Instrument for Assessing the Ability to Identify Emotional Facial Expressions in Healthy Children and in Children With ADHD: The FEEL Test.

OBJECTIVE: This study presents the validation of a computerized assessment tool that studies the ability to recognize emotional facial expressions in children between 8 and 11 years of age: the Facially Expressed Emotion Labeling Test (FEEL Test). METHOD: The two tests composing the protocol were applied using a laptop in the following order: the FEEL Test followed by the Deusto-e-Motion 1.0 Test.The sample consisted of a total of 1,189 schoolchildren aged between 8 and 11 years, 594 boys and 594 girls. A clinical sample of 47 children with ADHD also took part in this study. RESULTS: The Cronbach's α coefficient for the total scale was .82, showing high levels of reliability. The difficulty index of the items ranged between .4 and .7. The statistical analyses showed a high rate of discrimination between those who obtained low scores compared with those who obtained high scores. The test results reflected differences according to age and gender of participants in many of the variables associated with both response accuracy and response speed. Regarding its predictive validity, the test is able to find statistically significant differences in the total test score among a group of children diagnosed with ADHD and a matched control group. CONCLUSION: This article presents the validation of an instrument that assesses the ability to recognize facial expressions in children between 8 and 11 years old and can discriminate and detect differences in gender, age, and possible deficits in social skills within the ADHD.

Accuracy and reaction time in recognition of facial emotions in people with multiple sclerosis.

INTRODUCTION: Facial emotional expression constitutes a basic guide in the social interaction and, thus, the alterations in its expression or recognition imply an important limitation for the communication. On the other hand, cognitive impairment and the presence of depressive symptoms, which are commonly found in patients with multiple sclerosis, it is unknown how they influence cognitive function and depression on emotional recognition. AIMS: To consider the evaluation of time reaction and response accuracy of facial expression recognition in people affected by multiple sclerosis, and to assess the possible variables that may be modulating the emotion recognition, such as depression and cognitive functions. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The study has a cross-sectional non-experimental design with a single measurement. The sample is compound by 85 participants, 45 diagnosed as multiple sclerosis and 40 control subjects. RESULTS: Multiple sclerosis subjects reveal significant differences in both reaction time and response accuracy in neuropsychological tests in comparison to the control group. Explanatory models were identified in the emotional recognition. CONCLUSION: Multiple sclerosis subjects face difficulties at recognising facial emotions; and differences at attention memory, processing speed and depressive symptomatology were observed in regard to the control group.

TITLE: Precision y tiempo de reaccion en el reconocimiento de emociones faciales en personas con esclerosis multiple.Introduccion. La expresion facial emocional constituye una guia basica en la interaccion social y, por lo tanto, las alteraciones en su expresion o reconocimiento implican una limitacion importante para la comunicacion. Por otro lado, el deterioro cognitivo y la presencia de sintomas depresivos, que se encuentran comunmente en los pacientes con esclerosis multiple, no se sabe como influyen en el reconocimiento emocional. Objetivo. Considerar la evaluacion del tiempo de reaccion y precision en la respuesta de reconocimiento de expresiones faciales de las personas afectadas por esclerosis multiple y valorar las posibles variables que pueden modular el reconocimiento de emociones, como la depresion y las funciones cognitivas. Sujetos y metodos. El estudio tiene un diseño no experimental transversal con una sola medicion. La muestra esta compuesta por 85 participantes, 45 con diagnostico de esclerosis multiple y 40 sujetos control. Resultados. Los sujetos con esclerosis multiple revelaban diferencias significativas tanto en el tiempo de reaccion y la precision de respuesta en pruebas neuropsicologicas en comparacion con el grupo control. Se identificaron modelos explicativos en el reconocimiento emocional. Conclusion. Los sujetos con esclerosis multiple se enfrentan a dificultades en el reconocimiento de emociones faciales, y se observaron diferencias en la memoria, atencion, velocidad de procesamiento y sintomatologia depresiva en relacion con el grupo control.

Effectiveness of teleassistance at improving quality of life in people with neuromuscular diseases.

Rare neuromuscular diseases (NDs) are a group of inherited or acquired neurological pathologies affecting the muscles and the nervous system. Their low prevalence and high geographical dispersion can cause isolation and difficulties in social interaction between affected equals. New technologies, such as videoconferencing, offer a complementary option for improving the health of this population. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a teleassistance program at improving health-related quality of life (HRQoL) through social interaction in adults with NDs. The sample consisted of 45 participants affected by rare NDs. Twenty-four participants were assigned to the experimental group (EG), which participated in the videoconferencing sessions, and 21 to the control group. Three questionnaires were administered: WHO-DAS II, Sickness Impact Profile, and SF-36 Health Survey. Effectiveness was assessed by a pre-post design. An online psychosocial program was applied over three-month period. Data revealed an improvement of the EG in psychosocial variables, e.g. "Getting along with people" (z = -2.289, r = -.47, p ≤ .05) or "Psychosocial Domain" (z = -2.404, r = -.49, p ≤ .05), and in physical variables, e.g. "Life activities" (z = -2.844, r = -.58, p ≤ .05). Social interaction appeared as a relevant factor at improving HRQoL levels. High levels of satisfaction about the teleassistance program were reported.

Facial affect recognition in myasthenia gravis.

The assessment of facial expression is an important aspect of a clinical neurological examination, both as an indicator of a mood disorder and as a sign of neurological damage. To date, although studies have been conducted on certain psychosocial aspects of myasthenia, such as quality of life and anxiety, and on neuropsychological aspects such as memory, no studies have directly assessed facial emotion recognition accuracy. The aim of this study was to assess the facial emotion recognition accuracy (fear, surprise, sadness, happiness, anger, and disgust), empathy, and reaction time of patients with myasthenia. Thirty-five patients with myasthenia and 36 healthy controls were tested for their ability to differentiate emotional facial expressions. Participants were matched with respect to age, gender, and education level. Their ability to differentiate emotional facial expressions was evaluated using the computer-based program Feel Test. The data showed that myasthenic patients scored significantly lower (p < 0.05) than healthy controls in the total Feel score, fear, surprise, and higher reaction time. The findings suggest that the ability to recognize facial affect may be reduced in individuals with myasthenia.