Associations between Facial Emotion Recognition and Mental Health in Early Adolescence

Gabrielle Simcock; Larisa McLoughlin; Tamara De Regt; Kathryn Broadhouse; Denise Beaudequin; Jim Lagopoulos; Daniel F Hermens

doi:10.3390/ijerph17010330

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Associations between Facial Emotion Recognition and Mental Health in Early Adolescence

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Associations between Facial Emotion Recognition and Mental Health in Early Adolescence

Gabrielle Simcock, Larisa McLoughlin, Tamara De Regt, Kathryn Broadhouse, Denise Beaudequin, Jim Lagopoulos and Daniel F Hermens

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol.17(1), 330

2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17010330

PMCID: PMC6981578

PMID: 31947739

Appears in Thompson Institute Research Collection

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Abstract

facial emotion recognition

adolescence

mental health

emotion processing bias

Youth mental health

Longitudinal Adolescent Brain Study

Thompson Institute Special Collection

UniSC Diversity Area - Life Stages

Research shows that adolescents with mental illnesses have a bias for processing negative facial emotions, and this may play a role in impaired social functioning that often co-exists with a mental health diagnosis. This study examined associations between psychological and somatic problems and facial emotion recognition in early adolescence; as any processing biases in this age-group may be an early indicator of later mental illnesses. A community sample of 40 12-year-olds self-rated their symptoms of anxiety, depression, and somatization via two mental health screeners. They also completed a computerized emotion recognition task in which they identified photographs of 40 faces showing expressions of anger, fear, sadness, happiness, or neutral expression. Results showed that increased symptoms of anxiety, depression, and somatization were significantly associated with fewer correct responses to angry expressions. These symptoms were also associated with faster and more accurate recognition of fearful expressions. However, there was no association between mental health and recognition of sad affect. Finally, increased psychological and/or somatic symptomology was also associated with better identification of neutral expressions. In conclusion, youth with increased psychological and/or somatic problems exhibited a processing bias for negative anger and fear expressions, but not sadness. They showed better processing of neutral faces than youth with fewer psychological and/or somatic problems. Findings are discussed in relation to indicators of mental illnesses in early adolescence and the potential underpinning neural mechanisms associated with mental health and emotional facial recognition.

Details

Title: Associations between Facial Emotion Recognition and Mental Health in Early Adolescence
Authors: Gabrielle Simcock (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Larisa McLoughlin (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Tamara De Regt (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - School of Psychology
Kathryn Broadhouse (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Denise Beaudequin (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Jim Lagopoulos (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Daniel F Hermens (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Publication details: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol.17(1), 330; 11
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date published: 2020
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17010330
ISSN: 1661-7827
PMID: 31947739; PMC6981578
Copyright note: Copyright © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
Organisation Unit: School of Science and Engineering - Legacy; School of Health - Nursing; School of Social Sciences - Legacy; School of Health and Sport Sciences - Legacy; Thompson Institute; Engage Research Lab; School of Health - Psychology; School of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Legacy
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99450844302621
Output Type: Journal article

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