Social functioning and facial expression recognition in survivors of pediatric brain tumors.
OBJECTIVE
To assess social functioning and facial expression recognition skill in survivors of pediatric brain tumors (BT) as compared to children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA).


METHODS
The social functioning of 51 survivors of BT and 31 children with JRA was assessed using a facial expression recognition task, questionnaire ratings of social functioning, and an IQ screener.


RESULTS
After controlling for estimated IQ, survivors of BT made significantly more errors interpreting adult facial expressions as compared to children with JRA. Additionally, history of therapy and diagnosis age predicted performance on the child portion of the facial recognition task. Finally, survivors of BT demonstrated significantly impaired social functioning across multiple measures when compared to children with JRA.


CONCLUSIONS
Survivors of pediatric BT showed significant deficits in social functioning as compared to an illness comparison group. Errors in facial expression recognition represent another method for evaluating deficits that contribute to social outcomes.
Bonner
Melanie J
MJ
Department of Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center, DUMC Box 3527, Durham, NC 27710, USA. bonne002@mc.duke.edu
Hardy
Kristina K
KK
Willard
Victoria W
VW
Anthony
Kelly K
KK
Hood
Maggie
M
Gururangan
Sridharan
S
D000293:Adolescent; D001171:Arthritis, Juvenile / Q000523:psychology; D001254:Astrocytoma / Q000523:psychology; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D002528:Cerebellar Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions; D004806:Ependymoma / Q000523:psychology; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D008297:Male; D008527:Medulloblastoma / Q000523:psychology; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D018187:Personal Construct Theory; D012920:Social Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D012951:Socialization; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*