Emotional Facial Expression Recognition and Expressivity in Type I and Type II Alcohol Dependent Patients

in Journal of Nonverbal Behavior (in press)

Objective: Alcohol dependent patients (ADs) are known to encounter severe interpersonal problems. Nonverbal communication skills are important for the development of healthy relationships. The present ... [more ▼]

Objective: Alcohol dependent patients (ADs) are known to encounter severe interpersonal problems. Nonverbal communication skills are important for the development of healthy relationships. The present study aimed to explore emotional facial expression (EFE) recognition and posed and spontaneous EFE expressivity in male ADs divided into two groups according to Cloninger’s typology and the impact of their interpersonal relationship quality on the potential nonverbal deficits. Method: Twenty type I ADs, twenty-one type II ADs, and twenty control participants took part in an EFE recognition task and an EFE expressivity task that considered personal emotional events (spontaneous expressivity) and EFE in response to a photo or word cue (posed expressivity). Coding was based on judges’ ratings of participants’ emotional facial expressions. Participants additionally completed a questionnaire on interpersonal relationship quality. Results: No difference between the three groups emerged in the EFE recognition task. Type II ADs showed heightened deficits compared with type I ADs in EFE expressivity: Judges perceived less accurate posed EFE in response to a cue word and less intense and positive spontaneous EFE in type II ADs compared to control participants. In addition, type II ADs reported more relationship difficulties compared to both type I ADs and control participants. These interpersonal relationship difficulties were related to some of the EFE expressivity deficits of AD-IIs. Conclusions: This study underlines the important differences between the interpersonal functioning of AD subtypes. [less ▲]

Revue de la littérature - Dépression, activation comportementale et processus psychologiques

Poster (2013, June 11)

Depression is a syndrome from which 12% of men and 20% women suffer. Behavioral activation (AC) is a structured and brief psychotherapeutic procedure which has shown its efficacy in the treatment of ... [more ▼]

Depression is a syndrome from which 12% of men and 20% women suffer. Behavioral activation (AC) is a structured and brief psychotherapeutic procedure which has shown its efficacy in the treatment of depression. It follows two objectives: 1. increase engagement in activities associated with feelings of pleasure and/or control; 2. reduce involvement in activities maintaining negative affects or increasing their risk. This psychotherapeutic approach is composed of different tools such as psychoeducation and activities monitoring. After completing a BA program, subjects reported significantly less anxiety and depression symptoms, but studies haven't focussed on the improvement of psychological processes (PP) which are often biased in anxiety and depressive disorders (eg, avoidance and ruminations). This literature review presents PP on which BA could have an impact. [less ▲]

Psychosocial needs and perception of inequity: How spouses react to the cancer of their partner?

Poster (2013, May 28)

Background. Several studies have highlighted the importance of psychosocial needs in cancer patients’ spouses. Our study’s aim was to reduce these spouses’ needs, using a combination of two ... [more ▼]

Background. Several studies have highlighted the importance of psychosocial needs in cancer patients’ spouses. Our study’s aim was to reduce these spouses’ needs, using a combination of two psychotherapeutic methods: 1. Psychosocial needs’ organization into a hierarchy; 2. Problem-solving method. We also assessed perception of inequity, which is a new concept used in psycho-oncology. This perception focusses on two feelings that spouses might experience in their relationships: firstly, the feeling of overbenefit and underinvestment; secondly, the feeling of underbenefit and overinvestment. Method. A longitudinal design with three assessments (T0,T1,T2) and two groups (experimental, control) was employed. Spouses fulfilled questionnaires: socio-demographic questionnaire, Psychosocial Needs Inventory, Perception of Inequity, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. At T0, all participants organised their psychosocial needs into a hierarchy. Experimental group practiced problem-solving method before control group. Indeed, experimental group practiced it between T0 and T1 while control group practiced it only between T1 and T2. Results. Thirty-seven spouses participated: N experimental group=19; N control group=18. Whenever the combination was given, repeated measures’ ANOVAs highlighted a significant decrease in unsatisfied psychosocial needs when participants have received both methods. Nevertheless, our results did not replicate previous findings according to which spouses experience a higher feeling of overinvestment and underbenefit than feeling of underinvestment and overbenefit. Discussion. Our results underline the interest of proposing psychotherapeutic methods to cancer patients’ spouses to reduce unsatisfied psychosocial needs. [less ▲]

