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The familial basis of facial emotion recognition deficits in adolescents with conduct disorder and their unaffected relatives

The familial basis of facial emotion recognition deficits in adolescents with conduct disorder and their unaffected relatives
The familial basis of facial emotion recognition deficits in adolescents with conduct disorder and their unaffected relatives
Background. There is accumulating evidence of impairments in facial emotion recognition in adolescents with conduct disorder (CD). However, the majority of studies in this area have only been able to demonstrate an association, rather than a causal link, between emotion recognition deficits and CD. To move closer towards understanding the causal pathways linking emotion recognition problems with CD, we studied emotion recognition in the unaffected first degree relatives of CD probands, as well as those with a diagnosis of CD.

Method. Using a family-based design, we investigated facial emotion recognition in probands with CD (n = 43), their unaffected relatives (n = 21), and healthy controls (n = 38). We used the Emotion Hexagon task, an alternative forced choice task using morphed facial expressions depicting the six primary emotions, to assess facial emotion recognition accuracy.

Results. Relative to controls, the CD group showed impaired recognition of anger, fear, happiness, sadness and surprise (all p < 0.005). Similar to probands with CD, unaffected relatives showed deficits in anger and happiness recognition relative to controls (all p < 0.008), with a trend toward a deficit in fear recognition. There were no significant differences in performance between the CD probands and the unaffected relatives following correction for multiple comparisons.

Conclusions. These results suggest that facial emotion recognition deficits are present in adolescents who are at increased familial risk for developing antisocial behaviour, as well as those who have already developed CD. Consequently, impaired emotion recognition appears to be a viable familial risk marker or candidate endophenotype for CD.
antisocial behaviour, callous-unemotional traits, conduct disorder, emotion recognition, endophenotype, family design, social cognition
0033-2917
Sully, Kate
3fa3e554-2598-4ccc-8da2-e580759f6fd6
Sonuga-Barke, Edmund J.S.
bc80bf95-6cf9-4c76-a09d-eaaf0b717635
Fairchild, Graeme
f99bc911-978e-48c2-9754-c6460666a95f
Sully, Kate
3fa3e554-2598-4ccc-8da2-e580759f6fd6
Sonuga-Barke, Edmund J.S.
bc80bf95-6cf9-4c76-a09d-eaaf0b717635
Fairchild, Graeme
f99bc911-978e-48c2-9754-c6460666a95f

Sully, Kate, Sonuga-Barke, Edmund J.S. and Fairchild, Graeme (2015) The familial basis of facial emotion recognition deficits in adolescents with conduct disorder and their unaffected relatives. Psychological Medicine. (doi:10.1017/S0033291714003080).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Background. There is accumulating evidence of impairments in facial emotion recognition in adolescents with conduct disorder (CD). However, the majority of studies in this area have only been able to demonstrate an association, rather than a causal link, between emotion recognition deficits and CD. To move closer towards understanding the causal pathways linking emotion recognition problems with CD, we studied emotion recognition in the unaffected first degree relatives of CD probands, as well as those with a diagnosis of CD.

Method. Using a family-based design, we investigated facial emotion recognition in probands with CD (n = 43), their unaffected relatives (n = 21), and healthy controls (n = 38). We used the Emotion Hexagon task, an alternative forced choice task using morphed facial expressions depicting the six primary emotions, to assess facial emotion recognition accuracy.

Results. Relative to controls, the CD group showed impaired recognition of anger, fear, happiness, sadness and surprise (all p < 0.005). Similar to probands with CD, unaffected relatives showed deficits in anger and happiness recognition relative to controls (all p < 0.008), with a trend toward a deficit in fear recognition. There were no significant differences in performance between the CD probands and the unaffected relatives following correction for multiple comparisons.

Conclusions. These results suggest that facial emotion recognition deficits are present in adolescents who are at increased familial risk for developing antisocial behaviour, as well as those who have already developed CD. Consequently, impaired emotion recognition appears to be a viable familial risk marker or candidate endophenotype for CD.

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15. Fairchild_Familial.basis.of.facial.emotion.pdf - Accepted Manuscript
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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 1 December 2014
e-pub ahead of print date: 22 January 2015
Keywords: antisocial behaviour, callous-unemotional traits, conduct disorder, emotion recognition, endophenotype, family design, social cognition
Organisations: Psychology

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 373947
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/373947
ISSN: 0033-2917
PURE UUID: 68270287-c2dc-42bb-b7d3-d8cd4853f520
ORCID for Graeme Fairchild: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-7814-9938

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Date deposited: 03 Feb 2015 14:28
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 18:59

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Contributors

Author: Kate Sully
Author: Edmund J.S. Sonuga-Barke
Author: Graeme Fairchild ORCID iD

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