negatively related to age and body mass index (BMI) but was independent of the obstructive apnea-hypopnea index (OAHI), arterial oxygen (SaO2) and total sleep time. The accuracy of identifying a sad expression was negatively related to conduct problems. Children with moderate/severe OSA exhibited dysfunction in facial expression categorization, which could potentially affect social communication ability.
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23
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Surian D, van den Boomen C. The age bias in labeling facial expressions in children: Effects of intensity and expression. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0278483. [PMID: 36459504 PMCID: PMC9718404 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0278483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2022] [Accepted: 11/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Emotion reasoning, including labeling of facial expressions, is an important building block for a child's social development. This study investigated age biases in labeling facial expressions in children and adults, focusing on the influence of intensity and expression on age bias. Children (5 to 14 years old; N = 152) and adults (19 to 25 years old; N = 30) labeled happiness, disgust or sadness at five intensity levels (0%; 25%; 50%; 75%; and 100%) in facial images of children and adults. Sensitivity was computed for each of the expression-intensity combinations, separately for the child and adult faces. Results show that children and adults have an age bias at low levels of intensity (25%). In the case of sadness, children have an age bias for all intensities. Thus, the impact of the age of the face seems largest for expressions which might be most difficult to recognise. Moreover, both adults and children label most expressions best in adult rather than child faces, leading to an other-age bias in children and an own-age bias in adults. Overall, these findings reveal that both children and adults exhibit an age bias in labeling subtle facial expressions of emotions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dafni Surian
- Department of Developmental Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
- * E-mail:
| | - Carlijn van den Boomen
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
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24
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Byom LJ, Whalen M, Turkstra LS. Working Memory for Emotions in Adolescents and Young Adults with Traumatic Brain Injury. BRAIN IMPAIR 2022; 22:296-310. [PMID: 36703704 PMCID: PMC9873224 DOI: 10.1017/brimp.2021.20] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
This preliminary study investigated the interaction between working memory and social cognition in adolescents and young adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI). It was hypothesized that participants with or without TBI would better recognize social information when working memory or social cognitive load was low, and that adolescents and young adults with TBI would be more affected by increased cognitive demand than their uninjured peers. Eight adolescents and young adults with complicated mild-severe TBI (aged 14-22 years) and eight age- and sex-matched typically developing (TD) adolescents completed computer-based n-back tasks requiring recognition of either face identity or facial affect, with 0-back, 1-, and 2-back conditions. The TBI group had lower scores overall than the TD group, and scores for both groups were lower for affect recognition than identity recognition. Scores for both groups were lower in conditions with a higher working memory load. There was a significant group-by-working memory interaction, with larger group differences in high-working memory conditions. Study results and their potential implications for social outcomes are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lindsey J Byom
- Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Department of Allied Health Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
| | - Meaghan Whalen
- Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Department of Allied Health Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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25
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Comunicación no verbal de emociones: variables sociodemográficas y ventaja endogrupal. REVISTA IBEROAMERICANA DE PSICOLOGÍA 2022. [DOI: 10.33881/2027-1786.rip.15209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
En el campo de la comunicación no verbal de las emociones aún existe un debate en torno a la universalidad de las expresiones de emoción y el efecto que tiene la cultura en ellas. Actualmente existen dos teorías que tratan de explicar este fenómeno, la teoría neurocultural y la teoría de los dialectos. Ambas se enfocan en explicar la comunicación no verbal de emociones, pero la primera se centra en los aspectos universales, mientras que la segunda lo hace en la cultura. El objetivo del presente estudio fue indagar la ventaja endogrupal al interior de una cultura. Se diseñó un cuasiexperimento en el que se solicitó a 107 participantes que indicaran la emoción expresada en 42 estímulos en tres formatos de presentación distintos. Los resultados indican la existencia de dicha ventaja en las mujeres y jóvenes. Los presentes resultados ilustran los efectos de la cultura en este fenómeno.
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26
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Fu Z, Zhang B, He X, Li Y, Wang H, Huang J. Emotion recognition based on multi-modal physiological signals and transfer learning. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:1000716. [PMID: 36161186 PMCID: PMC9493208 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.1000716] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2022] [Accepted: 08/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In emotion recognition based on physiological signals, collecting enough labeled data of a single subject for training is time-consuming and expensive. The physiological signals’ individual differences and the inherent noise will significantly affect emotion recognition accuracy. To overcome the difference in subject physiological signals, we propose a joint probability domain adaptation with the bi-projection matrix algorithm (JPDA-BPM). The bi-projection matrix method fully considers the source and target domain’s different feature distributions. It can better project the source and target domains into the feature space, thereby increasing the algorithm’s performance. We propose a substructure-based joint probability domain adaptation algorithm (SSJPDA) to overcome physiological signals’ noise effect. This method can avoid the shortcomings that the domain level matching is too rough and the sample level matching is susceptible to noise. In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed transfer learning algorithm in emotion recognition based on physiological signals, we verified it on the database for emotion analysis using physiological signals (DEAP dataset). The experimental results show that the average recognition accuracy of the proposed SSJPDA-BPM algorithm in the multimodal fusion physiological data from the DEAP dataset is 63.6 and 64.4% in valence and arousal, respectively. Compared with joint probability domain adaptation (JPDA), the performance of valence and arousal recognition accuracy increased by 17.6 and 13.4%, respectively.
