Emotion Recognition and Adverse Childhood Experiences in Individuals at Clinical High Risk of Psychosis

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Objective</jats:title> <jats:p>To investigate the association between facial affect recognition (FAR) and type of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in a sample of clinical high risk (CHR) individuals and a matched sample of healthy controls (HCs).</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Methods</jats:title> <jats:p>In total, 309 CHR individuals and 51 HC were recruited as part of an European Union-funded multicenter study (EU-GEI) and included in this work. During a 2-year follow-up period, 65 CHR participants made a transition to psychosis (CHR-T) and 279 did not (CHR-NT). FAR ability was measured using a computerized version of the Degraded Facial Affect Recognition (DFAR) task. ACEs were measured using the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Questionnaire, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, and the Bullying Questionnaire. Generalized regression models were used to investigate the relationship between ACE and FAR. Logistic regressions were used to investigate the relationship between FAR and psychotic transition.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Results</jats:title> <jats:p>In CHR individuals, having experienced emotional abuse was associated with decreased total and neutral DFAR scores. CHR individuals who had experienced bullying performed better in the total DFAR and in the frightened condition. In HC and CHR, having experienced the death of a parent during childhood was associated with lower DFAR total score and lower neutral DFAR score, respectively. Analyses revealed a modest increase of transition risk with increasing mistakes from happy to angry faces.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title> <jats:p>Adverse experiences in childhood seem to have a significant impact on emotional processing in adult life. This information could be helpful in a therapeutic setting where both difficulties in social interactions and adverse experiences are often addressed.</jats:p> </jats:sec>

The association between mental health stigma and face emotion recognition in individuals at risk for psychosis.

“…The mechanisms by which stigma impairs cognitive performance include distraction and loss of focus presumably due to increased stereotyped-related distraction (Cadinu et al, 2005), increased physiological arousal such as decreased heart rate variability (Croizet et al, 2004), increased skin conductance and blood pressure (Osborne, 2006), and increased anxiety (Spencer et al, 1999). The relationship between stigma and social cognitive processing is also supported by work showing that adverse experiences impact cognitive processing of emotional stimuli in individuals with CHR (Tognin et al, 2020) and with evidence for overlap in the neural underpinnings of stigma and emotion detection (Clark et al, 2018).…”

“…This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly. STIGMA AND EMOTION RECOGNITION IN PSYCHOSIS-RISK emotional stimuli in individuals with CHR (Tognin et al, 2020) and with evidence for overlap in the neural underpinnings of stigma and emotion detection (Clark et al, 2018).…”

An fMRI study of cognitive remediation in drug-naïve subjects diagnosed with first episode schizophrenia

“…AP group subjects with atypical antipsychotics, FFX fixed effects analysis, FWE family-wise error of schizophrenia [18,19]. Early detection of specific symptoms in schizophrenia [20][21][22][23] seems to be crucial and may also have a prognostic value [24]; early intervention in schizophrenia spectrum disorders appears to be important [25][26][27][28] and it has been suggested that cognitive training should be provided as early as possible in the prodromal phases of schizophrenia in order to use the full rehabilitative potential of the subjects [29]. Indeed, Bowie et al [30] found that cognitive remediation in the early course leads to greater cognitive improvement than in later stages of schizophrenia.…”

“…The course of cognitive deficits has been described to be different between early and late stages of schizophrenia [ 18 , 19 ]. Early detection of specific symptoms in schizophrenia [ 20 – 23 ] seems to be crucial and may also have a prognostic value [ 24 ]; early intervention in schizophrenia spectrum disorders appears to be important [ 25 – 28 ] and it has been suggested that cognitive training should be provided as early as possible in the prodromal phases of schizophrenia in order to use the full rehabilitative potential of the subjects [ 29 ]. Indeed, Bowie et al.…”

The mediating effect of difficulties in emotion regulation on the association between childhood maltreatment and borderline personality disorder

“…Indeed, a substantial number of patients with BPD report having experienced childhood maltreatment (McFetridge et al, 2015 ; Temes et al, 2017 ; Zanarini et al, 1997 ). However, various studies indicate that childhood maltreatment is also a risk factor for other mental health disorders such as depressive disorders (DD) (Isvoranu et al, 2016 ; Nelson, Klumparendt, Doebler, & Ehring, 2017 ; Tognin et al, 2020 ; Vallati et al, 2020 ), which are among the most prevalent mental health disorders. Several studies found elevated scores of self-reported childhood maltreatment in patients with DD compared to healthy controls (Brakemeier et al, 2018 ; Carvalho Fernando et al, 2014 ; Kaczmarczyk, Wingenfeld, Kuehl, Otte, & Hinkelmann, 2018 ; Meinert et al, 2019 ).…”