Facial Affect Sensitivity Training for Young Children With Callous-unemotional Traits

Launched by UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA, TUSCALOOSA · Nov 7, 2019

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is studying a new way to help children aged 6 to 11 who show certain traits, known as callous-unemotional (CU) traits, which can make it hard for them to feel empathy or guilt. These traits are linked to serious behavior problems in children, and the researchers believe that by improving how these children recognize emotions in others, especially feelings like fear and sadness, they can help reduce CU traits. The intervention being tested is called Facial Affect Sensitivity Training (FAST), and it aims to help children better understand and respond to emotional cues.

To be eligible for the study, children must score low in recognizing emotions on specific tests and have a minimum IQ score of 80. They should also have stable medication for at least two weeks before joining the trial and show elevated CU traits. Children with certain conditions, like autism or bipolar disorder, or those currently receiving therapy for similar issues, won't be able to participate. Participants in the trial will go through activities designed to improve their emotional recognition skills and will be carefully assessed to see how well the training is working. The ultimate goal is to find effective ways to support children with CU traits, helping them build better relationships and improve their emotional understanding.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • A standard score less than or equal to 8 on the NEPSY (A Developmental NEuroPSYchological Assessment) Affect Recognition (AR) test, or less than or equal to 70% accuracy for distress-related emotions on a Dynamic FER measure.
• • Composite intelligence quotient (IQ) score of at least 80 on the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence, Second Edition.
• • Any psychotropic medications must be on stable dosing schedule for 2 weeks prior to entry.
• • Presence of elevated CU traits (defined as in prior studies as score of "2" on at least 2 of the 4 CU items on the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD).
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Bipolar disorder.
• • Current risk for suicide or harm to others.
• • Autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
• • Currently participating in therapy for CU traits or facial emotion recognition deficits.