Identification of emotions in mixed disgusted-happy faces as a function of depressive symptom severity

•The role of depression in the identification of mixed emotional signals is unclear.•We aimed to offer a direct exploration of social interaction biases in depression.•Participants had to identify emotions in mixed disgusted-happy expressions.•Depression was linked to lower perception of positive emotions in mixed expressions.•This pattern may lead to under-perception of positive signals in social environments.

Background and objectivesInterpersonal difficulties are common in depression, but their underlying mechanisms are not yet fully understood. The role of depression in the identification of mixed emotional signals with a direct interpersonal value remains unclear. The present study aimed to clarify this question. Methods: A sample of 39 individuals reporting a broad range of depression levels completed an emotion identification task where they viewed faces expressing three emotional categories (100% disgusted and 100% happy faces, as well as their morphed 50% disgusted - 50% happy exemplars). Participants were asked to identify the corresponding depicted emotion as “clearly disgusted”, “mixed”, or “clearly happy”.ResultsHigher depression levels were associated with lower identification of positive emotions in 50% disgusted - 50% happy faces.LimitationsThe study was conducted with an analogue sample reporting individual differences in subclinical depression levels. Further research must replicate these findings in a clinical sample and clarify whether differential emotional identification patterns emerge in depression for different mixed negative-positive emotions (sad-happy vs. disgusted-happy).ConclusionsDepression may account for a lower bias to perceive positive states when ambiguous states from others include subtle signals of social threat (i.e., disgust), leading to an under-perception of positive social signals.