Facial expression recognition in adolescents with mood and anxiety disorders.
OBJECTIVE
The authors examined facial expression recognition in adolescents with mood and anxiety disorders.


METHODS
Standard facial emotion identification tests were given to youth with bipolar disorder (N=11) or DSM-IV anxiety disorders (N=10) and a group of healthy comparison subjects (N=25).


RESULTS
Relative to the anxiety disorder and healthy comparison groups, the subjects with bipolar disorder made more emotion recognition errors when presented with faces of children. Unlike the anxious and comparison subjects, bipolar disorder youth were prone to misidentify faces as angry. No differences in emotion recognition errors were seen when the adolescents were presented with adult faces.


CONCLUSIONS
A bias to misinterpret the facial expressions of peers as angry may characterize youth with bipolar disorder but not youth with anxiety disorders. This bias may relate to social impairment in youth with bipolar disorder.
McClure
Erin B
EB
National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD 20892-2670, USA. erin.mcclure@nih.gov
Pope
Kayla
K
Hoberman
Andrea J
AJ
Pine
Daniel S
DS
Leibenluft
Ellen
E
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000786:Anger; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004644:Emotions; D005145:Face; D005149:Facial Expression; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D012938:Social Perception