Emotion processing deficits: A liability spectrum providing insight into comorbidity of mental disorders
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Epidemiological studies have revealed that mental disorders are highly comorbid; almost half of the people with a mental disorder also meet the criteria of another disorder. The explanation of this high comorbidity has remained a scientific puzzle. We propose 'disrupted emotion processing' as a liability spectrum that underlies many different mental disorders. Emotion processing deficits have been reported in different disorders and result in difficulties in regulating emotions and at the perceptual level in attentional biases and impaired recognition of emotional expressions. This article provides a detailed overview of the literature on disrupted emotion processing in clinical groups on the behavioral and neurological level. In the discussion, the similarities and differences between these disorders are discussed in the context of common neuro-endocrine, genetic and environmental factors and ideas are put forward on how future research may advance. Most importantly, more interdisciplinary research is needed in which different techniques, tasks and clinical populations are combined to get a better understanding of disrupted emotion processing as a liability spectrum underlying various different mental disorders.
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Disrupted emotion processing has been related to a range of mental disorders and can possibly explain the high comorbidity between mental disorders.
“Disrupted emotion processing has been related to a range of mental disorders and can possibly explain the high comorbidity between mental disorders.”
From Connecting minds and sharing emotions through mimicry: A neurocognitive model of emotional contagion (2017) · cites this paper as Kret and Ploeger (2015)
Kret and Ploeger (2015) reported evidence for disrupted emotion processing in anxiety disorders, mood disorders, schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder, borderline personality disorder and eating disorders.
“Kret and Ploeger (2015) reported evidence for disrupted emotion processing in anxiety disorders, mood disorders, schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder, borderline personality disorder and eating disorders.”
From Connecting minds and sharing emotions through mimicry: A neurocognitive model of emotional contagion (2017) · cites this paper as Kret and Ploeger (2015)
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Connecting minds and sharing emotions through mimicry: A neurocognitive model of emotional contagion
Prochazkova, E., & Kret, M. E. (2017) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.05.013 · Cited by 433 · see citing works
“This conceptual framework has practical implications for further clinical and developmental research (Kret and Ploeger, 2015).”
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Self-citationPaul, S., Simon, D., Endrass, T., & Kathmann, N. (2016) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291715001610 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Miskowiak, K. W., Svendsen, A. M. B., Harmer, C. J., Elliott, R., Macoveanu, J., Siebner, H. R., Kessing, L. V., & Vinberg, M. (2017) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291717000861 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
- Authors
- Kret, M. E., & Ploeger, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Amsterdam (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Kret, Mariska E.
- Venue
- Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2015-05
- Volume
- 52
- Pages
- 153-171
- ISSN
- 0149-7634 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2031864243
- Cited by
- 115
- References
- 55
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 8
- FWCI
- 1.89
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- dare.uva.nl
- Licence
- Locations
- Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- NWO (016-155-082)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Keywords
- emotion processing deficits, emotion regulation, attentional bias, facial emotion recognition, neuroendocrine factors, genetic factors, environmental factors, mental illness
- MeSH terms
- Mental Disorders, Brain, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Oxygen, Comorbidity, Databases, Bibliographic, Mood Disorders, Recognition, Psychology
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