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Emotion recognition in children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

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ADHD Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders

Abstract

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are impaired in social adaptation and display deficits in social competence. Deficient emotion recognition has been discussed to underlie these social problems. However, comorbid conduct problems have not been considered in the majority of studies conducted so far, and the influence of medication on emotion recognition has rarely been studied. Here, emotion recognition performance was assessed in children with ADHD without medication compared with children with ADHD under stimulant medication and a matched control group. In order to rule out confounding by externalizing symptoms, children with comorbid conduct problems were excluded. Video clips with neutral faces developing a basic emotion (happiness, sadness, disgust, fear and anger) were presented in order to assess emotion recognition. Results indicated between-group differences neither concerning the number of correctly identified emotions nor concerning reaction times and their standard deviations. Thus, we suggest that ADHD per se is not associated with deficits in emotion recognition.

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Acknowledgments

We thank all participants and their families for their participation in the study. Our sincere thanks go to all colleagues from collaborating institutes for their cooperation and support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Goethe-University, Frankfurt/M., Germany

    Christina Schwenck, Yvonne Zenglein, Angelika Gensthaler & Christine M. Freitag

  2. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany

    Christina Schwenck, Thekla Schneider, Regina Taurines & Marcel Romanos

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Constance, Germany

    Thekla Schneider

  4. Department of Psychology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany

    Jutta Schreckenbach & Wolfgang Schneider

  5. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany

    Jutta Schreckenbach

  6. Klinik für Psychiatrie, Psychosomatik und Psychotherapie des Kindes- und Jugendalters Johann, Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt/M., Deutschordenstraße 50 (Haus 92), 60528, Frankfurt a. M., Germany

    Christina Schwenck

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  1. Christina Schwenck
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  2. Thekla Schneider
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Correspondence to Christina Schwenck.

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Schwenck, C., Schneider, T., Schreckenbach, J. et al. Emotion recognition in children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). ADHD Atten Def Hyp Disord 5, 295–302 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12402-013-0104-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12402-013-0104-z

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