Effects of Age and Subtype on Emotional Recognition in Children with Anxiety Disorders: Implications for Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy

Objective: It remains unclear whether an anxiety diagnosis is associated with children's emotional recognition. We considered children's age and types of primary anxiety diagnosis, which have been neglected, to elucidate this relationship.Methods: Sixty-three referred children with anxiety disorder(s) and 59 volunteer children without anxiety disorder(s), aged between 6 and 11 years, were presented with animated characters, displaying a range of simple and complex emotions, for identification. Statistical analyses examined identification accuracy based on presence or absence of anxiety disorder, age, and types of primary diagnoses.Results: Children with anxiety disorder(s) as a group performed comparably to children without anxiety disorder(s) in identifying emotions (z = -0.72, P = 0.47). In both groups, accuracy for disgust increased significantly each year of age ([anxiety group] OR 2.6; 95% CI 1.6 to 4.3, ? Conclusion: Children with anxiety disorder(s) as a group may not appear to be impaired in emotional recognition. However, when age and subtypes are considered, children with SAD and young children with GAD appear to have difficulty, compared with children without anxiety disorder(s).Key Words: emotion recognition, anxiety, anxious children, cognitive-behavioural therapy, computer animationReceived August 2012, revised, and accepted November 2012.Effets de l'âge et du sous-type sur la reconnaissance emotionnelle chez les enfants souffrant de troubles anxieux : implications pour la therapie cognitivo-comportementaleObjectif : il n'est pas encore determine si un diagnostic d'anxiete est associe a la reconnaissance emotionnelle des enfants. Nous avons pris en compte l'âge des enfants et les types des diagnostics d'anxiete primaires, qui ont ete negliges pour eclaircir cette relation.Methodes : Soixante-trois enfants referes souffrant de trouble(s) anxieux et 59 enfants volontaires sans trouble(s) anxieux, âges entre 6 et 11 ans, se sont fait presenter des personnages animes, qui affichaient une gradation d'emotions simples et complexes, aux fins d'identification. Des analyses statistiques ont examine l'exactitude de l'identification d'apres la presence ou l'absence de trouble anxieux, l'âge, et les types des diagnostics primaires.Resultats : Comme groupe, les enfants souffrant de trouble(s) anxieux ont eu un rendement comparable a celui des enfants sans trouble(s) anxieux pour identifier les emotions (? = -0,72; ? = 0,47). Dans les deux groupes, l'exactitude de l'identification du degout augmentait significativement a chaque âge ([groupe anxieux] RC 2,6; IC a 95 % 1,6 a 4,3; ? Conclusion : Comme groupe, les enfants souffrant de trouble(s) anxieux peuvent ne pas sembler etre deficients en matiere de reconnaissance emotionnelle. …