AUTHOR=Wheeler Grace L. , Steinman Shari A. 

TITLE=Emotion recognition in generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, skin picking disorder, trichotillomania, and posttraumatic stress disorder: a systematic review

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 16 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1486765

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1486765

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=This systematic review evaluates patterns of emotion recognition in anxiety, obsessive-compulsive and related, and trauma- and stressor- related disorders (generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, skin picking disorder, trichotillomania, and posttraumatic stress disorder). A comprehensive literature search identified 15 studies. Emotion recognition patterns were reviewed for each disorder. After considering strengths and weaknesses of individual studies and the literature as a whole, trends across disorders support a decreased recognition of sadness and an anger interpretation bias (i.e., tendency to see anger when other emotions are displayed). Conclusions are limited by a lack of covariate analyses and task validation. Future studies should investigate whether comorbid depression, transdiagnostic factors, and/or clinical severity may better explain variability in emotion recognition deficits.