The Perception and Expression of Emotions in Normative Teenagers and Those who Suffers from Schizophrenia

Abstract

The article presents the results of a study of emotion perception and expression in adolescents without clinical diagnoses and in adolescents with schizophrenia. Literature gives conflicting data on the successfulness of emotion recognition and expression in adults. In adolescents, the distinctive character of emotional development has been shown, but the amount of empirical research is not sufficient. According to the descriptions given by clinicians, there is a characteristic affective flattening in patients with schizophrenia, with no direct relation to their age. It has been shown that adolescents with some types of schizophrenia approach patients without clinical diagnoses in terms of certain intellectual parameters (N.V. Zvereva, A.I. Khromov), however there is a relative scarcity of data regarding the emotional and personal functioning of adolescents with schizophrenia. These factors determined the setup of the problem of the study that dealt with certain issues of methodology and experimental psychology. We have examined 50 adolescents, divided into two groups: a clinical one (10 adolescent boys and 10 adolescent girls with schizophrenia, schizotypal disorder, and schizoaffective disorders) and a control one (13 adolescent boys and 17 adolescent girls attending a regular general education school, 13 to 16 years). The average age of the participants in both groups – 14,5 years. The empirical research methodology included “Nonverbal Behaviour Adequate Interpretation Ability Development Level Diagnostics” (a technique devised by V.A. Labunskaya) and a modified graphical emotion representation technique (a modification of a V.A. Labunskaya’s technique). The medical records of the participants and the observation data gathered during the examinations were also analyzed. The study has gathered new data on the applicability of the method of graphical representation of emotions in adolescents. The results indicate that adolescents with schizophrenia and adolescents without clinical diagnoses have similar specific features in their visual perception of simple emotive content and similar difficulties in emotion perception occurring after the complication of the task. The study has shown the distinctive character of emotionality in adolescents with schizophrenia that manifests itself in the disharmony of emotional components: though, their impressive emotional component is relatively safe, the impairments of expressive component are quite pronounced.