Effectiveness of a Short Computer-based Emotion Recognition Training in Different Patient Groups

NCT04845243 | Unknown

• 1 other identifier: EmoRecTraining_EVA
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 80
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

Emotion recognition and regulation are necessary skills for social interaction. Disrupted development of these processes severely interferes with socio-emotional development. These difficulties are commonly reported in patients with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or Conduct Disorder (CD), with the subsequent social/interpersonal difficulties. The available evidence suggest that impaired emotion regulation processes might underlie the aggressive behaviours frequently observed in both disorders. However, no study has yet investigated the presence of disorder-specific characteristics on emotion processing between these two disorders. Different impaired emotion recognition difficulties may underlie the reported emotion dysregulation. A practical implication of this is that given that both disorders have shown difficulties during emotion recognition processes, a short, computer-based intervention to improve emotion recognition might benefit both cases, even though their aetiologies might differ.

Conditions

Autism Spectrum Disorder; Conduct Disorder

Keywords

Autism Spectrum Disorder; Emotion recognition training

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• Change in performance accuracy in Geneva Emotion Recognition Test (GERT)

  Percentage of accuracy to stimuli showing facial emotions

  Change in performance before and after the emotion recognition training, after 1 month (pre/post measure)

• Change in performance response times in Geneva Emotion Recognition Test (GERT)

  Response times to stimuli showing facial emotions

  Change in performance before and after the emotion recognition training, after 1 month (pre/post measure)

• Change in performance reaction times in Social decision-making task

  Reaction times for each of the facial emotions shown

  Change in Performance before and after the emotion recognition training, after 1 month (pre/post measure)

• Change in choices in Social decision-making task

  The proportion of choices that maximise their self-gain for each of the facial emotions shown

  Change in choices before and after the emotion recognition training, after 1 month (pre/post measure)

Study Arms (1)

Emotion recognition training

OTHER

All participants have to complete the online emotion recognition training E.V.A. as well as the pre- and post training tasks: GERT and social decision making task.

Behavioral: Emotionen Verstehen und Ausdrücken (E.V.A.)

Interventions

Emotionen Verstehen und Ausdrücken (E.V.A.) BEHAVIORAL

The online training is focused on the strengthening of socioemotional competences and consists of different training tasks (up to 3 million) presented to the participant as mini games. These training tasks are specifically designed according to empirical findings to match the socio-emotional recognition needs of people with ASD. During these games, an adapted Elo-Algorithm allows to automatically evaluate the participants' performance and adapts the difficulty levels throughout the users' progress in the training.

Emotion recognition training

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 10 Years - 18 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Diagnosis: ASD or CD
• German speaking
• IQ \> 70
• Age: 10-18

You may not qualify if:

• Comorbid Anxiety or Depressive disorder diagnosis
• IQ \< 70
• Insufficient German language skills
• Severe developmental disorders

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Prof. Christina Stadler: lead

Related Publications (16)

• Ahmed SP, Bittencourt-Hewitt A, Sebastian CL. Neurocognitive bases of emotion regulation development in adolescence. Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2015 Oct;15:11-25. doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2015.07.006. Epub 2015 Jul 29.

  PMID: 26340451 BACKGROUND

• Blakemore SJ. The social brain in adolescence. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2008 Apr;9(4):267-77. doi: 10.1038/nrn2353.

  PMID: 18354399 BACKGROUND

• Somerville LH, Casey BJ. Developmental neurobiology of cognitive control and motivational systems. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2010 Apr;20(2):236-41. doi: 10.1016/j.conb.2010.01.006. Epub 2010 Feb 16.

  PMID: 20167473 BACKGROUND

• Tanaka JW, Sung A. The "Eye Avoidance" Hypothesis of Autism Face Processing. J Autism Dev Disord. 2016 May;46(5):1538-52. doi: 10.1007/s10803-013-1976-7.

  PMID: 24150885 BACKGROUND

• Wieckowski AT, White SW. Attention Modification to Attenuate Facial Emotion Recognition Deficits in Children with Autism: A Pilot Study. J Autism Dev Disord. 2020 Jan;50(1):30-41. doi: 10.1007/s10803-019-04223-6.

  PMID: 31520245 BACKGROUND

• Ramdoss S, Machalicek W, Rispoli M, Mulloy A, Lang R, O'Reilly M. Computer-based interventions to improve social and emotional skills in individuals with autism spectrum disorders: a systematic review. Dev Neurorehabil. 2012;15(2):119-35. doi: 10.3109/17518423.2011.651655.

