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

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Emotions; Facial Emotion Recognition; Antisocial Behavior; Nonverbal Communication; Intelligence

• Registration Number: NCT07097090
• Lead Sponsor: University of Foggia

Brief 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.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Status Verified: 2023-01
• Study Start: 2023-02-01
• Primary Completion: 2023-03-01
• Study Completion: 2024-06-01
• Study First Submitted: 2025-07-23
• Study First Submitted QC: 2025-07-30
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-07-30
• Study First Posted: 2025-07-31
• Last Update Posted: 2025-07-31

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 140

Inclusion Criteria

• Children enrolled in primary school (ages 6-9)
• Parental/guardian informed consent obtained
• Teacher agreement to complete SDQ - Teacher Version
• Availability for participation in both pre- and post-assessment sessions
• No diagnosed cognitive, psychiatric, or neurological disorders

Exclusion Criteria

• Documented diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g., ASD, ADHD, intellectual disability)
• Severe visual, auditory, or motor impairments affecting test participation
• Incomplete parental consent or teacher refusal to collaborate
• Absence from school during key phases of assessment

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in Emotion Recognition Accuracy Between Groups	Pre-test at Month 0, Intervention begins at Month 6, Post-test at 3 months after intervention (Month 9)	Measured using the DANVA-2-RV. Emotion recognition accuracy scores (correct identification of basic emotions) will be compared between the intervention and control groups.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Cross-Sectional Observation of Behavioral Profiles	Single time point at study entry (Month 0).	Observation of behavioral difficulties and prosocial behaviors (via SDQ - Teacher Version).
Cross-Sectional Observation of Cognitive Profiles	Single time point at study entry (Month 0).	Observation of nonverbal intelligence (via Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices).

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Alessandro De Santis; 🇮🇹 Foggia, Puglia, Italy