Emotional processing styles appear to characterize various forms of psychopathology and environmental adversity in children. For example, autistic, anxious, high- and low-emotion conduct problem children, and children who have been maltreated, all appear to show specific deficits and strengths in recognizing the facial expressions of emotions. Until now, the relationships between emotion recognition, antisocial behaviour, emotional problems, callous-unemotional (CU) traits and early maltreatment have never been assessed simultaneously in one study, and the specific associations of emotion recognition to maltreatment and child characteristics are therefore unknown. We examined facial-emotion processing in a sample of 23 adolescents selected for high-risk status on the variables of interest. As expected, maltreatment and child characteristics showed unique associations. CU traits were uniquely related to impairments in fear recognition. Antisocial behaviour was uniquely associated with better fear recognition, but impaired anger recognition. Emotional problems were associated with better recognition of anger and sadness, but lower recognition of neutral faces. Maltreatment was predictive of superior recognition of fear and sadness. The findings are considered in terms of social information-processing theories of psychopathology. Implications for clinical interventions are discussed.
Adolphs, R., Gosselin, F., Buchanan, T.W., Tranel, D., Schyns, P., & Damasio, A. (2005). A mechanism for impaired fear recognition after amygdale damage. Nature, 433, 68-72.
2.
Adolphs, R., Sears, L., & Piven, J. (2001). Abnormal processing of social information from faces in autism. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 13, 232-240.
3.
Barnett, D., Manly, J.D., & Cicchetti, D. (1993). Defining child maltreatment: The interface between policy and research. In D. Cicchetti, & S.L. Toth (Eds.), Child abuse, child development, and social policy (pp. 7-73). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
4.
Blair, R.J.R. (1995). A cognitive developmental approach to morality: Investigating the psychopath. Cognition, 57, 1-29.
5.
Blair, R.J.R. (2003). Neurobiological basis of psychopathy. British Journal of Psychiatry, 182, 5-7.
6.
Blair, R.J.R., & Coles, M. (2000). Expression recognition and behavioural problems in early adolescence. Cognitive Development, 5, 421-434.
7.
Blair, R.J.R., Colledge, E., Murray, L., & Mitchell, D.G.V. (2001). A selective impairment in the processing of sad and fearful expressions in children with psychopathic tendencies. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 29, 491-498.
8.
Brotman, M., Rich, B., Schmajuk, M., Reising, M., Monk, C., Dickstein, D., et al. (2004). Attention bias to threat faces in children with bipolar disorder and comorbid lifetime anxiety disorders. Biological Psychiatry, 61(6), 819-821.
9.
Caspi, A., McClay, J., Moffitt, T.E., Mill, J., Martin, J., Craig, I.W., et al. (2002). Role of genotype in the cycle of violence in maltreated children. Science, 297, 851-854.
10.
Chang, L., Schwartz, D., Dodge, K.A., & McBride-Chang, C. (2003). Harsh parenting in relation to child emotional regulation and aggression. Journal of Family Psychology, 17, 598-606.
11.
Cicchetti, D., & Toth, S.L. (2005). Child maltreatment. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 1, 409-438.
12.
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
13.
Dadds, M.R., Fraser, J., Frost, A., & Hawes, D.J. (2005). Disentangling the underlying dimensions of psychopathy and conduct problems in childhood: A community study. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73, 400-410.
14.
Dadds, M.R., Hawes, D.J., & Merz, S. (2004). The UNSW Facial Emotion Task. University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
15.
Dadds, M.R., Perry, Y., Hawes, D.J., Merz, S., Riddell, A.C., Haines, D.J., et al. (2006). Attention to the eyes reverses fear-recognition deficits in child psychopathy. British Journal of Psychiatry , 189, 280-281.
16.
Dadds, M.R., & Salmon, K. (2003). Punishment insensitivity and parenting: temperament and learning as interacting risks for antisocial behaviour. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 6, 69-86.
17.
Dalton, K.M., Nacewicz, B.M., Johnstone, T., Schaefer, H.S., Gernsbacher, M.A., Goldsmith, H.H., et al. (2005). Gaze fixation and the neural circuitry of face processing in autism. Nature Neuroscience, 8, 519-526.
18.
Davis, M., & Whalen, P.J. (2001). The amygdala: Vigilance and emotion. Molecular Psychiatry, 6, 3-34.
19.
Dodge, K.A., Pettit, G.S., Bates, J.E., & Valente, E. (1995). Social information-processing patterns partially mediate the effect of early physical abuse on later conduct problems. Journal of Abnormal psychology, 104, 632-643.
Easter, J., McClure, E.B., Monk, C.S., Dhanani, M., Hodgdon, H., Leibenluft, E., et al. (2005). Emotion recognition deficits in pediatric anxiety disorders: Implications for amygdale research. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, 15, 563-570.
22.
Frick, P.J., Bodin, S.D., & Barry, C.T. (2000). Psychopathic traits and conduct problems in community and clinic-referred samples of children: Further development of the Psychopathy Screening Device. Psychological Assessment, 12, 382-393.
23.
