AUTHOR=Wang Xiaoyang , Wang Yilin , Zhou Mingjie , Li Baobin , Liu Xiaoqian , Zhu Tingshao 

TITLE=Identifying Psychological Symptoms Based on Facial Movements

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2020

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.607890

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2020.607890

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=Background: Many methods have been proposed to automatically identify the presence of mental illness, but these have mostly focused on one specific mental illness. In some non-professional scenarios, it would be more helpful to understand an individual’s mental health status from all perspectives.
Methods: We recruited 100 participants. Their multi-dimensional psychological symptoms of mental health were evaluated using the Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90) and their facial movements under neutral stimulation were recorded using Microsoft Kinect. We extracted the time-series characteristics of the key points as the input, and the subscale scores of SCL-90 as the output to build facial prediction models. Finally, the convergent validity, discriminant validity, criterion validity, and the split-half reliability were respectively assessed using a multitrait-multimethod matrix and correlation coefficients.
Results: The correlation coefficients between the predicted values and actual scores were 0.26 to 0.42 (P < .01), which indicated good criterion validity. All models except depression had high convergent validity but low discriminant validity. Results also indicated good levels of split-half reliability for each model [from 0.516 (Hostility) to 0.817 (Interpersonal Sensitivity)] (P < .001).
Conclusion: The validity and reliability of facial prediction models were confirmed for the measurement of mental health based on SCL-90. Our research demonstrated that fine-grained aspects of mental health can be identified from the face, and provided a feasible evaluation method for multi-dimensional prediction models.