The effect of emotion on recognition accuracy, intensity and response bias to vocal expressions in adolescents and adults with externalising and internalising symptoms

Previous research has examined emotion recognition from vocal expressions in healthy adults and adolescents. However, research has not systematically examined the effect of emotion on accuracy, perceived intensity and response bias in adults and adolescents with externalising and internalising symptoms. First, this study aimed to examine the effect of emotion and age on recognition accuracy, perceived intensity and response bias to vocal expressions in adolescents and adults. Second, we aimed to explore associations between vocal emotion recognition and externalising (e.g., inattention, hyperactivity) and internalising (emotional) difficulties in adolescents and adults. The present study recruited 26 adults and 23 typically developing adolescents from the community. Participants were screened for externalising (inattention, hyperactivity) and internalising (emotional) difficulties via self-report questionnaires. Participants were asked to listen to vocal expressions and classify each expression by selecting one of three response options (angry, happy, neutral). We measured discrimination accuracy and responses bias to the vocal emotional expressions. Results showed that angry voices were recognised most accurately, and were perceived more intense, compared to happy voices by adults and adolescents. Results also showed that adults were more accurate to recognise emotions compared to adolescents, and recognition accuracy improved with age within each age group. Finally, adults with higher inattention symptoms were less accurate to recognise anger from vocal expressions.