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27
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Livingston LA, Waldren LH, Walton E, Shah P. Emotion processing differences mediate the link between sex and autistic traits in young adulthood. JCPP ADVANCES 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/jcv2.12096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Lucy A. Livingston
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute Cardiff University Cardiff UK
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience King's College London London UK
| | | | | | - Punit Shah
- Department of Psychology University of Bath Bath UK
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Sullivan EV, Thompson WK, Brumback T, Prouty D, Tapert SF, Brown SA, De Bellis MD, Nooner KB, Baker FC, Colrain IM, Clark DB, Nagel BJ, Pohl KM, Pfefferbaum A. Prior test experience confounds longitudinal tracking of adolescent cognitive and motor development. BMC Med Res Methodol 2022; 22:177. [PMID: 35751025 PMCID: PMC9233356 DOI: 10.1186/s12874-022-01606-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2021] [Accepted: 04/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Accurate measurement of trajectories in longitudinal studies, considered the gold standard method for tracking functional growth during adolescence, decline in aging, and change after head injury, is subject to confounding by testing experience. Methods We measured change in cognitive and motor abilities over four test sessions (baseline and three annual assessments) in 154 male and 165 female participants (baseline age 12–21 years) from the National Consortium on Alcohol and NeuroDevelopment in Adolescence (NCANDA) study. At each of the four test sessions, these participants were given a test battery using computerized administration and traditional pencil and paper tests that yielded accuracy and speed measures for multiple component cognitive (Abstraction, Attention, Emotion, Episodic memory, Working memory, and General Ability) and motor (Ataxia and Speed) functions. The analysis aim was to dissociate neurodevelopment from testing experience by using an adaptation of the twice-minus-once tested method, which calculated the difference between longitudinal change (comprising developmental plus practice effects) and practice-free initial cross-sectional performance for each consecutive pairs of test sessions. Accordingly, the first set of analyses quantified the effects of learning (i.e., prior test experience) on accuracy and after speed domain scores. Then developmental effects were determined for each domain for accuracy and speed having removed the measured learning effects. Results The greatest gains in performance occurred between the first and second sessions, especially in younger participants, regardless of sex, but practice gains continued to accrue thereafter for several functions. For all 8 accuracy composite scores, the developmental effect after accounting for learning was significant across age and was adequately described by linear fits. The learning-adjusted developmental effects for speed were adequately described by linear fits for Abstraction, Emotion, Episodic Memory, General Ability, and Motor scores, although a nonlinear fit was better for Attention, Working Memory, and Average Speed scores. Conclusion Thus, what appeared as accelerated cognitive and motor development was, in most cases, attributable to learning. Recognition of the substantial influence of prior testing experience is critical for accurate characterization of normal development and for developing norms for clinical neuropsychological investigations of conditions affecting the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edith V Sullivan
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine (MC5723), 401 Quarry Road, Stanford, CA, 94305-5723, USA.
| | - Wesley K Thompson
- Division of Biostatistics and Dept of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Ty Brumback
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, KY, USA
| | - Devin Prouty
- Center for Health Sciences, SRI International, Menlo Park, CA, USA
| | - Susan F Tapert
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Sandra A Brown
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Michael D De Bellis
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Kate B Nooner
- Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, NC, USA
| | - Fiona C Baker
- Center for Health Sciences, SRI International, Menlo Park, CA, USA
| | - Ian M Colrain
- Center for Health Sciences, SRI International, Menlo Park, CA, USA
| | - Duncan B Clark
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Bonnie J Nagel
- Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Sciences University, Portland, OR, USA
| | - Kilian M Pohl
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine (MC5723), 401 Quarry Road, Stanford, CA, 94305-5723, USA.,Center for Health Sciences, SRI International, Menlo Park, CA, USA
| | - Adolf Pfefferbaum
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine (MC5723), 401 Quarry Road, Stanford, CA, 94305-5723, USA.,Center for Health Sciences, SRI International, Menlo Park, CA, USA
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29
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Della Longa L, Nosarti C, Farroni T. Emotion Recognition in Preterm and Full-Term School-Age Children. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:6507. [PMID: 35682092 PMCID: PMC9180201 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19116507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2022] [Revised: 05/15/2022] [Accepted: 05/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022]
Abstract
Children born preterm (<37 weeks’ gestation) show a specific vulnerability for socio-emotional difficulties, which may lead to an increased likelihood of developing behavioral and psychiatric problems in adolescence and adulthood. The accurate decoding of emotional signals from faces represents a fundamental prerequisite for early social interactions, allowing children to derive information about others’ feelings and intentions. The present study aims to explore possible differences between preterm and full-term children in the ability to detect emotional expressions, as well as possible relationships between this ability and socio-emotional skills and problem behaviors during everyday activities. We assessed 55 school-age children (n = 34 preterm and n = 21 full-term) with a cognitive battery that ensured comparable cognitive abilities between the two groups. Moreover, children were asked to identify emotional expressions from pictures of peers’ faces (Emotion Recognition Task). Finally, children’s emotional, social and behavioral outcomes were assessed with parent-reported questionnaires. The results revealed that preterm children were less accurate than full-term children in detecting positive emotional expressions and they showed poorer social and behavioral outcomes. Notably, correlational analyses showed a relationship between the ability to recognize emotional expressions and socio-emotional functioning. The present study highlights that early difficulties in decoding emotional signals from faces may be critically linked to emotional and behavioral regulation problems, with important implications for the development of social skills and effective interpersonal interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Letizia Della Longa
- Developmental Psychology and Socialization Department, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy;
| | - Chiara Nosarti
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, King’s College London, London SE5 8AF, UK;
| | - Teresa Farroni
- Developmental Psychology and Socialization Department, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy;
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30
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Developmental trajectories of social cognition from preschool to adolescence. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2022; 31:819-828. [PMID: 33492481 DOI: 10.1007/s00787-021-01719-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2020] [Accepted: 01/11/2021] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
This longitudinal study aims to define the developmental trajectories of social cognition (SC) in a community sample (N = 378) assessed from preschool (3 years old) to preadolescence (12 years old). Parents and teachers reported on a SC measure at ages 5, 10, and 12. We tested the existence of different trajectories and whether they discriminated outcomes in early adolescence. The data were collected from different sources, the children, the parents, and teachers, by means of different methods. Using Growth Mixture Modeling (GMM), we identified three distinct social cognition trajectories: persistently mild difficulties reported by parents and teachers (7.9% of the children), stable low problems reported by parents and increased difficulties reported by teachers (10.5% of the sample), and stable low problems reported by both informants for most of the participants (81.5%). Comparison of the psychological outcomes between classes using regression models showed that the two trajectories including children with any level of problems differ from the normative one as regards their association with psychological problems, daily functioning, and variables, such as aggressive behavior and callousness. The two non-normative trajectories also differ from each other in terms of the personal characteristics of the adolescents included in them. Adolescents in the increasing problematic class in the school have a tougher and more problematic style of social relating, while children with persistent and non-context-dependent difficulties are more anxious. These results might help to better detect and design specific interventions for children with deficits in SC that might respond to different personal characteristics leading to different outcomes.
