The relation between face-emotion recognition and social function in adolescents with autism spectrum disorders: A case control study

Høyland, Anne Lise; Nærland, Terje; Engstrøm, Morten; Lydersen, Stian; Andreassen, Ole A. · 2017 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0186124

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Summary

This study investigates the relationship between face-emotion recognition and social functioning in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), addressing inconsistent findings in prior literature regarding emotional processing deficits. The researchers hypothesized that rapid emotion recognition would be impaired in ASD and correlated with social symptoms, potentially revealing age-dependent developmental trajectories. The study aimed to determine if these impairments are linked to core ASD symptoms and how they evolve across adolescence. The study employed a case-control design involving 50 adolescents with ASD (aged 12–21 years) and 49 typically developing (TD) controls matched for age and gender. Participants were divided into young (<16 years) and old (≥16 years) subgroups. The primary assessment tool was a novel Emotional Continuous Performance Test (ECPT), a cued GO/NOGO task using brief presentations (100 ms) of facial expressions (angry, happy, neutral). This was compared against a standard Visual Continuous Performance Test (VCPT) using non-emotional stimuli to control for general reaction time. Social functioning was measured using the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS). Statistical analyses included regression models adjusting for general reaction time and age group interactions. The results showed no significant differences in overall reaction time or intra-individual variability between the ASD and TD groups when analyzed as a whole. However, significant age-dependent interactions emerged. In the young ASD group, reaction time on the ECPT correlated positively with SRS scores, indicating that slower emotion recognition was associated with greater social impairment. Conversely, in the older ASD group, this correlation was negative, suggesting a divergence in developmental trajectories. Additionally, intra-individual variability in reaction time showed similar age-dependent correlations with social symptoms. The ASD group demonstrated a significant reduction in reaction time with age, unlike the TD group, suggesting a delayed but eventual improvement in processing speed. These findings indicate that the association between emotion recognition and social function in ASD is age-dependent, supporting the hypothesis of a delayed development of emotional understanding rather than a static deficit. The study suggests that alterations in top-down attention control may underlie these differences. The results imply that interventions targeting emotional processing may need to be tailored to specific developmental stages, as the relationship between cognitive performance and social symptoms shifts significantly during adolescence.

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