Expression recognition and behavioural problems in early adolescence

The processing of emotional expressions is fundamental for normal socialisa tion and social interaction. Fifty-five children (aged 11-14 years) in main stream education participated in this study. They were presented with a sta ndardised set of pictures of facial expressions and asked to name one of th e six emotions illustrated (sadness, happiness, anger, disgust, fear, and s urprise). Following experimental testing, their behaviour was rated by two independent teachers on the Psychopathy Screening Device (PSD). The PSD ass esses two dimensions of behavioral problems: affective-interpersonal distur bance and impulsive behaviour/conduct problems. The results showed that the ability to recognise sad and fearful expressions (but not happy, angry, di sgusted, or surprised expressions) was inversely related to both level of a ffective-interpersonal disturbance and impulsive/conduct problems. These re sults are interpreted with reference to current models of empathy and its d isorders. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.