Operto Francesca Felicia, Pastorino Grazia Maria Giovanna, Stellato Maria, Morcaldi Lucia, Vetri Luigi, Carotenuto Marco, Viggiano Andrea, Coppola Giangennaro
Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, University of Salerno, 84125 Salerno, Italy.
Department of Mental Health, Physical and Preventive Medicine, Clinic of Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", 80138 Naples, Italy.
Brain Sci. 2020 Jul 23;10(8):473. doi: 10.3390/brainsci10080473.
Some recent studies suggest that children and adolescents with different neurodevelopmental disorders perform worse in emotions recognition through facial expressions (ER) compared with typically developing peers. This impairment is also described in children with Specific Learning Disorders (SLD), compromising their scholastic achievement, social functioning, and quality of life. The purpose of our study is to evaluate ER skills in children and adolescents with SLD compared to a control group without learning disorders, and correlate them with intelligence and executive functions.
Our work is a cross-sectional observational study. Sixty-three children and adolescents aged between 8 and 16 years, diagnosed with SLD, and 32 sex/age-matched controls without learning disorders were recruited. All participants were administered standardized neuropsychological tests, evaluating facial emotion recognition (NEPSY-II), executive functions (EpiTrack Junior), and intelligence profile (WISC-IV).
Emotion recognition mean score was significantly lower in the SLD group than in the controls group on the Mann-Whitney U test for unpaired samples ( < 0.001). The SLD group performed significantly lower than the control group in their abilities to identify neutral expressions, happiness, sadness, anger, and fear compared to controls ( < 0.001). ER scores were positively correlated to the executive functions scores. There was no correlation with the Total Intelligence Quotient scores but there is a significant positive correlation with Working Memory Index and Processing Speed Index measured by WISC.IV.
Our study showed that children and adolescents with Specific Learning Disorders have facial emotion recognition impairment when compared with a group of peers without learning disorders. ER abilities were independent of their global intelligence but potentially related to executive functions.
最近的一些研究表明，与发育正常的同龄人相比，患有不同神经发育障碍的儿童和青少年在通过面部表情识别情绪（ER）方面表现更差。这种缺陷在患有特定学习障碍（SLD）的儿童中也有描述，这会影响他们的学业成绩、社交功能和生活质量。我们研究的目的是评估患有SLD的儿童和青少年与无学习障碍的对照组相比的ER技能，并将它们与智力和执行功能相关联。
我们的研究是一项横断面观察性研究。招募了63名年龄在8至16岁之间、被诊断为SLD的儿童和青少年，以及32名年龄/性别匹配的无学习障碍的对照组。所有参与者都接受了标准化的神经心理学测试，评估面部情绪识别（NEPSY-II）、执行功能（EpiTrack Junior）和智力概况（WISC-IV）。
在非配对样本的曼-惠特尼U检验中，SLD组的情绪识别平均得分显著低于对照组（<0.001）。与对照组相比，SLD组在识别中性表情、快乐、悲伤、愤怒和恐惧的能力方面显著低于对照组（<0.001）。ER得分与执行功能得分呈正相关。与总智商得分无相关性，但与WISC-IV测量的工作记忆指数和处理速度指数有显著正相关。
我们的研究表明，与一组无学习障碍的同龄人相比，患有特定学习障碍的儿童和青少年存在面部情绪识别障碍。ER能力独立于他们的整体智力，但可能与执行功能有关。
Zotero 插件