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Facial emotion recognition in adolescents with psychotic-like experiences: a school-based sample from the general population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2012

S. Roddy ,
L. Tiedt ,
I. Kelleher ,
M. C. Clarke ,
J. Murphy ,
C. Rawdon ,
R. A. P. Roche ,
M. E. Calkins ,
J. A. Richard  and
C. G. Kohler
...Show all authors
S. Roddy*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
L. Tiedt
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
I. Kelleher
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
M. C. Clarke
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
J. Murphy
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
C. Rawdon
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Ireland
R. A. P. Roche
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Ireland
M. E. Calkins
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
J. A. Richard
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
C. G. Kohler
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
M. Cannon
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Ireland Department of Psychiatry, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
*
*Address for correspondence: Dr S. Roddy, Department of Psychiatry, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Education and Research Centre, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin 9, Ireland. (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

Background

Psychotic symptoms, also termed psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) in the absence of psychotic disorder, are common in adolescents and are associated with increased risk of schizophrenia-spectrum illness in adulthood. At the same time, schizophrenia is associated with deficits in social cognition, with deficits particularly documented in facial emotion recognition (FER). However, little is known about the relationship between PLEs and FER abilities, with only one previous prospective study examining the association between these abilities in childhood and reported PLEs in adolescence. The current study was a cross-sectional investigation of the association between PLEs and FER in a sample of Irish adolescents.

Method

The Adolescent Psychotic-Like Symptom Screener (APSS), a self-report measure of PLEs, and the Penn Emotion Recognition-40 Test (Penn ER-40), a measure of facial emotion recognition, were completed by 793 children aged 10–13 years.

Results

Children who reported PLEs performed significantly more poorly on FER (β=−0.03, p=0.035). Recognition of sad faces was the major driver of effects, with children performing particularly poorly when identifying this expression (β=−0.08, p=0.032).

Conclusions

The current findings show that PLEs are associated with poorer FER. Further work is needed to elucidate causal relationships with implications for the design of future interventions for those at risk of developing psychosis.

Keywords

Adolescentchildfacial emotion recognitionpsychotic symptomspsychotic-like experience
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 42 , Issue 10 , October 2012 , pp. 2157 - 2166
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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