Emotional regulation impairments following severe traumatic brain injury: an investigation of the body and facial feedback effects

in Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society (2013), 19(4), 367-379

The object of this study was to evaluate the combined effect of body and facial feedback in adults who had suffered from a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) in order to gain some understanding of their ... [more ▼]

The object of this study was to evaluate the combined effect of body and facial feedback in adults who had suffered from a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) in order to gain some understanding of their difficulties in the regulation of negative emotions. Twenty-four participants with TBI and 28 control participants adopted facial expressions and body postures according to specific instructions and maintained these positions for 10 seconds. Expressions and postures entailed anger, sadness, and happiness as well as a neutral (baseline) condition. After each expression/posture manipulation, participants evaluated their subjective emotional state (including cheerfulness, sadness, and irritation). TBI participants were globally less responsive to the effects of body and facial feedback than control participants, F (1, 50) = 5.89, p = .02, η2 = .11. More interestingly, the TBI group differed from the Control group across emotions, F (8,400) = 2.51, p = .01, η2 = .05. Specifically, participants with TBI were responsive to happy but not to negative expression/posture manipulations whereas control participants were responsive to happy, angry, and sad expression/posture manipulations. In conclusion, TBI appears to impair the ability to recognise both the physical configuration of a negative emotion and its associated subjective feeling. [less ▲]

Functional and Psychological Characteristics of Belgian Men with Premature Ejaculation and Their Partners

in Archives of Sexual Behavior (2013), 42

Physiological, behavioral, cognitive, and emotional factors are generally acknowledged to play a role in premature ejaculation (PE). However, the nature and the extent of their etiological impact remain ... [more ▼]

Physiological, behavioral, cognitive, and emotional factors are generally acknowledged to play a role in premature ejaculation (PE). However, the nature and the extent of their etiological impact remain largely imprecise. The present study examined functional and psychometric dynamics at work in a PE population. A total of 461 men with PE and 80 partners completed an online questionnaire. The main outcome measures were self-reported ejaculatory latency time, the feeling of control upon ejaculation, sexual satisfaction, distress related to PE, trait anxiety (STAI-B), sexual cognitions (SIQ), social anxiety (LSAS and SISST), and personality traits (TCI-R). In our sample, the median latency time to ejaculation was between 1 and 2 minutes. Sexual satisfaction and distress correlated more strongly with the feeling of control than with the self-reported latency time. Men experienced more distress and dissatisfaction related to PE than did their partners while overestimating their partners’ distress and dissatisfaction. PE participants’ scores differed significantly, albeit slightly, from STAI-B, SIQ, LSAS, and SISST norms. The differences were negligible on TCI-R. Some differences became stronger when subtypes were considered. Participants combining generalized and lifelong PE with self-reported latency times of < 30 sec reported lower sexual satisfaction and control, higher distress, higher social anxiety, and harm avoidance (TCI-R/HA) scores. By contrast, the situational subtype of PE was found to be characterized by a higher level of satisfaction, a greater feeling of control, less distress, and higher trait anxiety scores. However, the trends remained statistically discrete. [less ▲]

Capacity for Cognitive and Emotional Empathy in Alcohol-Dependent Patients

in Psychology of Addictive Behaviors : Journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors (2012), 26(3), 371-383

This study assessed two previously unexplored facets of empathy in alcohol-dependent patients (ADs) divided into two groups according to Cloninger’s alcoholism typology: the attribution of intentions ... [more ▼]

This study assessed two previously unexplored facets of empathy in alcohol-dependent patients (ADs) divided into two groups according to Cloninger’s alcoholism typology: the attribution of intentions according to emotional facial expressions (EFEs) and emotional contagion in reaction to EFEs. Twenty-three male Type-I ADs, 21 male Type-II ADs, and 24 male control participants were compared in two computerized tasks. First, participants rated the extent to which an adjective descriptive of personality weighted on interpersonal dimensions (of rejection, aggressiveness, dominance, and affiliation) corresponded with a video of a neutral EFE that changed to an intense EFE. Second, participants evaluated their own emotional states after watching a series of videos that depicted EFEs while their own face was being filmed. The results showed that Type-I ADs attributed more rejection intentions and fewer affiliation intentions to EFEs compared with controls; however, depression might better explain this biased attribution. Furthermore, AD subtypes showed a different pattern of intention attribution according to the emotions that were portrayed and the sex of the stimulus. In addition, angry EFE mimicry was stronger in Type-II ADs than other participants. Finally, ADs expressed fewer positive emotions and more negative emotions than controls when watching EFEs. These findings emphasize the importance of differentiating alcoholism subtypes and contribute to the understanding of AD interpersonal behaviors. [less ▲]

