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Child / Adolescent - Externalizing

Is it Possible to Train Facial Affect Sensitivity in Children with Callous-Unemotional Traits?

(PS6-16) Is It Possible to Train Facial Affect Sensitivity in Children with Callous-unemotional Traits?

Friday, November 15, 2024
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM EST
Location: Franklin Hall, Level 4, Marriott Downtown
Abstract Text: Callous-unemotional (CU) traits (e.g., lack of guilt, remorse, empathy; shallow affect) are an established risk factor for early emerging conduct problems and poorer treatment outcomes, calling for novel interventions. Prominent theories regarding the difficulties children with CU traits experience in responding appropriately to others’ emotions emphasize fundamental affect sensitivity deficits, including reduced attention toward and recognition of others emotional cues, particularly signals of distress. We propose this impairment is mechanistically linked to child CU traits, and that by targeting sensitivity to facial affect (SFA) directly via a computerized automated feedback and incentive system, we can exert downstream effects on CU traits. We present findings from the R61 phase of our NIMH-sponsored experimental therapeutics clinical trial for Facial Affect Sensitivity Training (FAST). This study is in keeping with the mission of ABCT to advance scientific approaches to behavioral, cognitive, and biological evidence-based approaches to behavioral health. It entailed a randomized controlled trial with N=24 children ages 6-11, 13 who received FAST, and 11 no-treatment controls.  We measured changes in facial emotion recognition (FER), eye gaze patterns, and neural activity (event related potentials). This investigation provided preliminary support for FAST feasibility and mechanism engagement. Specifically, intervention children showed improved accuracy for fear FER, although they did not show improvements in tracked eye gaze. Control children exhibited a decrease in N170 ERP to fearful expressions, whereas children receiving FAST showed a non-significant trend for enhanced N170. A subsequent R33-phase clinical trial is underway to replicate these SFA findings and determine whether the FAST intervention reduces CU traits. If so, such training in early to middle childhood could help interrupt an antisocial developmental cascade.