title: Decreased sensitivity to facial emotions in adolescents with Borderline Personality Disorder.
abstract: Whereas severe relationship dysfunction in BPD is well described in adolescence, little is known about the way these patients process facial expressions of emotion. Because few data are available regarding this issue, the present study compared the sensitivity to morphed facial emotional expressions of 22 BPD female adolescents versus 22 matched controls. Participants had to identify as rapidly as possible the various emotions displayed progressively and continuously on faces. Results indicate that adolescents with BPD are less sensitive to facial expressions of anger and happiness, i.e. they require more intense facial expressions than control participants to correctly identify these two emotions. However, they did not exhibit any deficit in recognizing fully expressed emotions. These results suggest that sensitivity to facial emotions is impaired in adolescents with BPD. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Adolescent and Young Adult Psychiatry, Institut Mutualiste Montsouris, Paris, France. marion.robin@imm.fr
authors.forename: Marion
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Robin
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pham-Scottez
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Curt
authors.forename: Corinne
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dugre-Le Bigre
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Speranza
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sapinho
authors.forename: Maurice
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Corcos
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Berthoz
authors.forename: Gayannée
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kedia
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D012938:Social Perception; D055815:Young Adult