Identification of Emotions in facial expressions: the influence of Adverse Childhood Experiences and the development of serious and persistent offending conduct in adolescents

• Grant number: 25/05418-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2025
• End date: June 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Psychological Treatment and Prevention
• Principal Investigator: Marina Rezende Bazon
• Grantee: Bianca Faneli de Grandi
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are stressful experiences that can affect several developmental variables until adulthood. Children and adolescents are more vulnerable to the negative impacts of ACEs, but the variability in responses to adversity may be linked to individual and interpersonal factors, as well as the severity and accumulation of these experiences. The development of offending behavior is one possible response. The objective of this research is to investigate the correlation between ACEs experienced by young offenders and Social Information Processing (SIP), specifically in the accurate identification of emotions in facial expressions, which constitutes a primary stage for processing and an adaptive response to the social environment. Furthermore, a sociodemographic questionnaire will be applied and self-control, metacognition and empathy will also be investigated, in order to verify whether these skills - which can also be affected by the accumulation of ACEs - are associated with the identification of emotions. This research will involve the participation of 60 male adolescents aged 15 to 18, 30 of whom will be recruited from a socio-educational measure execution program and must present a pattern of serious/persistent offending behavior, and the other 30 will be recruited from public school(s) and without presenting a pattern of serious/persistent offending behavior, in order to compose a control group. After an exploratory analysis of the data, correlation analyses will be carried out between the variables of interest and comparative, aiming to verify similarities and differences between the two groups studied, in order to explore the relationships between EAIs, Identification of Emotions in facial expressions and serious/serious offending conduct. (AU)