Recognition of Facial Affect Cues by Adolescents with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

Abstract

This study explored the ability of adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders to recognize facial affect cues. The questions addressed in this study were (a) would adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders have lower recognition of facial affect cues than adolescents without emotional and behavioral disorders?, (b) would differences exist in the recognition of facial affect cues between adolescents with internalizing and externalizing emotional and behavioral disorders?, and (c) what is the relationship between age and recognition of facial affect in adolescents? These three questions were answered by showing adolescents in three groups (internalizing, externalizing, and non-emotional and behavioral disorders) a set of slides of facial expressions displaying the following six emotions: happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, fear, and disgust. The findings are discussed as they relate to intervention practices and future research.