Anxiety disorders in adolescence are associated with impaired facial expression recognition to negative valence.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of the present study was to test the ability of adolescents with a current anxiety diagnosis to recognize facial affective expressions, compared to those without an anxiety disorder.


METHODS
Forty cases and 27 controls were selected from a larger cross sectional community sample of adolescents, aged from 10 to 17 years old. Adolescent's facial recognition of six human emotions (sadness, anger, disgust, happy, surprise and fear) and neutral faces was assessed through a facial labeling test using Ekman's Pictures of Facial Affect (POFA).


RESULTS
Adolescents with anxiety disorders had a higher mean number of errors in angry faces as compared to controls: 3.1 (SD=1.13) vs. 2.5 (SD=2.5), OR=1.72 (CI95% 1.02 to 2.89; p=0.040). However, they named neutral faces more accurately than adolescents without anxiety diagnosis: 15% of cases vs. 37.1% of controls presented at least one error in neutral faces, OR=3.46 (CI95% 1.02 to 11.7; p=0.047). No differences were found considering other human emotions or on the distribution of errors in each emotional face between the groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings support an anxiety-mediated influence on the recognition of facial expressions in adolescence. These difficulty in recognizing angry faces and more accuracy in naming neutral faces may lead to misinterpretation of social clues and can explain some aspects of the impairment in social interactions in adolescents with anxiety disorders.
Anxiety Disorders Program for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (PROTAIA), Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. rafaelabehs@hotmail.com
Rafaela Behs
RB
Jarros
Giovanni Abrahão
GA
Salum
Cristiano Tschiedel
CT
Belem da Silva
Rudineia
R
Toazza
Marianna
M
de Abreu Costa
Jerusa
J
Fumagalli de Salles
Gisele Gus
GG
Manfro
D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D002648:Child; D004644:Emotions; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D020238:Prosopagnosia / Q000150:complications*; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D012737:Sex Factors