Submitted by Ellie Mae Dorrans
Recognising emotions in other people’s faces is an important part of children’s social and emotional development. However, some children find it more difficult to identify negative emotions, such as anger, sadness and fear. We wanted to understand how children’s emotion recognition relates to their emotional and behavioural difficulties, their parents’ mental health, and the emotional climate at home.
We studied 416 children aged 4-8 years who had been referred for assessment by teachers due to emerging socioemotional and/or behavioural difficulties. Children completed a task in which they identified facial expressions, while parents completed questionnaires about their own anxiety and depression and their child’s emotional and behavioural difficulties. We also assessed the emotional climate at home using a five-minute speech sample in which parents spoke about their child. This allowed us to examine verbal expressions of warmth and positivity alongside negativity and critical comments, a measure known as “Expressed Emotion”.
We found that children whose parents expressed greater negativity and less warmth tended to have more difficulty recognising negative facial expressions. This association remained after accounting for children’s age, emotional and behavioural difficulties, and parental anxiety and depression. The findings also suggested that children’s difficulties were more closely related to distinguishing between different types of negative emotions rather than to a general tendency to interpret faces negatively.
It is important to note that the links were small, and this study cannot establish whether the emotional climate at home influences children’s emotion recognition, whether children’s difficulties influence family interactions, or whether both are shaped by other factors. Further longitudinal research is needed to understand these relationships over time and whether supporting positive emotional interactions may benefit children’s emotional development.
I’m a young person – what does this mean for me?
Everyone finds some emotions harder to read in other people’s faces than others, especially when feelings are shown in small or subtle ways. This study found that some children have more difficulty telling apart emotions like anger, sadness and fear, and that this was linked to how warm or critical things felt at home. This doesn’t mean anyone is to blame. Families can go through difficult times for many reasons. If you sometimes find it hard to work out how others are feeling, or things at home feel tense or critical, talking to someone you trust, such as a family member, teacher or friend, can help.
I’m a parent – what does this mean for me?
Children whose parents spoke about them with more warmth and fewer critical comments tended to be better at recognising negative emotions in faces. This does not mean parents cause their child’s difficulties. Family relationships are shaped by many things, including stress, parents’ own mental health and the challenges of caring for a child with emotional or behavioural difficulties. Everyday moments can still support children’s emotional learning. Examples include naming feelings (“you look disappointed”), talking about how characters in books or programmes might be feeling, and noticing and praising what your child does well. If you’re finding things hard, support for you matters too, and your GP, health visitor or school can help you find it.
I’m a teacher – what does this mean for me?
The children in this study were referred by teachers because of emerging social, emotional or behavioural difficulties. Many found it harder to tell apart negative emotions such as anger, sadness and fear, particularly when expressions were subtle. In the classroom, this could mean a child misreads a peer’s or adult’s feelings, for example seeing frustration where there is sadness, and responds in ways that seem inappropriate. Keeping this possibility in mind may help when interpreting behaviour. Everyday approaches may support children’s emotional learning, such as naming emotions, talking about how others might be feeling, and checking how a child understood a situation. Because family life can also play a part, working warmly and without judgement with parents is likely to be helpful.
I’m a clinician – what does this mean for me?
In this school-referred sample, the family emotional climate was more consistently linked to children’s recognition of negative facial expressions than the children’s own symptoms or their parents’ anxiety and depression. When assessing young children with socioemotional or behavioural difficulties, it may help to consider parental warmth and criticism alongside the child’s needs. Parental anxiety and depression were linked to more critical, less warm speech about the child, so supporting family wellbeing may be relevant. The associations were small and cross-sectional, and whether family-focused approaches improve emotion recognition still needs testing.