Title

Facial Emotion Recognition in Children with High Functioning Autism and Children with Social Phobia

Authors

Authors

N. Wong; D. C. Beidel; D. E. Sarver;V. Sims

Comments

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Abbreviated Journal Title

Child Psychiat. Hum. Dev.

Keywords

Social skill deficits; Facial emotion recognition; Facial affect; recognition; High functioning autism; Social phobia; ASPERGER-SYNDROME; SPECTRUM DISORDERS; ANXIETY INVENTORY; DISCRIMINATIVE; VALIDITY; EXPRESSION RECOGNITION; EFFECTIVENESS THERAPY; BEHAVIORAL; TREATMENT; FACE RECOGNITION; SCHEMATIC FACES; SPAI-C; Psychology, Developmental; Pediatrics; Psychiatry

Abstract

Recognizing facial affect is essential for effective social functioning. This study examines emotion recognition abilities in children aged 7-13 years with High Functioning Autism (HFA = 19), Social Phobia (SP = 17), or typical development (TD = 21). Findings indicate that all children identified certain emotions more quickly (e.g., happy < anger, disgust, sad < fear) and more accurately (happy) than other emotions (disgust). No evidence was found for negative interpretation biases in children with HFA or SP (i.e., all groups showed similar ability to discriminate neutral from non-neutral facial expressions). However, distinct between-group differences emerged when considering facial expression intensity. Specifically, children with HFA detected mild affective expressions less accurately than TD peers. Behavioral ratings of social effectiveness or social anxiety were uncorrelated with facial affect recognition abilities across children. Findings have implications for social skills treatment programs targeting youth with skill deficits.

Journal Title

Child Psychiatry & Human Development

Volume

43

Issue/Number

5

Publication Date

1-1-2012

Document Type

Article

Language

English

First Page

775

Last Page

794

WOS Identifier

WOS:000307883500008

ISSN

0009-398X

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