The recognition of emotion in the faces and voice of anorexia nervosa.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to examine emotional recognition (prosodic and visual) in anorexia nervosa.


METHODS
Thirty people with anorexia nervosa and a comparison group of 30 healthy women were tested with facial and vocal stimuli that expressed specific emotions and they were given a neutral task.


RESULTS
The group of women with anorexia nervosa was poor at emotional recognition. This was most marked for negative emotions in faces and for both positive and negative emotions in voices. This decreased ability to recognize negative affect in faces remained even after adjustment for confounding variables such as age, education, and depression.


CONCLUSIONS
People with anorexia nervosa have difficulty recognizing emotions from facial expression and vocal tone. This may contribute to poor interpersonal communication and a lack of empathy, both of which are associated with anorexia nervosa patients.
Kucharska-Pietura
Katarzyna
K
Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College, London, England.
Nikolaou
Vasilis
V
Masiak
Marek
M
Treasure
Janet
J
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014831:Voice