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31
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Samara I, Roth TS, Nikolic M, Prochazkova E, Kret ME. Can third-party observers detect attraction in others based on subtle nonverbal cues? CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2022; 42:1-15. [PMID: 35431520 PMCID: PMC8990491 DOI: 10.1007/s12144-022-02927-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
In a series of three studies, we examined whether third-party observers can detect attraction in others based on subtle nonverbal cues. We employed video segments of dates collected from a speed-dating experiment, in which daters went on a brief (approx. 4 min) blind-date and indicated whether they would like to go on another date with their brief interaction partner or not. We asked participants to view these stimuli and indicate whether or not each couple member is attracted to their partner. Our results show that participants could not reliably detect attraction, and this ability was not influenced by the age of the observer, video segment location (beginning or middle of the date), video duration, or general emotion recognition capacity. Contrary to previous research findings, our findings suggest that third-party observers cannot reliably detect attraction in others. However, there was one exception: Recognition rose above chance level when the daters were both interested in their partners compared to when they were not interested. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-022-02927-0.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iliana Samara
- Cognitive Psychology Unit, Department of Psychology, Leiden University, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK Leiden, the Netherlands
- Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Tom S. Roth
- Cognitive Psychology Unit, Department of Psychology, Leiden University, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK Leiden, the Netherlands
- Apenheul Primate Park, Apeldoorn, the Netherlands
| | - Milica Nikolic
- Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Eliska Prochazkova
- Cognitive Psychology Unit, Department of Psychology, Leiden University, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK Leiden, the Netherlands
- Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Mariska E. Kret
- Cognitive Psychology Unit, Department of Psychology, Leiden University, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK Leiden, the Netherlands
- Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden, the Netherlands
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32
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Romani-Sponchiado A, Maia CP, Torres CN, Tavares I, Arteche AX. Emotional face expressions recognition in childhood: developmental markers, age and sex effect. Cogn Process 2022; 23:467-477. [PMID: 35362838 DOI: 10.1007/s10339-022-01086-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2021] [Accepted: 03/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Recognizing emotional face expressions in others is a valuable non-verbal communication and particularly relevant throughout childhood given that children's language skills are not yet fully developed, but the first interactions with peers have just started. This study aims to investigate developmental markers of emotional facial expression in children and the effect of age and sex on it. A total of 90 children split into three age groups: 6-7 years old (n = 30); 8-9 years old (n = 30); 10-11 years old (n = 30) took part in the study. Participants were exposed to 38 photos in two exposure times (500 ms and 1000 ms) of children expressing happiness, sadness, anger, disgust, fear and surprise on three intensities, plus images of neutral faces. Happiness was the easiest expression to be recognized, followed by disgust and surprise. As expected, 10-11-year-old group showed the highest accuracy means, whereas 6-7-year-old group had the lowest means of accuracy. Data support the non-existence of female advantage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aline Romani-Sponchiado
- Psychology Department, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande Do Sul (PUCRS), Av. Ipiranga 6681, Building 11, 9th Floor, Porto Alegre, RS, 90619-900, Brazil
| | - Cíntia Pacheco Maia
- Psychology Department, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande Do Sul (PUCRS), Av. Ipiranga 6681, Building 11, 9th Floor, Porto Alegre, RS, 90619-900, Brazil
| | - Carol Nunes Torres
- Psychology Department, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande Do Sul (PUCRS), Av. Ipiranga 6681, Building 11, 9th Floor, Porto Alegre, RS, 90619-900, Brazil
| | - Inajá Tavares
- Psychology Department, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande Do Sul (PUCRS), Av. Ipiranga 6681, Building 11, 9th Floor, Porto Alegre, RS, 90619-900, Brazil
| | - Adriane Xavier Arteche
- Psychology Department, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande Do Sul (PUCRS), Av. Ipiranga 6681, Building 11, 9th Floor, Porto Alegre, RS, 90619-900, Brazil.
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Sandre A, Morningstar M, Farrell-Reeves A, Dirks M, Weinberg A. Adolescents and young adults differ in their neural response to and recognition of adolescent and adult emotional faces. Psychophysiology 2022; 59:e14060. [PMID: 35357699 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2021] [Revised: 02/25/2022] [Accepted: 03/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Peer relationships become increasingly important during adolescence. The success of these relationships may rely on the ability to attend to and decode subtle or ambiguous emotional expressions that are common in social interactions. However, most studies examining youths' processing and labeling of facial emotion have employed adult faces and faces that depict emotional extremes as stimuli. In this study, 40 adolescents and 40 young adults viewed blends of angry-neutral, fearful-neutral, and happy-neutral faces (e.g., 100% angry, 66% angry, 33% angry, neutral) portrayed by adolescent and adult actors as electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded. Participants also labeled these faces according to the emotion expressed (i.e., angry, fearful, happy, or neutral). The Late Positive Potential (LPP), an event-related potential (ERP) component that reflects sustained attention to motivationally salient information, was scored from the EEG following face presentation. Among adolescents, as peer-age faces moved from ambiguous (33%) to unambiguous (100%) emotional expression, the LPP similarly increased. These effects were not found when adolescents viewed emotional face blends portrayed by adult actors. Additionally, while both adolescents and young adults showed greater emotion labeling accuracy as faces increased in emotional intensity from ambiguous to unambiguous emotional expression, adolescent participants did not show greater accuracy when labeling peer-compared to adult-age faces. Together, these data suggest that adolescents attend more to subtle differences in peer-age emotional faces, but they do not label these emotional expressions more accurately than adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aislinn Sandre
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | | | | | - Melanie Dirks
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Anna Weinberg
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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Sarauskyte L, Monciunskaite R, Griksiene R. The role of sex and emotion on emotion perception in artificial faces: An ERP study. Brain Cogn 2022; 159:105860. [PMID: 35339916 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2022.105860] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2021] [Revised: 02/08/2022] [Accepted: 03/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Sex has a significant impact on the perception of emotional expressions. However, it remains unclear whether sex influences the perception of emotions in artificial faces, which are becoming popular in emotion research. We used an emotion recognition task with FaceGen faces portraying six basic emotions aiming to investigate the effect of sex and emotion on behavioural and electrophysiological parameters. 71 participants performed the task while EEG was recorded. The recognition of sadness was the poorest, however, females recognized sadness better than males. ERP results indicated that fear, disgust, and anger evoked higher amplitudes of late positive potential over the left parietal region compared to neutral expression. Females demonstrated higher values of global field power as compared to males. The interaction between sex and emotion on ERPs was not significant. The results of our study may be valuable for future therapies and research, as it emphasizes possibly distinct processing of emotions and potential sex differences in the recognition of emotional expressions in FaceGen faces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Livija Sarauskyte
- Vilnius University, Life Sciences Center, Institute of Biosciences, Vilnius, Lithuania.
