Table 1.
Summary of existing child face databases.
| Database | Authors | Image characteristics | Face age, gender, and ethnicity | Number of faces | Number of child faces (ages 3 to 12) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Child Affective Facial Expression Set (CAFE) | LoBue and Thrasher (2014) | Children posing seven emotional expressions on an off-white background. Children are wearing an off-white cape to cover their clothes. | 90 girls and 64 boys between the ages of two and eight. The children are White (77), Black (27), Latinx (23), East Asian (16), and South Asian (11). | 154 | 154 |
| The Child Emotion Facial Expression Set: A Database for Emotion Recognition in Children | Negrão et al. (2021) | Children filmed and photographed posing seven emotional expressions on a blank background. Children are wearing a white shirt. | 55% girls and 45% boys between the ages of four and six. The children are of White descent (71%), African descent (24%), and Asian descent (5%). | 124 | 124 |
| Child Emotions Picture Set (CEPS) | Romani-Sponchiado et al. (2015) | Children posing or naturally expressing six emotional expressions. | Nine girls and nine boys between the ages of six and 11. The children are White (14), Black (3) and Indigenous (1). | 18 | 18 |
| Children’s Spontaneous Expressions Video Database (LIRIS-CSE) | Khan et al. (2019) | Movie clips and dynamic images of children spontaneously expressing six emotional expressions with various backgrounds. | Seven girls and five boys between the ages of six and 12. The children are described as ethnically diverse. | 12 | 12 |
| Dartmouth Database of Children’s Faces | Dalrymple et al. (2013) | Children posing eight emotional expressions from five camera angles under two lighting conditions on a black background. Children are wearing a black bib and hat to cover clothes, hair and ears. | 40 female and 40 male White models between the ages of six and 16. | 80 | 69 |
| National Institute of Mental Health Child Emotional Faces Picture Set (NIMH-ChEFS) | Egger et al. (2011) | Children posing five emotional expressions with direct or averted gaze on a grey background. | 39 female and 20 male children between the ages of 10 and 17. Information about ethnicity was not obtained, but the authors indicate that most appear White; four girls and one boy appear non-White. | 59 | 15 |
| Radbound Faces Database (RaFD) | Langner et al. (2010) | Adults and children posing eight emotional expressions from five camera angles and three gaze directions on a white background. Models are wearing a black shirt. | 39 White adult and 10 child models (six girls, four boys). | 49 | 10 |
| The University of Oregon Emotional Expression Stimulus Set (DuckEES) | Giuliani et al. (2017) | Children and adolescents posing seven emotional expressions on a white background. | 22 female and 15 male models between the ages of eight and 18; 89% White. | 37 | 10 |