Biomaterial Database

Fibromyalgia, facial expression and emotional experience. 2007

Anke Kirsch, and Kathrin Bernardy

Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Saarland University, Saarbrucken, Germany. a.kirsch@mx.uni-saarland.de

BACKGROUND The present study aims at analyzing the nonverbal affective behavior of female fibromyalgia (FM) inpatients in comparison to healthy women. METHODS Videotaped psychodynamic interviews of each of 15 female FM inpatients and healthy women were analyzed. Afterwards the analyses of facial expression were related to gazing behavior and emotional experience. RESULTS FM patients exhibited neither a reduction in total activity of facial expression nor in absolute frequency of primary affects in comparison to healthy women, who, however, (also in eye contact) also exhibited a significantly higher proportion of 'genuine joy' and a lower one of 'contempt'. No congruence between the patient's emotional experience and affective expression was found. CONCLUSIONS The absence of reduced total activity of facial expression is in contrast to the elaborate descriptions of complaints provided by the patients. Nevertheless, our detailed analysis shows a lack of elements that stabilize the relationship and the presence of dissociating elements in the interactions.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007100	Imitative Behavior	The mimicking of the behavior of one individual by another.	Behavior, Imitative,Behaviors, Imitative,Imitative Behaviors
D007406	Interview, Psychological	A directed conversation aimed at eliciting information for psychiatric diagnosis, evaluation, treatment planning, etc. The interview may be conducted by a social worker or psychologist.	Interview, Psychologic,Interviews, Psychological,Psychological Interview,Psychological Interviews,Interviews, Psychologic,Psychologic Interview,Psychologic Interviews
D009633	Nonverbal Communication	Transmission of emotions, ideas, and attitudes between individuals in ways other than the spoken language.	Haptic Communication,Non-Verbal Communication,Communication, Haptic,Communication, Non-Verbal,Communication, Nonverbal,Communications, Haptic,Communications, Non-Verbal,Haptic Communications,Non Verbal Communication,Non-Verbal Communications,Nonverbal Communications
D010343	Patient Admission	The process of accepting patients. The concept includes patients accepted for medical and nursing care in a hospital or other health care institution.	Voluntary Admission,Admission, Patient,Admission, Voluntary,Admissions, Patient,Admissions, Voluntary,Patient Admissions,Voluntary Admissions
D010552	Personality Assessment	The determination and evaluation of personality attributes by interviews, observations, tests, or scales. Articles concerning personality measurement are considered to be within scope of this term.	Assessment, Personality,Assessments, Personality,Personality Assessments
D012016	Reference Values	The range or frequency distribution of a measurement in a population (of organisms, organs or things) that has not been selected for the presence of disease or abnormality.	Normal Range,Normal Values,Reference Ranges,Normal Ranges,Normal Value,Range, Normal,Range, Reference,Ranges, Normal,Ranges, Reference,Reference Range,Reference Value,Value, Normal,Value, Reference,Values, Normal,Values, Reference
D012047	Rehabilitation Centers	Facilities which provide programs for rehabilitating the mentally or physically disabled individuals.	Centers, Rehabilitation,Center, Rehabilitation,Rehabilitation Center
D004644	Emotions	Those affective states which can be experienced and have arousing and motivational properties.	Feelings,Regret,Emotion,Feeling,Regrets
D005149	Facial Expression	Observable changes of expression in the face in response to emotional stimuli.	Face Expression,Expression, Face,Expression, Facial,Face Expressions,Facial Expressions
D005260	Female		Females