Improving Emotion Recognition Ability to Support Social Development in Children: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Summary

The goal of this quasi-experimental study is to investigate whether enhancing emotion recognition abilities can improve social behavior in primary school children. The study focused on children aged approximately 6 to 9 years (both sexes), attending elementary school, without neurological or psychiatric diagnoses.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

Is there an inverse relationship between children's ability to recognize nonverbal emotional cues and antisocial behavior, as assessed by teachers?

Does nonverbal intelligence (measured through Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices) significantly predict emotion recognition ability (ERA)?

Researchers compared a group of children who received the intervention (experimental group) with a control group that did not, to see whether improvements in ERA relate to higher prosocial behavior and fewer behavioral difficulties.

Participants were asked to:

Complete the DANVA-2-RV, a standardized tool to assess nonverbal emotion recognition, updated and validated on the study sample;

Complete Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices, to measure nonverbal IQ;

Have their behavior assessed via the SDQ - Teacher Version, filled out by their classroom teachers.

A total of 140 children from four schools were enrolled. Participants were assigned non-randomly to an experimental or control group. Six teachers were involved in the behavioral assessments.

The study is concluded. Expected outcomes include:

A negative correlation between prosocial behavior and emotional confusion;

A weak or non-significant relationship between nonverbal intelligence and emotion recognition ability.

Conditions

• Emotions
• Facial Emotion Recognition
• Antisocial Behavior
• Nonverbal Communication
• Intelligence

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Emotion Recognition Training Program: A structured school-based intervention designed to enhance children's ability to recognize emotions through facial expressions, tone of voice, and body language.

Emotion Recognition Training Program Integrated CASEL-based activities with CBT principles and digital tools to enhance emotional attribution and recognition in primary school children. The intervention consisted of three structured activities based on the CASEL framework (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning), integrated with cognitive-behavioral principles inspired by the model of Albert Ellis. Sessions included interactive use of digital whiteboards and narrative tools (e.g., emotion-themed interactive stories), aimed at improving children's ability to attribute emotions to others and to emotionally evaluate events. In addition, a neurostimulative component was included, exposing children to visual stimuli with either neutral or fear-inducing emotional valence. Participants were asked to rate the perceived emotional intensity, supporting the development of self-regulation and emotional differentiation.

BEHAVIORAL

No Intervention: Observational Cohort

Control group received no intervention in order to serve as a baseline for comparison, isolating the effects of the emotion recognition training on behavioral and cognitive outcomes.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Foggia

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

4 Years

Max Age

5 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2023-02-01

Primary Completion

2023-03-01

Completion

2024-06-01

Countries

• Italy

Study Locations