Background: Emotion recognition is essential for social functioning and communication. Research has shown that when adolescents with conduct disorder (CD) also show high callous-unemotional traits ...Show moreBackground: Emotion recognition is essential for social functioning and communication. Research has shown that when adolescents with conduct disorder (CD) also show high callous-unemotional traits (CU+), they are slower in recognizing negative emotions. Moreover, adolescents with CD/CU+ are limited in affective empathy and they are less fearful of punishment. On the other hand, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with a lesser ability to recognize emotions of others in an accurate manner. Besides that, in contrast to CD/CU+, they are impaired in the cognitive aspects of empathy. Aim: This study aims to gain knowledge regarding emotion recognition of adolescents, diagnosed with either ASD or CD/CU+. Specifically, this study focuses on the speed and accuracy negative emotions are recognized with. Additionally, the relationship between diagnostics and emotional processing is researched, and whether cognitive or affective empathy moderate this relationship. The latter aspect has not been studied yet in current literature. Method: The sample consisted of 48 boys between 15 and 19 years (M = 17.2), either boys with ASD (N = 23) or boys with CD/CU+ (N = 25). Using a socio-emotional computer task, fearful and angry faces were presented, and participants were requested to recognize the emotional state. Results: In contrast to earlier findings, results showed that emotion recognition accuracy did not differ between boys with CD/CU+ and boys with ASD. However, there was a difference found in reaction time: boys with CD/CU+ showed a faster reaction time to angry faces than boys with ASD. Finally, empathy did not moderate the relationship between diagnostics and emotion recognition. Conclusion: It can be concluded that boys with CD/CU+ and ASD recognize angry emotions differently. Although further research is recommended, this study emphasizes the importance of adjusting interventions to specific abilities and impairments of the individual, which can increase the efficacy.Show less
There is currently little scientific research on male juvenile offenders with Conduct Disorder (CD), while 73% of male juvenile offenders have this disorder. In addition, many adolescents with CD...Show moreThere is currently little scientific research on male juvenile offenders with Conduct Disorder (CD), while 73% of male juvenile offenders have this disorder. In addition, many adolescents with CD receive no treatment or the incorrect treatment, while demonstrating high levels of aggression and psychopathic traits. People with CD show abnormalities in brain areas responsible for social cognition. The question is whether the neurocognitive abnormalities for social cognition is the cause of symptomatic behaviors such as aggression and psychopathic traits. This study aimed to investigate whether there is an association between social cognition, aggression and psychopathy in male juvenile delinquents with CD. The sample consisted of 52 male juvenile delinquents with CD (M = 16.94 years; SD = 1.36 years; range = 15 - 19 years). The mean IQ was 95.92 (SD = 6.45). In addition, the mean socioeconomic status (SES) of the participants was -0.83 (SD = 1.80; range = -5.24 - 2.77). The following questionnaires were used: Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), Reactive Proactive Questionnaire (RPQ) and the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI). Results showed that impairments in social cognition was a significant predictor of both reactive aggression and total aggression score. No significant association was found between impairments in social cognition and proactive aggression and psychopathy. The current research contributes to the knowledge of the treatment of male juvenile delinquents with CD. More scientific research is needed to confirm the results of this study.Show less
Background: This study evaluated language and empathy in 8-to-12 year old boys with Disruptive Behavior Disorders (DBD) (n = 31) and age-matched normal controls (n = 34). Method: Language was...Show moreBackground: This study evaluated language and empathy in 8-to-12 year old boys with Disruptive Behavior Disorders (DBD) (n = 31) and age-matched normal controls (n = 34). Method: Language was measured by the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-4 Dutch Version, CELF-4-NL, 2010, a language test for the evaluation of language skills in school aged children. Empathy was assessed by the Basic Empathy Scale (BES), a self-report questionnaire for children. Results: Results revealed that language is not related to empathy and that DBD has no influence on the presence of affective and cognitive empathy. Only when it comes to generalized empathy it shows that normal controls possess higher levels of empathy than DBD boys. In addition, DBD does not have a moderating effect on the relationship between language and empathy. Conclusions: These findings are not in line with predictions based on the known literature which might be due to the fact that it is unsure if empathy and language were correctly measured. Conclusions based on these results should be done carefully. Further research is required. Keywords: Language, empathy, theory of mind, conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, aggression, school aged children. Abbreviation: DBD: Disruptive Behavior Disorder; CD: Conduct Disorder; ODD: Oppositional Defiant Disorder.Show less
