The ability of Hong Kong children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder to recognise facial emotion

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the facial emotion recognition ability in local children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and the effect of inattention and impulsivity on such ability. Participants and Methods: Eight-seven Chinese children (45 controls and 42 with ADHD) of primary 1 to 3 were recruited. They were matched for age, sex, intelligence, and family income. The subjects were shown facial emotion pictures developed by Matsumoto and Ekman (1998) together with emotional story vignettes. Conners' Continuous Performance Test II was used to evaluate the attention / impulsivity level of the subjects. Results: The difference in performance in facial emotion recognition between the 2 groups was not statistically significant. There was also no significant correlation between the accuracy of facial emotion recognition and the inattention / impulsivity level. Intelligence level correlated significantly with the facial emotion recognition ability. Conclusions: The ability to recognise facial emotion is affected by multiple factors. A single diagnostic label is unlikely to be fully predictive. Further research on the influence of co-morbidities and presence of different ADHD subtypes should be considered. © 2009 Hong Kong College of Psychiatrists.