  PMID: 22494084 BACKGROUND

• Kouo JL, Egel AL. The Effectiveness of Interventions in Teaching Emotion Recognition to Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Rev J Autism Dev Disord. 2016 Sep;3(3):254-65.

  BACKGROUND

• Silver M, Oakes P. Evaluation of a new computer intervention to teach people with autism or Asperger syndrome to recognize and predict emotions in others. Autism. 2001 Sep;5(3):299-316. doi: 10.1177/1362361301005003007.

  PMID: 11708589 BACKGROUND

• Zoerner D, Schutze J, Kirst S, Dziobek I, Lucke U. Zirkus Empathico: Mobile Training of Socio-Emotional Competences for Children with Autism. In: 2016 IEEE 16th International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT) [Internet]. Austin, TX, USA: IEEE; 2016 [cited 2021 Feb 10]. p. 448-52. Available from: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7757020/

  BACKGROUND

• Hunnikin LM, van Goozen SHM. How can we use knowledge about the neurobiology of emotion recognition in practice? Journal of Criminal Justice. 2019 Nov;65:101537.

  BACKGROUND

• Cooper S, Hobson CW, van Goozen SH. Facial emotion recognition in children with externalising behaviours: A systematic review. Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2020 Oct;25(4):1068-1085. doi: 10.1177/1359104520945390. Epub 2020 Jul 25.

  PMID: 32713184 BACKGROUND

• Wells AE, Hunnikin LM, Ash DP, van Goozen SHM. Improving emotion recognition is associated with subsequent mental health and well-being in children with severe behavioural problems. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2021 Nov;30(11):1769-1777. doi: 10.1007/s00787-020-01652-y. Epub 2020 Sep 30.

  PMID: 32997168 BACKGROUND

• Dadds MR, Cauchi AJ, Wimalaweera S, Hawes DJ, Brennan J. Outcomes, moderators, and mediators of empathic-emotion recognition training for complex conduct problems in childhood. Psychiatry Res. 2012 Oct 30;199(3):201-7. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2012.04.033. Epub 2012 Jun 15.

  PMID: 22703720 BACKGROUND

• Hubble K, Bowen KL, Moore SC, van Goozen SH. Improving Negative Emotion Recognition in Young Offenders Reduces Subsequent Crime. PLoS One. 2015 Jun 29;10(6):e0132035. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0132035. eCollection 2015.

  PMID: 26121148 BACKGROUND

• Moebert, T. & Lucke, U., (2019). E.V.A. - Emotionen Verstehen und Ausdrücken. In: Pinkwart, N. & Konert, J. (Hrsg.), DELFI 2019. Bonn: Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V.. (S. 289-290). DOI: 10.18420/delfi2019_324

  BACKGROUND

• Schlegel K, Grandjean D, Scherer KR. Introducing the Geneva emotion recognition test: an example of Rasch-based test development. Psychol Assess. 2014 Jun;26(2):666-72. doi: 10.1037/a0035246. Epub 2013 Dec 2.

  PMID: 24295238 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Autism Spectrum Disorder; Conduct Disorder

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Child Development Disorders, Pervasive; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Mental Disorders; Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders

Central Study Contacts

Christina Stadler, Professor

CONTACT

+41 61 325 51 11; Christina.stadler@upk.ch

Ana Cubillo, PhD

CONTACT

+41 61 325 80 33; Ana.cubillo@upk.ch

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: NETWORK
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Head Psychologist, Clinical Professor, Clinic for Children and Adolescents

Model Details: Participants will receive six sessions (duration approx. 1h/session) of the software-based training program "Emotionen Verstehen und Ausdrücken" (EVA; Moebert \& Lucke, 2019). Sessions will be administered 2-3 times/week depending on the participants' time availability. In order to objectively identify the potential benefit of the training for each participant, they will perform two separate tasks before and after the emotion recognition training, the Geneva Emotion Recognition test (GERT; Schlegel, Grandjean,\& Scherer, 2014) and a social decision-making task. A comparison of their performance pre- and post-training is taken as an indicator of improvement in emotion recognition skills.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 8, 2021
• First Posted: April 14, 2021
• Study Start: April 15, 2021
• Primary Completion: November 30, 2021
• Study Completion: November 30, 2021
• Last Updated: April 14, 2021

Record last verified: 2021-04

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share