Evaluation of facial expressions in women with major depression: Is there a negative bias?

Abstract

"Major depression is a disorder with a high prevalence in women and is associated with biological, affective, and cognitive changes. In the present study we evaluated the pattern of recognition and emotional attribution in women with major depressive disorder and healthy volunteers. Facial expressions of four basic emotions (happiness, fear, sadness, and anger) that were presented at four intensities (25, 50, 75, and 100%) and neutral faces were used as stimuli. Compared with healthy volunteers, women who were diagnosed with depression showed a negative bias in emotional processing. The clinical group showed greater recognition of sadness with the lowest emotional intensity (25%) compared with the control group ( p = .013). With regard to emotional attribution, the analysis revealed a statistically significant difference between groups ( χ² = 10.30) in which women with major depression tended to assign the emotion of sadness to neutral faces more often ( p < 0.01). The results indicate that depressive symptoms are associated with cognitive and emotional bias, which may affect interpersonal functioning in women with major depressive disorder."