| | - Rasa Monciunskaite
- Vilnius University, Life Sciences Center, Institute of Biosciences, Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Ramune Griksiene
- Vilnius University, Life Sciences Center, Institute of Biosciences, Vilnius, Lithuania
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35
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Tripoli G, Quattrone D, Ferraro L, Gayer-Anderson C, La Cascia C, La Barbera D, Sartorio C, Seminerio F, Rodriguez V, Tarricone I, Berardi D, Jamain S, Arango C, Tortelli A, Llorca PM, de Haan L, Velthorst E, Bobes J, Bernardo M, Sanjuán J, Luis Santos J, Arrojo M, Marta Del-Ben C, Rossi Menezes P, van der Ven E, Jones PB, Jongsma HE, Kirkbride JB, Tosato S, Lasalvia A, Richards A, O’Donovan M, Rutten BPF, van Os J, Morgan C, Sham PC, Di Forti M, Murray RM, Murray GK. Facial Emotion Recognition in Psychosis and Associations With Polygenic Risk for Schizophrenia: Findings From the Multi-Center EU-GEI Case-Control Study. Schizophr Bull 2022; 48:1104-1114. [PMID: 35325253 PMCID: PMC9434422 DOI: 10.1093/schbul/sbac022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESIS Facial Emotion Recognition is a key domain of social cognition associated with psychotic disorders as a candidate intermediate phenotype. In this study, we set out to investigate global and specific facial emotion recognition deficits in first-episode psychosis, and whether polygenic liability to psychotic disorders is associated with facial emotion recognition. STUDY DESIGN 828 First Episode Psychosis (FEP) patients and 1308 population-based controls completed assessments of the Degraded Facial Affect Recognition Task (DFAR) and a subsample of 524 FEP and 899 controls provided blood or saliva samples from which we extracted DNA, performed genotyping and computed polygenic risk scores for schizophrenia (SZ), bipolar disorder (BD), and major depressive disorder (MD). STUDY RESULTS A worse ability to globally recognize facial emotion expressions was found in patients compared with controls [B= -1.5 (0.6), 95% CI -2.7 to -0.3], with evidence for stronger effects on negative emotions (fear [B = -3.3 (1.1), 95% CI -5.3 to -1.2] and anger [B = -2.3 (1.1), 95% CI -4.6 to -0.1]) than on happiness [B = 0.3 (0.7), 95% CI -1 to 1.7]. Pooling all participants, and controlling for confounds including case/control status, facial anger recognition was associated significantly with Schizophrenia Polygenic Risk Score (SZ PRS) [B = -3.5 (1.7), 95% CI -6.9 to -0.2]. CONCLUSIONS Psychosis is associated with impaired recognition of fear and anger, and higher SZ PRS is associated with worse facial anger recognition. Our findings provide evidence that facial emotion recognition of anger might play a role as an intermediate phenotype for psychosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giada Tripoli
- To whom correspondence should be addressed; Department of Biomedicine, Neuroscience, and Advanced Diagnostics, University of Palermo, Via G. La Loggia 1, 90129 Palermo, Italy, tel: +39(0)916555641, e-mail:
| | - Diego Quattrone
- Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK,National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, King’s College London, London, UK,Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany and National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Mental Health Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London, UK
| | - Laura Ferraro
- Department of Biomedicine, Neuroscience, and Advanced Diagnostics, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Charlotte Gayer-Anderson
- Department of Health Service and Population Research, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, London, UK
| | - Caterina La Cascia
- Department of Biomedicine, Neuroscience, and Advanced Diagnostics, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Daniele La Barbera
- Department of Biomedicine, Neuroscience, and Advanced Diagnostics, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Crocettarachele Sartorio
- Department of Biomedicine, Neuroscience, and Advanced Diagnostics, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Fabio Seminerio
- Department of Biomedicine, Neuroscience, and Advanced Diagnostics, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Victoria Rodriguez
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK
| | - Ilaria Tarricone
- Department of Medical and Surgical Science, Psychiatry Unit, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Domenico Berardi
- Department of Biomedical and NeuroMotor Sciences, Psychiatry Unit, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Stéphane Jamain
- Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Faculté de Médecine, Université Paris-Est, Creteil, France
| | - Celso Arango
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry and Mental Health. Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, School of Medicine, Universidad Complutense, IiSGM, CIBERSAM, Madrid, Spain
| | | | | | - Lieuwe de Haan
- Department of Psychiatry, Early Psychosis Section, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Eva Velthorst
- Department of Psychiatry, Early Psychosis Section, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands,Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NY
| | - Julio Bobes
- Department of Medicine, Psychiatry Area, School of Medicine, Universidad de Oviedo, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Oviedo, Spain
| | - Miquel Bernardo
- Barcelona Clinic Schizophrenia Unit, Neuroscience Institute, Hospital clinic, Department of Medicine, University of Barcelona, IDIBAPS, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Julio Sanjuán
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Universidad de Valencia, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Valencia, Spain
| | - Jose Luis Santos
- Department of Psychiatry, Servicio de Psiquiatría Hospital “Virgen de la Luz”, Cuenca, Spain
| | - Manuel Arrojo
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychiatric Genetic Group, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Santiago de Compostela, Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Cristina Marta Del-Ben
- Division of Psychiatry, Department of Neuroscience and Behaviour, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Paulo Rossi Menezes
- Department of Preventive Medicine, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Els van der Ven
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, South Limburg Mental Health Research and Teaching Network, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands,Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Clinical, Neuro- and Developmental Psychology
| | - Peter B Jones
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK,CAMEO Early Intervention Service, Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
| | - Hannah E Jongsma
- Psylife Group, Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK
| | - James B Kirkbride
- Psylife Group, Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK
| | - Sarah Tosato
- Section of Psychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Antonio Lasalvia
- Section of Psychiatry, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Integrata di Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Alex Richards
- Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Michael O’Donovan
- Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Bart P F Rutten
