An impairment in recognizing distress is implicated in the development and severity of antisocial behavior. It has been hypothesized that a lack of attention to the eyes plays a role, but supporting evidence is limited. We developed a computerized training to improve emotion recognition in children and examined the role of eye gaze before and after training. Children referred into an intervention program to prevent antisocial outcomes completed an emotion recognition task with concurrent eye tracking. Those with emotion recognition impairments (n = 54, mean age: 8.72 years, 78% male) completed the training, while others (n = 38, mean age: 8.95 years, 84% male) continued with their usual interventions. Emotion recognition and eye gaze were reassessed in all children 8 weeks later. Impaired negative emotion recognition was significantly related to severity of behavioral problems at pretest. Children who completed the training significantly improved in emotion recognition; eye gaze did not contribute to impairment or improvement in emotion recognition. This study confirms the role of emotion recognition in severity of disruptive behavior and shows that a targeted intervention can quickly improve emotion impairments. The training works by improving children's ability to appraise emotional stimuli rather than by influencing their visual attention.

中文翻译：

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具有破坏性行为的儿童的面部情绪识别能迅速得到改善吗？有针对性和预防性的早期干预研究

识别痛苦的障碍与反社会行为的发展和严重程度有关。据推测，缺乏对眼睛的关注起到了一定的作用，但支持的证据有限。我们开发了一种计算机化训练来提高儿童的情绪识别能力，并检查了训练前后眼睛注视的作用。孩子们参加了一项预防反社会结果的干预计划，完成了一项情绪识别任务，同时进行了眼动追踪。有情绪识别障碍的人（n= 54，平均年龄：8.72 岁，78% 男性）完成了培训，而其他人（n= 38，平均年龄：8.95 岁，84% 为男性）继续进行常规干预。8 周后对所有儿童的情绪识别和眼睛注视进行了重新评估。负面情绪识别受损与预测行为问题的严重程度显着相关。完成训练的孩子在情绪识别方面显着提高；眼睛注视对情绪识别没有影响或改善。这项研究证实了情绪识别在破坏性行为严重程度中的作用，并表明有针对性的干预可以迅速改善情绪障碍。培训通过提高儿童评估情绪刺激的能力而不是通过影响他们的视觉注意力来发挥作用。