Frick, P.J., Cornell, A.H., Barry, C.T., Bodin, S.D., & Dane, H.E. (2003). Callous-unemotional traits and conduct problems in the prediction of conduct problem severity, aggression, and self-report of delinquency. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 31, 457-470.
24.
Frick, P.J., & Dantagnan, A.L. (2005). Predicting the stability of conduct problems in children with and without callous-unemotional traits . Journal of Child and Family Studies, 14, 469-485.
25.
Frick, P.J., & Ellis, M. (1999). Callous-unemotional traits and subtypes of conduct disorder. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 2, 149-168.
26.
Frick, P.J., & Hare, R.D. (2001). The antisocial process screening device (APSD) . Toronto: Multi-Health Systems .
27.
Frick, P.J., Lilienfeld, S.O., Ellis, M., Loney, B., & Silverthorn, P. (1999). The association between anxiety and psychopathy dimensions in children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 27, 383-392.
28.
Frick, P.J., & Morris, A.S. (2004). Temperament and developmental pathways to conduct problems. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology , 33, 54-68.
29.
Frick, P.J., Stickle, T.R., Dandreaux, D.M., Farrell, J.M., & Kimonis, E.R. (2005). Callous-unemotional traits in predicting the severity and stability of conduct problems and delinquency. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 33, 471-487.
30.
Goodman, R. (1997). The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: A research note. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry , 38, 581-586.
31.
Hadwin, J.A., Garner, M., & Perez-Olivas, G. (2006). The development of information processing biases in childhood anxiety: A review and exploration of its origins in parenting. Clinical Psychology Review, 26, 876-894.
32.
Hawes, D.J., & Dadds, M.R. (2005). The treatment of conduct problems in children with callous-unemotional traits. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73, 737-741.
33.
Jaffee, S.R., Caspi, A., Moffitt, T.E., Dodge, K.A., Rutter, M.,Taylor, A., & Tully, L.A. (2005). Nature × nurture: Genetic vulnerabilities interact with physical maltreatment to promote conduct problems. Development and Psychopathology, 17, 67-84.
34.
Kimonis, E.R., Frick, P.J., Fazekas, H., & Loney, B.R. (2006). Psychopathy, aggression, and the processing of emotional stimuli in non-referred girls and boys. Behavioural Sciences and the Law, 24, 21-37.
35.
Kochanska, G. (1993). Toward a synthesis of parental socialisation and child temperament in early development of conscience. Child Development, 64, 325-347.
36.
Loney, B.R., Frick, P.J., Clements, C.B., Ellis, M.L., & Kerlin, K. (2003). Callous-unemotional traits, impulsivity, and emotional processing in adolescents with antisocial behaviour problems. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 32, 66-80.
37.
Moffitt,T.E. (1993). Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behaviour: A developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review, 100, 674-701.
38.
Pears, K.C., & Fisher, P.A. (2005). Emotion understanding and theory of mind among maltreated children in foster care: Evidence of deficits. Development and Psychopathology, 17, 47-65.
39.
Piacentini, J.C., Cohen, P., & Cohen, J. (1992). Combining discrepant diagnostic information from multiple sources: Are complex algorithms better than simple ones? Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 20, 51-63.
40.
Pine, D.S., Lissek, S., Klein, R.G., Mannuzza, S., Moulton, J.L. 3rd, Guardino, M. et al. (2004). Face-memory and emotion: Associations with major depression in children and adolescents. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45(7), 1199-1208.
41.
Pollack, S.D., Cicchetti, D., Hornung, K., & Reed, A. (2000). Recognizing emotion in faces: Developmental effects of child abuse and neglect. Developmental Psychology, 36, 679-688.
42.
Pollack, S.D., Cicchetti, D., Klorman, R., & Brumaghim, J.T. (1997). Cognitive brain event-related potentials and emotion processing in maltreated children. Child Development, 68, 773-787.
43.
Pollack, S.D., Klorman, R., Thatcher, J.E., & Cicchetti, D. (2001). P3b reflects maltreated children's reactions to facial displays of emotion. Psychophysiology, 38, 267-274.
44.
Reese, E., & Cleveland, E.S. (2006). Mother-child reminiscing and children's understanding of mind. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly , 52, 17-43.
45.
Skuse, D. (2003). Fear recognition and the neural basis of social cognition. Child & Adolescent Mental Health, 8, 50-60.
46.
Thomas, K.M., Drevets, W.C., Dahl, R.E., Ryan, N.D., Birmaher, B., Eccard, C.H., et al. (2001). Amygdala response to fearful faces in anxious and depressed children. Archives of General Psychiatry, 58, 1057-1063.
47.
Viding, E., Blair, R.J.R., Moffitt,T.E., & Plomin, R. (2005). Evidence for substantial genetic risk for psychopathy in 7 year olds. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry , 46, 592-597.
48.
Wootton, J.M., Frick, P.J., Shelton, K.K., & Silverthorn, P.J. (1997). Ineffective parenting and childhood conduct problems: The moderating role of callous-unemotional traits . Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 65, 301-308.
