Affect recognition among adolescents in therapeutic schools: relationships with posttraumatic stress disorder and conduct disorder symptoms.

BACKGROUND: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and conduct disorder (CD) symptoms often co-occur in adolescence, but little is known about whether they show common or distinct emotional processing deficits.

METHOD: We examined the effects of PTSD and CD symptoms on facial affect processing in youth with emotional and behavior problems. Teens enrolled in therapeutic day schools (N = 371; ages 13-19) completed a structured diagnostic assessment and the Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy-2 facial affect recognition task.

RESULTS: PTSD symptoms were associated with deficits in the recognition of angry facial expressions, specifically the false identification of angry faces as fearful. CD symptoms were associated with greater difficulty correctly identifying sadness.

CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest specificity in the relationships of PTSD and CD symptoms with emotional processing.