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| Greater deficits in emotional facial expression recognition can indicate more severe alcoholism |
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Recognition of emotional facial expressions ( EFEs) is a key form of non-verbal communication that has a huge influence on an individual's social-interaction skills. Alcoholics tend to have impaired EFE decoding abilities. A new study has found that not only do EFE decoding deficits continue despite three months of abstinence, but those individuals with the worst deficits also had the worst prognosis for treatment success.
Results are published in the March issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.
"Satisfying and successful interpersonal relationships are partly determined by the ability to accurately interpret nonverbal signals from interaction partners," said Marie-Line Foisy, a researcher at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and corresponding author for the study. "In our daily life, EFEs are key features of communication since they convey most information on emotional expression and regulation as well as on social motives."
"Humans are a gregarious species, so we survive by living in groups," added Marilee Monnot, clinical associate professor at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. "Emotional expressions in face, body language, and/or vocal tone inform group members of each other's motivation and potential actions. If an individual cannot decode these honest signals, social-interaction mistakes are inevitable, leading to rejection, loss of essential resources, and poor chances of survival."
Foisy and her colleagues wanted to know if abstinence from alcohol can "repair" EFE decoding deficits. They recruited 49 alcoholics from a long-stay post-detoxification treatment center during the third or fourth week of their detoxification. Of these, 22 maintained abstinence until final assessment two months later; however, 27 dropped out of the treatment program. Researchers also recruited a "control" group of 22 individuals matched on age, gender and educational levels. Both at initial recruitment as well as final assessment, all participants were given an EFE decoding test of 16 photographs depicting "universal" facial expressions of happiness, anger, disgust and sadness.
"Our results corroborate and expand upon previous findings of more errors in accurate labeling, and overestimation of the intensity level of the emotion displayed, among alcoholic participants when compared to control participants," said Foisy. "In addition, there was no improvement after three months of abstinence."
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