Facial emotion recognition in trait anxiety

J Anxiety Disord. 2006;20(1):110-7. doi: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2004.11.010. Epub 2005 Jan 21.

Abstract

The study investigated the relationship between recognition of emotional facial expressions and trait anxiety. A nonclinical sample of 19 participants with high-trait anxiety was selected, using the trait version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and compared with a sample of 20 participants with low-trait anxiety on a facial expression recognition task. Visual stimuli were 42 faces, representing seven emotional expressions: anger, sadness, happiness, fear, surprise, disgust and neutral. Participants had to identify the emotion portrayed by each face. Results showed that participants with high-trait anxiety recognized fear faces significantly better while the two groups did not differ in recognition of other facial expressions.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Affect*
  • Anxiety Disorders / diagnosis*
  • Anxiety Disorders / psychology*
  • Facial Expression*
  • Humans
  • Recognition, Psychology*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires