Machine learning classification of conduct disorder with high versus low levels of callous-unemotional traits based on facial emotion recognition abilities
Machine learning classification of conduct disorder with high versus low levels of callous-unemotional traits based on facial emotion recognition abilities
Conduct disorder (CD) with high levels of callous-unemotional traits (CD/HCU) has been theoretically linked to specific difficulties with fear and sadness recognition, in contrast to CD with low levels of callous-unemotional traits (CD/LCU). However, experimental evidence for this distinction is mix...
Saved in:
Personal Name(s): | Pauli, Ruth (Corresponding author) |
---|---|
Kohls, Gregor / Tino, Peter / Rogers, Jack C. / Baumann, Sarah / Ackermann, Katharina / Bernhard, Anka / Martinelli, Anne / Jansen, Lucres / Oldenhof, Helena / Gonzalez-Madruga, Karen / Smaragdi, Areti / Gonzalez-Torres, Miguel Angel / Kerexeta-Lizeaga, Iñaki / Boonmann, Cyril / Kersten, Linda / Bigorra, Aitana / Hervas, Amaia / Stadler, Christina / Fernandez-Rivas, Aranzazu / Popma, Arne / Konrad, Kerstin / Herpertz-Dahlmann, Beate / Fairchild, Graeme / Freitag, Christine M. / Rotshtein, Pia / De Brito, Stephane A. | |
Contributing Institute: |
Jara-Institut Quantum Information; INM-11 |
Published in: | European child & adolescent psychiatry, 2021 (2021) |
Imprint: |
Heidelberg
Springer
2021
|
DOI: |
10.1007/s00787-021-01893-5 |
Document Type: |
Journal Article |
Research Program: |
Brain Dysfunction and Plasticity |
Link: |
OpenAccess |
Publikationsportal JuSER |
Please use the identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/2128/34201 in citations.
Conduct disorder (CD) with high levels of callous-unemotional traits (CD/HCU) has been theoretically linked to specific difficulties with fear and sadness recognition, in contrast to CD with low levels of callous-unemotional traits (CD/LCU). However, experimental evidence for this distinction is mixed, and it is unclear whether these difficulties are a reliable marker of CD/HCU compared to CD/LCU. In a large sample (N = 1263, 9–18 years), we combined univariate analyses and machine learning classifiers to investigate whether CD/HCU is associated with disproportionate difficulties with fear and sadness recognition over other emotions, and whether such difficulties are a reliable individual-level marker of CD/HCU. We observed similar emotion recognition abilities in CD/HCU and CD/LCU. The CD/HCU group underperformed relative to typically developing (TD) youths, but difficulties were not specific to fear or sadness. Classifiers did not distinguish between youths with CD/HCU versus CD/LCU (52% accuracy), although youths with CD/HCU and CD/LCU were reliably distinguished from TD youths (64% and 60%, respectively). In the subset of classifiers that performed well for youths with CD/HCU, fear and sadness were the most relevant emotions for distinguishing them from youths with CD/LCU and TD youths, respectively. We conclude that non-specific emotion recognition difficulties are common in CD/HCU, but are not reliable individual-level markers of CD/HCU versus CD/LCU. These findings highlight that a reduced ability to recognise facial expressions of distress should not be assumed to be a core feature of CD/HCU. |