The relationship between childhood trauma, emotion recognition, and irritability in schizophrenia patients

Bilgi M. M., Taspinar S., Aksoy B., Oguz K., Coburn K., Gonul A. S.

PSYCHIATRY RESEARCH, vol.251, pp.90-96, 2017 (SCI-Expanded, SSCI, Scopus) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 251
  • Publication Date: 2017
  • Doi Number: 10.1016/j.psychres.2017.01.091
  • Journal Name: PSYCHIATRY RESEARCH
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.90-96
  • Keywords: Facial emotion recognition, Aggression, Irritable mood, Schizophrenia
  • Dokuz Eylül University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between childhood trauma, irritability, and emotion recognition, in schizophrenia patients during a psychotic break. Thirty-six schizophrenia inpatients and 36 healthy controls were assessed with the Irritability Questionnaire (IRQ) and two facial emotion recognition tasks, the Emotion Discrimination Test (EDT) and Emotion Identification Test (EIT). Patients were further assessed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM IlI-R Axis II Disorders (SCID-II), the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS), and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-28 (CTQ-28). EDT and EIT performance was significantly impaired in patients compared to healthy controls. Furthermore, patients tended to misidentify sad, surprised, or angry faces as showing fear, and this misidentification correlated with the patients' irritability. Childhood adversity increased irritability both directly and indirectly through emotion misidentification.