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, South Limburg Mental Health Research and Teaching Network, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Jim van Os
- Department of Biomedicine, Neuroscience, and Advanced Diagnostics, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy,Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, South Limburg Mental Health Research and Teaching Network, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands,Department Psychiatry, Brain Centre Rudolf Magnus, Utrecht University Medical Centre, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Craig Morgan
- Department of Health Service and Population Research, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, London, UK
| | - Pak C Sham
- Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK,Centre for Genomic Sciences, Li KaShing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Marta Di Forti
- Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK,National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, King’s College London, London, UK
| | - Robin M Murray
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK
| | - Graham K Murray
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK,CAMEO Early Intervention Service, Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK,Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, Australia
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Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children and Adolescents: Cognitive and Emotional Representations. CHILDREN 2022; 9:children9030359. [PMID: 35327734 PMCID: PMC8946934 DOI: 10.3390/children9030359] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2022] [Revised: 02/26/2022] [Accepted: 03/01/2022] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
The present research investigated children and adolescents’ explicit and spontaneous representation of the COVID-19 pandemic and their related emotions, cognitions, and coping strategies. We explored the self-reported protective factors and coping mechanisms, in addition to similar attributional emotional experiences, i.e., the ways participants evaluated others’ pandemic experiences. Our sample consisted of 155 children and adolescents aged 10 to 13 (M = 10.70, SD = 0.85, 56.1% females). We designed a 12-item survey and analyzed our data using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Our findings suggested that most children and adolescents associated masks with the thought of the novel coronavirus, and the most frequently associated emotion was sadness (45.2%), followed by fear (17.4%). Generally, participants reported a medium level of perceived adverse effects of the pandemic, mainly because their regular physical school classes moved to the online setting. We also found a significant association between children’s self-reported levels of harmful effects of the pandemic and perceived adverse effects on their families. Most participants expressed their dissatisfaction concerning online school classes, primarily due to poor online interaction. In our sample, the children and adolescents reported positive thoughts and family relationships as their primary coping mechanisms during the pandemic, suggesting similar perceived coping mechanisms in the others around them. Finally, more than half of the participants considered that the COVID-19 pandemic had no positive effects, while 40% considered the increased time spent with their families the primary positive consequences following the COVID-19 health crisis. Results are discussed regarding their implications concerning healthcare, social, and educational policies.
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Leung FYN, Sin J, Dawson C, Ong JH, Zhao C, Veić A, Liu F. Emotion recognition across visual and auditory modalities in autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. DEVELOPMENTAL REVIEW 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.dr.2021.101000] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
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García-Guerrero MA, Peña J, Zubiaurre-Elorza L, Benítez D, Hernández AM, Oribe A, Ojeda N. Voice, Body Cues and Facial Expression in Emotion Recognition of Spanish Children and Adolescents: The Validation of Bell-Lysaker Emotion Recognition Test. THE SPANISH JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY 2022; 25:e7. [PMID: 35129107 DOI: 10.1017/sjp.2022.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Emotion recognition has been traditionally measured trough the recognition of emotional expressions of static faces. Studies suggest that emotion recognition is progressively acquired from early stages in our infancy. However, the literature regarding other emotional domains such as voice or body movements is scarce. Additionally, the number of tools that integrate several domains is limited, especially in children and adolescents, and none of them tested in Spanish samples. Therefore, this study aimed to define the psychometric properties of the Bell-Lysaker Emotion Recognition Task (BLERT) and a new-designed alternate version providing normative data in Spanish children and adolescents (from 8 to 15 years old corresponding to 3th). Moreover, we aim to describe the emotional acquisition trajectory of children and adolescents with a tool that integrates voice, face expressions and body movements. For that purpose, BLERT was translated into Spanish (BLERT-SI) and an alternate version was created (BLERT-SII). A total of 545 children and adolescents from 8 to 15 year-old participated in the study (250 male/295 female). All participants fulfilled BLERT-SI and BLERT-SII within two weeks of difference. Order of presentation was counterbalanced. Results showed that BLERT-SI and SII have good internal consistency (α = .70 and 71 respectively). Test-retest reliability showed a moderate correlation (r = .45; p < .001). Percentages equivalences per age are provided. Age correlated with BLERT-SI (r = .31; p < .001) and BLERT-SII (r = .21; p < .001), showing a progressive acquisition and development of emotion recognition during this period. BLERT-SI and SII are useful tools when studying the follow-up of children and adolescents.
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Abstract
Social cognitive deficits can have many negative consequences, spanning social withdrawal to psychopathology. Prior work has shown that child maltreatment may associate with poorer social cognitive skills in later life. However, no studies have examined this association from early childhood into adolescence. Using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC; n = 4,438), we examined the association between maltreatment (caregiver physical or emotional abuse; sexual or physical abuse), assessed repeatedly (every 1-3 years) from birth to age 9, and social cognitive skills at ages 7.5, 10.5, and 14 years. We evaluated the role of both the developmental timing (defined by age at exposure) and accumulation of maltreatment (defined as the number of occasions exposed) using a least angle regression variable selection procedure, followed by structural equation modeling. Among females, accumulation of maltreatment explained the most variation in social cognitive skills. For males, no significant associations were found. These findings underscore the importance of early intervention to minimize the accumulation of maltreatment and showcase the importance of prospective studies to understand the development of social cognition over time.
