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Does comorbid anxiety counteract emotion recognition deficits in conduct disorder?
Author(s) -
Short Roxanna M.L.,
SonugaBarke Edmund J.S.,
Adams Wendy J.,
Fairchild Graeme
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/jcpp.12544
Subject(s) - psychology , disgust , sadness , anxiety , emotion recognition , anger , facial expression , happiness , developmental psychology , conduct disorder , crying , clinical psychology , audiology , psychiatry , neuroscience , medicine , psychotherapist , communication
Background Previous research has reported altered emotion recognition in both conduct disorder ( CD ) and anxiety disorders ( AD s) – but these effects appear to be of different kinds. Adolescents with CD often show a generalised pattern of deficits, while those with AD s show hypersensitivity to specific negative emotions. Although these conditions often cooccur, little is known regarding emotion recognition performance in comorbid CD + AD s. Here, we test the hypothesis that in the comorbid case, anxiety‐related emotion hypersensitivity counteracts the emotion recognition deficits typically observed in CD . Method We compared facial emotion recognition across four groups of adolescents aged 12–18 years: those with CD alone ( n = 28), AD s alone ( n = 23), cooccurring CD + AD s ( n = 20) and typically developing controls ( n = 28). The emotion recognition task we used systematically manipulated the emotional intensity of facial expressions as well as fixation location (eye, nose or mouth region). Results Conduct disorder was associated with a generalised impairment in emotion recognition; however, this may have been modulated by group differences in IQ . AD was associated with increased sensitivity to low‐intensity happiness, disgust and sadness. In general, the comorbid CD + AD s group performed similarly to typically developing controls. Conclusions Although CD alone was associated with emotion recognition impairments, AD s and comorbid CD + AD s were associated with normal or enhanced emotion recognition performance. The presence of comorbid AD s appeared to counteract the effects of CD , suggesting a potentially protective role, although future research should examine the contribution of IQ and gender to these effects.