Proper Emotion Recognition, Dysfunctional Emotion Regulation.
OBJECTIVE
A considerable number of adolescents exhibit severe self-regulation deficits in affect and behavior, which are referred to as affective dysregulation (AD). AD may be conceptualized as a dimensional trait that, in its extreme form, resembles the diagnostic categories of severe mood dysregulation (SMD) or disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD). Assuming a shared pathway of psychopathology in AD and SMD, similar underlying dysfunctional mechanisms in emotion processing, particularly emotion recognition (RECOG) and regulation (REGUL), may be postulated.


METHODS
Adolescent inpatients with AD (CAD, N = 35), without AD (CCG, N = 28), and nonclinical controls (NCG; N = 28) were administered a morphed facial recognition task (RECOG). REGUL abilities, levels of irritability as well as depressive symptoms were also assessed.


RESULTS
We found no significant group differences in accuracy and thresholds for RECOG abilities. Patients with AD reported more dysfunctional REGUL strategies than did CCG and NCG. Both depression and AD, but not irritability, influenced the overall degree of maladaptive REGUL.


CONCLUSIONS
The broad phenotype of AD does not involve the deficits in RECOG reported for adolescents with a narrow phenotype (SMD); regarding REGUL strategies, AD seems to be associated with specific impairments.
1 Ruhr University Bochum, LWL-University Hospital for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Hamm, Germany.|a These authors contributed equally to this paper.
Tanja
T
Legenbauer
1 Ruhr University Bochum, LWL-University Hospital for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Hamm, Germany.|a These authors contributed equally to this paper.
Jan
J
Hübner
2 Ruhr University Bochum, Motivation Lab, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Bochum, Germany.
Marlies
M
Pinnow
1 Ruhr University Bochum, LWL-University Hospital for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Hamm, Germany.
Anna
A
Ball
1 Ruhr University Bochum, LWL-University Hospital for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Hamm, Germany.
Benjamin
B
Pniewski
1 Ruhr University Bochum, LWL-University Hospital for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Hamm, Germany.
Martin
M
Holtmann
D000293:Adolescent; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D015897:Comorbidity; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D000066498:Emotional Adjustment; D056348:Emotional Intelligence; D019260:Expressed Emotion; D000066499:Facial Recognition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007508:Irritable Mood; D008297:Male; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires