Facial emotion identification in early-onset psychosis

Sophie J Barkl; Suncica Lah; Jean Starling; Cassandra Hainsworth; Anthony W F Harris; Leanne M Williams

doi:10.1016/j.schres.2014.10.035

Facial emotion identification in early-onset psychosis

Schizophr Res. 2014 Dec;160(1-3):150-6. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2014.10.035. Epub 2014 Nov 13.

Authors

Sophie J Barkl¹, Suncica Lah², Jean Starling³, Cassandra Hainsworth⁴, Anthony W F Harris⁵, Leanne M Williams⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Psychology, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia; The Brain Dynamics Centre, Sydney Medical School and Westmead Millennium Institute, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and Its Disorders, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
² School of Psychology, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and Its Disorders, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
³ Walker Unit, Concord Centre for Mental Health, Discipline of Psychiatry, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
⁴ Department of Psychological Medicine, The Children's Hospital, Westmead, NSW, Australia.
⁵ The Brain Dynamics Centre, Sydney Medical School and Westmead Millennium Institute, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia; Discipline of Psychiatry, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
⁶ The Brain Dynamics Centre, Sydney Medical School and Westmead Millennium Institute, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia; Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, CA, USA. Electronic address: leawilliams@stanford.edu.

PMID: 25464918
DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2014.10.035

Abstract

Facial emotion identification (FEI) deficits are common in patients with chronic schizophrenia and are strongly related to impaired functioning. The objectives of this study were to determine whether FEI deficits are present and emotion specific in people experiencing early-onset psychosis (EOP), and related to current clinical symptoms and functioning. Patients with EOP (n=34, mean age=14.11, 53% female) and healthy controls (HC, n=42, mean age 13.80, 51% female) completed a task of FEI that measured accuracy, error pattern and response time. Relative to HC, patients with EOP (i) had lower accuracy for identifying facial expressions of emotions, especially fear, anger and disgust, (ii) were more likely to misattribute other emotional expressions as fear or disgust, and (iii) were slower at accurately identifying all facial expressions. FEI accuracy was not related to clinical symptoms or current functioning. Deficits in FEI (especially for fear, anger and disgust) are evident in EOP. Our findings suggest that while emotion identification deficits may reflect a trait susceptibility marker, functional deficits may represent a sequelae of illness.

Keywords: Early onset psychosis; Facial emotion; Schizophrenia; Social cognition.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Emotions*
Face
Facial Expression*
Female
Humans
Male
Pattern Recognition, Visual*
Photic Stimulation
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Psychological Tests
Psychotic Disorders / drug therapy
Psychotic Disorders / psychology*
Social Perception*