(1) Background: Some recent studies suggest that children and adolescents with different neurodevelopmental disorders perform worse in emotions recognition through facial expressions (ER) compared with typically developing peers. This impairment is also described in children with Specific Learning Disorders (SLD), compromising their scholastic achievement, social functioning, and quality of life. The purpose of our study is to evaluate ER skills in children and adolescents with SLD compared to a control group without learning disorders, and correlate them with intelligence and executive functions. (2) Materials and Methods: Our work is a cross-sectional observational study. Sixty-three children and adolescents aged between 8 and 16 years, diagnosed with SLD, and 32 sex/age-matched controls without learning disorders were recruited. All participants were administered standardized neuropsychological tests, evaluating facial emotion recognition (NEPSY-II), executive functions (EpiTrack Junior), and intelligence profile (WISC-IV). (3) Results: Emotion recognition mean score was significantly lower in the SLD group than in the controls group on the Mann–Whitney U test for unpaired samples (p < 0.001). The SLD group performed significantly lower than the control group in their abilities to identify neutral expressions, happiness, sadness, anger, and fear compared to controls (p < 0.001). ER scores were positively correlated to the executive functions scores. There was no correlation with the Total Intelligence Quotient scores but there is a significant positive correlation with Working Memory Index and Processing Speed Index measured by WISC.IV. (4) Conclusions: Our study showed that children and adolescents with Specific Learning Disorders have facial emotion recognition impairment when compared with a group of peers without learning disorders. ER abilities were independent of their global intelligence but potentially related to executive functions.

中文翻译：

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患有特定学习障碍的儿童和青少年的面部情绪识别。


(1) 背景：最近的一些研究表明，与正常发育的同龄人相比，患有不同神经发育障碍的儿童和青少年在通过面部表情 (ER) 进行情绪识别方面表现较差。患有特定学习障碍 (SLD) 的儿童也会出现这种障碍，影响他们的学业成绩、社会功能和生活质量。我们研究的目的是评估患有 SLD 的儿童和青少年与没有学习障碍的对照组相比的 ER​​ 技能，并将其与智力和执行功能相关联。 (2) 材料和方法：我们的工作是一项横断面观察研究。招募了 63 名年龄在 8 至 16 岁之间、被诊断患有 SLD 的儿童和青少年，以及 32 名没有学习障碍的性别/年龄匹配的对照组。所有参与者均接受标准化神经心理学测试，评估面部情绪识别 (NEPSY-II)、执行功能 (EpiTrack Junior) 和智力概况 (WISC-IV)。 (3) 结果：在未配对样本的 Mann-Whitney U 检验中，SLD 组的情绪识别平均得分显着低于对照组（ p < 0.001）。与对照组相比，SLD 组在识别中性表情、快乐、悲伤、愤怒和恐惧的能力方面显着低于对照组 ( p < 0.001)。 ER 评分与执行功能评分呈正相关。与总智商分数没有相关性，但与 WISC.IV 测量的工作记忆指数和处理速度指数呈显着正相关。 (4) 结论：我们的研究表明，与没有学习障碍的同龄人相比，患有特定学习障碍的儿童和青少年存在面部情绪识别障碍。 ER 能力独立于他们的整体智力，但可能与执行功能相关。