File(s) under permanent embargo
Identification of Facial Expressions in Depression: Identifying Emotions of Strangers and Romantic Partners
People with depression show a negative bias in how they interpret, attend to, and remember unfamiliar peoples’ facial expressions (e.g., Bourke, Douglas, & Porter, 2010), and this has been associated with more prolonged courses of depression and with depression relapse (Bouhuys, Geerts, & Gordijn, 1999). Negative biases seen in depressed people have generally been thought to be specific to certain expressions, particularly happiness and sadness (e.g., Gilboa-Schechtman, Erhard-Weiss, & Jeczemien, 2002). However, depressed people have also been shown to have general deficits or biases with other emotions, although these have been less thoroughly studied (for a review see Bistricky, Ingram, & Atchley, 2011). Whether depressed peoples’ biases are the same with strangers and significant others has never been tested, and studies with other populations have shown that people process the faces of familiar and unfamiliar people differently (e.g., Natu & O’Toole, 2011).
This investigation examined facial expression identification in 60 subjects (30 never-depressed, 30 depressed either currently or in the past), utilizing images of 5 emotions varying in intensity, displayed both by posers unfamiliar to subjects and a subject’s significant other (e.g., spouse, domestic partner). As hypothesized, expressions by unfamiliar posers were processed similarly to expressions by significant others, though there were some differences. Compared to never-depressed controls, depressed subjects evidenced a clearer discrepancy between their identification of facial expressions of anger by their partners than by unfamiliar posers. Compared to never-depressed controls, depressed subjects were also more sensitive to expressions of sadness, though this was more evident when portrayed by strangers than when portrayed by significant others. Previous findings of depression being associated with a bias away from happiness and towards sadness were not replicated in the current investigation; instead, depression was associated with a bias toward identifying expressions as neutral during emotion-neutral comparison trials, and towards anger during emotion-emotion comparison trials. This investigation provides additional support for Gilboa-Schechtman et al.,’s (2002) cognitive conceptualization of emotion processing in depression, which involves many emotions. Emotion identification abnormalities in depression are present not just with strangers but also with significant others. Implications for how processing biases affect relationships are discussed.
History
Date Modified
2017-06-05Defense Date
2015-08-18Research Director(s)
Dave SmithDegree
- Doctor of Philosophy
Degree Level
- Doctoral Dissertation
Program Name
- Psychology