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Rochat MJ. Sex and gender differences in the development of empathy. J Neurosci Res 2022; 101:718-729. [PMID: 35043464 DOI: 10.1002/jnr.25009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2020] [Revised: 12/22/2021] [Accepted: 12/28/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
The topic of typical sex and gender difference in empathy is examined in both a developmental and neuroscientific perspective. Empathy is construed as a multi-layered phenomenon with various degrees of complexity unfolding in ontogeny. The different components of empathy (i.e., affective, cognitive, and prosocial motivation) will be discussed as they interact and are expressed behaviorally. Significant sex/gender differences in empathy are discussed in relation to putative bottom-up or top-down processes underlying empathetic responses. The early onset and the pervasive presence of such sex/gender differences throughout the lifespan are further discussed in light of social and neurobiological modeling factors, including early socialization, brain's structural/functional variances, as well as genetics and hormonal factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Magali Jane Rochat
- Functional and Molecular Neuroimaging Unit, IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
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Culture shapes preschoolers’ emotion recognition but not emotion comprehension: a cross-cultural study in Germany and Singapore. JOURNAL OF CULTURAL COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s41809-021-00093-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
AbstractContemporary approaches suggest that emotions are shaped by culture. Children growing up in different cultures experience culture-specific emotion socialization practices. As a result, children growing up in Western societies (e.g., US or UK) rely on explicit, semantic information, whereas children from East Asian cultures (e.g., China or Japan) are more sensitive towards implicit, contextual cues when confronted with others’ emotions. The aim of the present study was to investigate two aspects of preschoolers’ emotion understanding (emotion recognition and emotion comprehension) in a cross-cultural setting. To this end, Singaporean and German preschoolers were tested with an emotion recognition task employing European-American and East Asian child’s faces and the Test of Emotion Comprehension (TEC; Pons et al., 2004). In total, 129 German and Singaporean preschoolers (mean age 5.34 years) participated. Results indicate that preschoolers were able to recognize emotions of child’s faces above chance level. In line with previous findings, Singaporean preschoolers were more accurate in recognizing emotions from facial stimuli compared to German preschoolers. Accordingly, Singaporean preschoolers outperformed German preschoolers in the Recognition component of the TEC. The overall performance in TEC did not differ between the two samples. Findings of this study provide further evidence that emotion understanding is culturally shaped in accordance with culture-specific emotion socialization practices.
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Perez V, Garrido-Chaves R, Zapater-Fajarí M, Pulopulos MM, Barbosa F, Hidalgo V, Salvador A. Deficits in facial emotional valence processing in older people with subjective memory complaints: Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence. Psychophysiology 2021; 59:e13989. [PMID: 34927249 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13989] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2021] [Revised: 11/25/2021] [Accepted: 11/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Subjective memory complaints (SMCs), which occur in the absence of clinical memory deficits, may precede mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or Alzheimer's disease (AD). Some studies have reported a deficit in facial emotion processing in people with MCI or AD. However, it is unclear whether this deficit is also present in older people with SMCs. The present study used behavioral measurements and event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate the facial emotion processing of 41 older people with SMCs and 38 without SMCs. The task contained 204 images displaying facial emotions (positive, negative, and neutral). In terms of behavior, our results showed that participants with SMCs were slower and less accurate than controls. In terms of ERPs, the N170 latency was longer in men with SMCs than in controls, whereas no differences were observed between groups in the P300 and late positive potential (LPP) latencies or amplitudes. Moreover, in participants with SMCs, higher P300 and LPP amplitudes were related to better performance on working memory, psychomotor speed, and attention. Additionally, women were faster and more accurate than men on the facial emotion-processing task. In sum, these results suggest that older people with SMCs may have deficits in the processing of facial expressions of emotion. However, this deficit seems to affect the structural encoding of faces, rather than the late stages of processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vanesa Perez
- Laboratory of Social Cognitive Neuroscience, IDOCAL, Department of Psychobiology, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
| | - Ruth Garrido-Chaves
- Laboratory of Social Cognitive Neuroscience, IDOCAL, Department of Psychobiology, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
| | - Mariola Zapater-Fajarí
- Laboratory of Social Cognitive Neuroscience, IDOCAL, Department of Psychobiology, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
| | - Matias M Pulopulos
- Laboratory of Social Cognitive Neuroscience, IDOCAL, Department of Psychobiology, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.,Department of Psychology and Sociology, Area of Psychobiology, University of Zaragoza, IIS Aragón, Teruel, Spain
| | - Fernando Barbosa
- Laboratory of Neuropsychophysiology, Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Vanesa Hidalgo
- Laboratory of Social Cognitive Neuroscience, IDOCAL, Department of Psychobiology, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.,Department of Psychology and Sociology, Area of Psychobiology, University of Zaragoza, IIS Aragón, Teruel, Spain
| | - Alicia Salvador
- Laboratory of Social Cognitive Neuroscience, IDOCAL, Department of Psychobiology, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
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Galarneau E, Colasante T, Speidel R, Malti T. Correlates of children's sympathy: Recognition and regulation of sadness and anger. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/sode.12577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Emma Galarneau
- Department of Psychology University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Centre for Child Development, Mental Health, and Policy University of Toronto Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
| | - Tyler Colasante
- Department of Psychology University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Centre for Child Development, Mental Health, and Policy University of Toronto Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
| | - Ruth Speidel
- Department of Psychology University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Centre for Child Development, Mental Health, and Policy University of Toronto Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
| | - Tina Malti
- Department of Psychology University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Centre for Child Development, Mental Health, and Policy University of Toronto Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
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Barisnikov K, Thomasson M, Stutzmann J, Lejeune F. Sensitivity to Emotion Intensity and Recognition of Emotion Expression in Neurotypical Children. CHILDREN (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2021; 8:children8121108. [PMID: 34943304 PMCID: PMC8700579 DOI: 10.3390/children8121108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2021] [Revised: 11/22/2021] [Accepted: 11/25/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
This study assessed two components of face emotion processing: emotion recognition and sensitivity to intensity of emotion expressions and their relation in children age 4 to 12 (N = 216). Results indicated a slower development in the accurate decoding of low intensity expressions compared to high intensity. Between age 4 and 12, children discriminated high intensity expressions better than low ones. The intensity of expression had a stronger impact on overall face expression recognition. High intensity happiness was better recognized than low intensity up to age 11, while children 4 to 12 had difficulties discriminating between high and low intensity sadness. Our results suggest that sensitivity to low intensity expressions acts as a complementary mediator between age and emotion expression recognition, while this was not the case for the recognition of high intensity expressions. These results could help in the development of specific interventions for populations presenting socio-cognitive and emotion difficulties.
