ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the characteristics and influencing factors of methamphetamine dependence adolescents’ emotional faces recognition ability. Methods Eighty-six adolescents methamphet-amine addicts and 85 healthy volunteers were tested by a self-designed questionnaire and an experiment of e-motional faces identification. Results (1)There was no significant correlation between the emotional faces recognition ability of the experimental group with their age,education level and drug time (P>0. 05). (2)The correct number of positive(32. 58 ±8. 56),neutral (32. 76±8. 06),and negative(56. 28±20. 04) emotional faces recognition in the experimental group was significantly lower than that in the control group of positive (35. 64±3. 91),neutral(35. 47±4. 00),and negative(71. 02±8. 62) emotional faces recognition(t=-3. 00,-2. 79,-6. 24,P<0. 05). Meanwhile,the response time of positive(( 401. 32± 175. 13) ms) and negative ((502. 08±194. 42)ms) emotional faces recognition in the experimental group was significantly lower than that in the control group of positive((300. 83±139. 48)ms) and negative((379. 91±197. 30)ms) emotional faces (t=4. 15,4. 08,P<0. 05). Nevertheless,there was no significant difference between the experimental group((400. 90±174. 21) ms) and the control group ((356. 67±156. 70) ms) in the recognition response time of neutral emotional faces (t=1. 75,P>0. 05). Conclusion Methamphetamine dependence impairs the ability of adolescents’ emotional faces recognition,and their positive and negative emotional recognition abili-ty has processing defects. The ability of methamphetamine dependence adolescents to emotional faces recogni- tion is not affected by their age,education level and time of drug uses.
ABSTRACT
Os Transtornos Invasivos do Desenvolvimento (TID) são um grupo de condições caracterizadas por início na primeira infância de atrasos e déficits no desenvolvimento das habilidades sociais, comunicativas e comportamentais. O prejuízo da capacidade de empatia vem sendo apontado como um aspecto característico do endofenótipo dos TID. O presente estudo avaliou e comparou empatia em pessoas com TID e em grupo-controle, por meio da aplicação de tarefa de julgamento de expressões faciais básicas contidas no Baralho da Empatia (com fotos e desenhos representativos das mesmas emoções), instrumento desenvolvido pela pesquisadora. Foram avaliados sete participantes com TID, do sexo masculino, com idades entre 6 e 15 anos, QI mínimo de 70 (Wisc III), e que preenchiam critérios para diagnóstico de TID (DSM IV). Foram pareados por idade, sexo e inteligência com indivíduos com desenvolvimento normal. O grupo com TID errou significativamente mais que o controle no julgamento de expressões faciais em fotos (p < 0,001), em desenhos (p = 0,007) e nos dois testes quando analisado o desempenho total (p < 0,001). Houve diferença significativa entre controle e TID nas expressões de dúvida (p = 0,031) e nojo (p = 0,005) no Baralho de Desenhos, e na expressão de nojo (p = 0,018) no Baralho de Fotos, sempre com maior índice de erros no grupo TID. Quando analisado o desempenho nas Fotos e Desenhos juntos, diferença estatisticamente significantiva foi observada entre expressões de dúvida (p = 0,012), nojo (p < 0,001) e surpresa (p = 0,006). Os resultados obtidos reforçam achados de pesquisas anteriores sobre o prejuízo da capacidade de empatia em pessoas com TID.
Invasive Development Disorders (IDD) are a group of conditions characterized by the onset of lags and impairments in the development of social, communication and behavioral skills during infancy. Empathy prejudice has been indicated as an endophenotype characteristic of IDD. In the present study empathy in people with IDD and in a control group was evaluated and compared in a task of judging basic facial expressions that are contained in an Empathy Card-deck developed by the author. Seven male participants with IDD, aged between 6 and 15 years, a minimum IQ of 70 (Wisc III) and fulfilling criteria for IDD diagnosis (DSM IV) were evaluated. Errors were significantly more frequent in IDD group than in control group in judging the card-deck of basic facial expression with photos (p < 0.001), in the card-deck with drawings (p = 0.007) and in total performance (p < 0.001). There was a significant difference between control and IDD groups in the judging expressions of doubt (p = 0.031) and disgust (p = 0.005) in the Card-deck with drawings, and in the expression of disgust (p = 0.005) in the Card-deck with photos, always with a greater error index for the IDD group. When the performance using photos and drawings was analyzed together, there was a statistically significant difference between expressions of doubt (p = 0.012), disgust (p < 0.001) and surprise (p = 0.006). Results reinforced findings of previous studies about empathic capacity prejudice in individuals with IDD.