Table 1.
Characteristics of the studies included for emotion recognition tests.
| Author | Emotion recognition test | Principal diagnosis (n) and comparison groups (n) | Demographic characteristics | Clinical scales | Main results | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GAD/SAD mean age +/− SD Sex (female %) | HC mean age +/− SD Sex (female %) | Years of education mean +/− SD (GAD-SAD) (HC) | Depression scale mean +/− SD (GAD-SAD) (HC) | Anxiety scale mean +/− SD (GAD-SAD) (HC) | ||||
| Tetik et al., 2022 | ETR | SAD (comorbidity with other psychiatric disorders) = 26 Comparison group: HC = 26 | 27.68 +/−8.33 31% | 27.15 +/− 6.69 23% | SAD = 15.15 +/−2.92 HC =15.83+/− 2.64 | Not reported | LSAS: SAD = 68.8+/−20.35 HC = 23.7+/−12.4 | Overall scores were significantly different between groups. |
| Mathai, Rai, & Behere, 2021 | Pictorial Emotion Stroop Test | SAD = 27 Comparison group: HC = 26 | 27.4 +/−8.6 41% | 24.4 +/−7.2 62% | SAD = 12.4+/−2.4 HC = 13.4+/−2.5 | Not reported | SIAS: SAD =43.9 +/− 13.79 HC =19.9+/−9.68 | There were no significant differences between SAD patients and HC in the PEST accuracy. |
| Bayraktutan et al., 2020 | FID | SAD (comorbid with ADHD, MDD) = 36 Comparison group: HC = 30 | 22.02 +/−0.33 44% | 21.2 +/−0.37 43% | SAD = 14.19+/−0.41 HC = 14.23+/−0.41 | HAM-D: SAD = 9.86+/−19.76 HC = 18.7+/−11.62 | LSAS: SAD = 73.14+/−19.76 HC = 18.7+/−11.62 | There were no statistically significant differences between groups. |
| Oh et al., 2018 | FER task | SAD (comorbidity with other psychiatric disorders) = 56 Comparison group: HC = 56 | 27.25 +/−9.6 46% | 25.76+/−5.0 45% | SAD = 14.73+/−2.03 HC = 15.43+/−2.66 | Not reported | LSAS: SAD =74.47+/−26.89 HC =21.38+/−17.2 | SAD group obtained significantly worst accuracy in the emotion recognition task compared to HC. |
| Pepper et al., 2018 | FEEST, movie still task | SAD = 64 Comparison groups: Autism = 53 Early psychosis = 51 HC = 31 | 21.75 +/−4.38 47% | 24.77 +/−6.08 39% | Not reported | DASS-21: SAD =24.38 +/−11.22 HC = 4.71+/−5.36 | Not reported | There were no significant differences in any of the tests between SAD and HC. |
| Tseng et al., 2017 | DANVA-2-TW | SAD (comorbidity with MDD, PTDS, OCD) = 31 Comparison group: HC = 31 | 29.58 +/−10.36 45% | 30.9 +/−9.33 45% | SAD = 14.94 ± 2.32 HC = 15.95 ± 2.79 | HAM-D: Not reported | LSAS: SAD = 79.52 ± 29.06 Not reported in HC | Overall scores were not significantly different between groups. However, SAD participants exhibited significantly lower accuracy in recognizing facial and prosodic emotions of fear, compared to HC. |
| Maoz et al., 2016 | Face Emotion Recognition task | SAD = 37 Comparison group: HC = 21 | 28.4 +/−6.8 38% | 25.5 +/−5.5 57% | Not reported | Not reported | LSAS: SAD = 82.2+/−12.4 HC = 17.9+/−7.7 | There were no significant differences between groups in overall accuracy. However, SAD participants judged a higher proportion of faces as angry, compared to HC. |
| Fonzo et al., 2015 | Emotion Face Assessment Task | GAD = 21 Comparison group: HC = 12 | 33.93 +/− 10.55 76% | 30 +/−10.21 58% | GAD = 15.87 +/− 2.20 HC = 16+/−1.96 | Not Reported | STAI: GAD = 53.20+/−8.47 HC = 29.90 +/−5.04 | There were no significant differences between GAD and HC in the average task accuracy. |
| Fonzno et al., 2014 | Emotion Recognition Task | GAD = 15 Comparison group: HC = 15 Panic Disorder = 15 | 29.68 +/− 9.55 80% | 27.58 +/−3.00 60% | GAD = 15.76 +/− 2.09 HC =15.08 +/− 0.55 | QIDS: GAD = 8.76+/− 4.27 HC = 1.83 +/− 0.98 | PSWQ: GAD = 17.90 +/− 2.36 HC = 12.42 +/− 0.57 | There were no significant differences between GAD and HC on overall task accuracy |
| Demenescu et al., 2013 | Emotion recognition task | SAD (comorbidity with other psychiatric disorders) = 17 Comparison group HC = 16 Panic Disorder = 14 SAD + panic disorder = 8 | 33.07 +/−10.27 65% | 35.56 +/−9.62 69% | SAD =12.88+/−3.52 HC = 13.44+/−2.87 | Not reported | Not reported | There were no significant differences between SAD and HC on overall task accuracy. |
| Sladky et al., 2012 | Emotion Discrimination task | SAD = 15 Comparison group: HC = 15 | 26.6 +/−8.6 47% | 25.4 +/−3.4 53% | Not reported | Not reported | LSAS: SAD = 75.6 +/−22.7 HC = 5.3+/−7.3 | There were no significant differences between SAD and HC on the overall task accuracy. |
| Montange et al., 2006 | Emotion recognition task | SAD = 24 Comparison group: HC = 26 | 36.7 +/−10.4 58% | 37.6 +/−12.7 54% | SAD = 16.8+/−0.8 HC = 17.2+/−2.7 | BDI: SAD = 7.0+/−6.5 HC = 2.63+/−2.5 | LSAS: SAD = 69.7 +/−15.6 HC = 13.1+/−10.4 | There were no significant differences between patients and HC on the overall task accuracy. |
| Lundh et al., 1996 | Facial memory task | SAD = 20 Comparison group: HC = 20 | 31.9 +/−8.9 80% | 32.6 +/−10.6 80% | Range: 11–15 | Not reported | ADIS: SAD = 7.05 +/− 1.19 HC = Not reported | There were no significant differences between SAD and HC on the recognition of faces during the face encoding task. |
ERT: Emotion Recognition Task; FID: Facial emotion Identification; FER task: Ekman and Friesen photograph task; FEEST: The Facial Expressions of Emotions: Stimuli and Tests; DANVA-2-TW: The Diagnostic Analysis of Non-verbal Accuracy 2-Taiwan version; SAD: Social anxiety disorder; HC: Healthy controls; ADHD: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; MDD: Major depressive disorder; PTSD: Posttraumatic stress disorder; OCD: Obsessive–compulsive disorder; GAD: Generalized anxiety disorder; HAM-D: Hamilton Depression Rating Scale; DASS-21: Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales; QIDS: Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology; BDI: Beck’s Depression Inventory; LSAS: The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale; SIAS: Social interaction anxiety scale; PSWQ: Penn State Worry Questionnaire; ADIS: Anxiety disorder Interview Schedule.