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Taamallah A, Halayem S, Rajhi O, Ghazzai M, Moussa M, Touati M, Ayadi HBY, Ouanes S, Abbes ZS, Hajri M, Jelili S, Fakhfakh R, Bouden A. Validation of the Tunisian Test for Facial Emotions Recognition: Study in Children From 7 to 12 Years Old. Front Psychol 2021; 12:643749. [PMID: 34880800 PMCID: PMC8645551 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.643749] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2021] [Accepted: 10/01/2021] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: Facial expressions transmit information about emotional state, facilitating communication and regulation in interpersonal relationships. Their acute recognition is essential in social adaptation and lacks among children suffering from autism spectrum disorders. The aim of our study was to validate the "Recognition of Facial Emotions: Tunisian Test for Children" among Tunisian children in order to assess facial emotion recognition in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among neurotypical children from the general population. The final version of or test consisted of a static subtest of 114 photographs and a dynamic subtest of 36 videos expressing the six basic emotions (happiness, anger, sadness, disgust, fear and surprise), presented by actors of different ages and genders. The test items were coded according to Ekman's "Facial Action Coding System" method. The validation study focused on the validity of the content, the validity of the construct and the reliability. Results: We included 116 neurotypical children, from 7 to 12 years old. Our population was made up of 54 boys and 62 girls. The reliability's study showed good internal consistency for each subtest: the Cronbach coefficient was 0.88 for the static subtest and 0.85 for the dynamic subtest. The study of the internal structure through the exploratory factor analysis of the items of emotions and those of intensity showed that the distribution of the items in sub-domains was similar to their theoretical distribution. Age was significantly correlated to the mean of the overall score for both subtests (p < 10-3). Gender was no significantly correlated to the overall score (p = 0.15). High intensity photographs were better recognized. The emotion of happiness was the most recognized in both subtests. A significant difference between the overall score of the static and dynamic subtest, in favor of the dynamic one, was identified (p < 10-3). Conclusion: This work provides clinicians with a reliable tool to assess recognition of facial emotions in typically developing children.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Soumeyya Halayem
- Hôpital Razi, Manouba, Tunisia
- Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Sami Ouanes
- Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia
- Department of Psychiatry, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
| | - Zeineb S. Abbes
- Hôpital Razi, Manouba, Tunisia
- Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Melek Hajri
- Hôpital Razi, Manouba, Tunisia
- Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Selima Jelili
- Hôpital Razi, Manouba, Tunisia
- Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia
| | | | - Asma Bouden
- Hôpital Razi, Manouba, Tunisia
- Faculty of Medicine, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia
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Lin Y, Ding H, Zhang Y. Unisensory and Multisensory Stroop Effects Modulate Gender Differences in Verbal and Nonverbal Emotion Perception. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2021; 64:4439-4457. [PMID: 34469179 DOI: 10.1044/2021_jslhr-20-00338] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Purpose This study aimed to examine the Stroop effects of verbal and nonverbal cues and their relative impacts on gender differences in unisensory and multisensory emotion perception. Method Experiment 1 investigated how well 88 normal Chinese adults (43 women and 45 men) could identify emotions conveyed through face, prosody and semantics as three independent channels. Experiments 2 and 3 further explored gender differences during multisensory integration of emotion through a cross-channel (prosody-semantics) and a cross-modal (face-prosody-semantics) Stroop task, respectively, in which 78 participants (41 women and 37 men) were asked to selectively attend to one of the two or three communication channels. Results The integration of accuracy and reaction time data indicated that paralinguistic cues (i.e., face and prosody) of emotions were consistently more salient than linguistic ones (i.e., semantics) throughout the study. Additionally, women demonstrated advantages in processing all three types of emotional signals in the unisensory task, but only preserved their strengths in paralinguistic processing and showed greater Stroop effects of nonverbal cues on verbal ones during multisensory perception. Conclusions These findings demonstrate clear gender differences in verbal and nonverbal emotion perception that are modulated by sensory channels, which have important theoretical and practical implications. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.16435599.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Lin
- Speech-Language-Hearing Center, School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
| | - Hongwei Ding
- Speech-Language-Hearing Center, School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
| | - Yang Zhang
- Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences & Center for Neurobehavioral Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
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Acland EL, Jambon M, Malti T. Children's emotion recognition and aggression: A multi-cohort longitudinal study. Aggress Behav 2021; 47:646-658. [PMID: 34369593 DOI: 10.1002/ab.21989] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2020] [Revised: 07/19/2021] [Accepted: 07/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
Difficulty recognizing negative emotions (NEs) in children is linked to increased antisocial traits and externalizing problems. However, crucial aspects of this relation remain unclear, such as: whether NE recognition is associated with externalizing problems in general or only a particular subcomponent (i.e., aggression); whether subcomponents of NE recognition (i.e., insensitivity and misspecifications) are relatively more important; and how these relations change over the course of development. We assessed emotion recognition, overt aggression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms in an ethnically diverse sample of Canadian children (N = 150; 4-year-olds, N = 148; 8-year-olds) and followed up with them 1 year later (86.9% retention). Emotion recognition was assessed using a behavioral task and caregivers reported on children's externalizing symptoms. Children with lower NE recognition had higher initial, but not subsequent, overt aggression, even when controlling for nonaggressive externalizing symptoms (i.e., ADHD and ODD symptoms). NE recognition was not concurrently or longitudinally associated with nonaggressive externalizing symptoms. Age and gender did not moderate these findings. Both higher NE insensitivity (e.g., reporting a sad face appears neutral) and misspecifications (e.g., reporting a sad face appears angry) were significantly associated with higher concurrent overt aggression. In conclusion, both NE insensitivity and misspecifications were found to be uniquely important for children's overt aggression. These findings highlight the importance of different forms of NE recognition and differentiating between aggressive and nonaggressive externalizing problems in children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erinn L. Acland
- Department of Psychology University of Toronto Toronto Canada
- Centre for Child Development, Mental Health, and Policy University of Toronto Mississauga Mississauga Canada
| | - Marc Jambon
- Department of Psychology University of Toronto Toronto Canada