Spontaneous and Posed Emotional Facial Expressions Following Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

in Journal of Clinical & Experimental Neuropsychology (2012), 34(9), 936-947

Aim: The current study aimed to test the intensity of spontaneous emotional expressions and the accuracy of posed emotional expressions in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Method: Twenty ... [more ▼]

Aim: The current study aimed to test the intensity of spontaneous emotional expressions and the accuracy of posed emotional expressions in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Method: Twenty-three participants with TBI and 27 matched control participants were asked to relate personal angry, happy, and sad events (spontaneous expressivity) and to pose angry, happy, and sad expressions in response to a photo or word cue (posed expressivity). Their emotional facial expressions were coded via judges’ ratings. Results: Participants with TBI had less intense sad expressions when relating a sad event compared to control participants. No group difference emerged in the happy and angry events, the latter possibly due to differentially low inter-rater reliability for anger ratings. Participants with TBI were impaired in their ability to pose sad emotions. Conclusions: These preliminary findings suggest that patients with TBI are impaired at expressing sad expressions either spontaneously or deliberately. This may reflect difficulties in the initiation or suppression of facial expression as well as an impaired semantic knowledge of the facial configuration of sad expression. [less ▲]

Impact of an anxious social situation on emotional facial expressions (EFEs) recognition in children

in Revue Francophone de Clinique Comportementale et Cognitive (2012), 17(2), 2-9

This study addresses the relationship between the capacity of emotional facial expressions (EFEs) recognition and self-esteem in children placed in an anxious social situation. Seventy children (8 – 12 ... [more ▼]

This study addresses the relationship between the capacity of emotional facial expressions (EFEs) recognition and self-esteem in children placed in an anxious social situation. Seventy children (8 – 12 years) were placed in an anxious social situation of performance in which they were instructed to count aloud backwards, beginning at 200 in decrements of 13. After that, children were assessed on a decoding test of 16 photographs depicting EFE. For each photograph, they evaluated the presence of nine types of emotions. They also completed the Self-Perception Profile for Children (Pierrehumbert et al., 1987). No correlations emerged between the accuracy of EFE recognition and an increase of anxious feelings after the anxious social situation. However, self-esteem was correlated with performance on the EFE recognition test. Moreover, the lower the child’s level of self-esteem was, the more he/she perceived negative emotions in EFEs. In conclusion, social anxiety doesn’t seem to interfere with EFEs recognition performance in an anxious social situation. However, low level of self-esteem in children appears to be associated with deficits and interpretative bias in EFEs recognition in an anxious social situation. [less ▲]

Is there a link between an unstable identity and autobiographical memory in schizophrenia ?

Poster (2011, September)

Cognitive and Emotional Empathy in Alcohol-Dependent Patients (ADs): a Review of the Literature

in Revue Francophone de Clinique Comportementale et Cognitive (2011), 16(2), 56-69

The purpose of this article is to assert the current state of the scientific literature on the issues regarding empathy in alcohol-dependents patients (ADs). We will first explain what the term « empathy ... [more ▼]

The purpose of this article is to assert the current state of the scientific literature on the issues regarding empathy in alcohol-dependents patients (ADs). We will first explain what the term « empathy » covers and the distinction made between cognitive and emotional empathy. We will describe then the different studies that got interested in the capacities for empathy in ADs patients. These studies concern predominantly one precise aspect of cognitive empathy: the capacity to infer an emotional state on the basis of emotional facial expressions (EFEs). Up to now, the other domain of cognitive empathy –the decoding of affective prosody and of nonverbal mulimodal stimuli and the attribution of intentions and beliefs– and emotional empathy are under-investigated in alcohol-dependence. In this review of the literature, we will identify the consequences that empathy problems could have on interpersonal relationships as well as the domains that still have to be to investigate regarding empathy in ADs patients, and notably the remediation of these deficits. [less ▲]