- Centre for Child Development, Mental Health, and Policy University of Toronto Mississauga Mississauga Canada
| | - Tina Malti
- Department of Psychology University of Toronto Toronto Canada
- Centre for Child Development, Mental Health, and Policy University of Toronto Mississauga Mississauga Canada
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Elucidating the neural correlates of emotion recognition in children with sub-clinical anxiety. J Psychiatr Res 2021; 143:75-83. [PMID: 34461352 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.08.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2020] [Revised: 05/31/2021] [Accepted: 08/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The pervasiveness of subclinical anxiety in children, highlights the need to identify its neurobiological underpinnings to better inform interventions. Given the now well-established link between aberrant emotion processing and anxiety disorders and yet limited neurobiologically-informed research in this area, this study examined the neural correlates of emotion recognition (ER) in children with sub-clinical anxiety. METHOD Ninety children (aged 9-11 years) with sub-clinical anxiety, completed an emotion recognition task whilst undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging. The ER task required participants to match shapes and match emotional faces in the context of shape distractors. Participants also completed the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (SCAS). RESULTS Greater blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) changes associated with ER were observed in the lateral occipital cortex, middle frontal gyrus, superior middle frontal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, superior parietal lobule, inferior parietal lobule, superior temporal gyrus, and middle temporal gyrus symmetrically. The clusters also included posterior cingulate cortex, insula, hippocampus, amygdala and cerebellum during matching emotions than those matching shapes. Females showed greater BOLD changes associated with ER than males in the right middle frontal gyrus. The BOLD changes associated with ER in the right middle frontal gyrus and right insula were greater in children with SCAS subscale (physical injury fear) scores in the normal range than those with elevated scores. DISCUSSION The findings in this study implicate the right middle frontal gyrus and insula as key regions in the neurobiological underpinnings of sub-clinical anxiety as they relate to attention impairments in anxious children. CONCLUSION The results of this study indicate there are gender differences in young participants during emotion processing and provides a neurobiological target for attention impairments in anxious children.
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Cordeiro T, Botelho J, Mendonça C. Relationship Between the Self-Concept of Children and Their Ability to Recognize Emotions in Others. Front Psychol 2021; 12:672919. [PMID: 34712163 PMCID: PMC8545983 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.672919] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2021] [Accepted: 09/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between the self-concept of children and their ability to recognize emotions in others from facial expressions. It is hypothesized that children use their self-representations to interpret depictions of emotion in others and that higher self-concepts might be associated with earlier development of emotion recognition skills. A total of 54 children aged between 5 and 11 years participated in this study. Self-concept was assessed in all children using the Piers-Harris Self-Concept Scale for Children (Piers-Harris 2). To assess emotion recognition, a computerized instrument, the Penn Emotion Recognition Task (PERT), was applied. Despite the small sample of children, results show clear statistical effects. It is shown that emotion recognition ability is directly correlated with self-concept for intellectual/school status. The ability to correctly identify emotions from facial expressions is affected by general self-concept, intellectual/school status, and stimulus features of gender, intensity, and emotion. Further analysis shows that the general self-concept of children particularly affects the ability to identify happy faces. Children with a higher intellectual status score recognize happiness and neutral faces more easily. We concluded that the self-concept in children relates to the ability to recognize emotions in others, particularly positive emotions. These findings provide some support to the simulation theory of social cognition, where children use their own self-representations to interpret mental states in others. The effect of the self-concept for intellectual status on emotion recognition might also indicate that intellectual abilities act as a mediator between self-concept and emotion recognition, but further studies are needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teresa Cordeiro
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, Azores University, Ponta Delgada, Portugal
| | - Júlia Botelho
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, Azores University, Ponta Delgada, Portugal
| | - Catarina Mendonça
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, Azores University, Ponta Delgada, Portugal
- Center for Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, Porto University, Porto, Portugal
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Barrick EM, Thornton MA, Tamir DI. Mask exposure during COVID-19 changes emotional face processing. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0258470. [PMID: 34637454 PMCID: PMC8509869 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0258470] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2020] [Accepted: 09/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Faces are one of the key ways that we obtain social information about others. They allow people to identify individuals, understand conversational cues, and make judgements about others' mental states. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, widespread mask-wearing practices were implemented, causing a shift in the way Americans typically interact. This introduction of masks into social exchanges posed a potential challenge-how would people make these important inferences about others when a large source of information was no longer available? We conducted two studies that investigated the impact of mask exposure on emotion perception. In particular, we measured how participants used facial landmarks (visual cues) and the expressed valence and arousal (affective cues), to make similarity judgements about pairs of emotion faces. Study 1 found that in August 2020, participants with higher levels of mask exposure used cues from the eyes to a greater extent when judging emotion similarity than participants with less mask exposure. Study 2 measured participants' emotion perception in both April and September 2020 -before and after widespread mask adoption-in the same group of participants to examine changes in the use of facial cues over time. Results revealed an overall increase in the use of visual cues from April to September. Further, as mask exposure increased, people with the most social interaction showed the largest increase in the use of visual facial cues. These results provide evidence that a shift has occurred in how people process faces such that the more people are interacting with others that are wearing masks, the more they have learned to focus on visual cues from the eye area of the face.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elyssa M. Barrick
- Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, United States of America
| | - Mark A. Thornton
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, United States of America
| | - Diana I. Tamir
- Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, United States of America
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