Machine learning reveals sex differences in distinguishing between conduct-disordered and neurotypical youth based on emotion processing dysfunction.

Journal: BMC psychiatry
PMID: 39915750

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Theoretical models of conduct disorder (CD) highlight that deficits in emotion recognition, learning, and regulation play a pivotal role in CD etiology. With CD being more prevalent in boys than girls, various theories aim to explain this sex difference. The "differential threshold" hypothesis suggests greater emotion dysfunction in conduct-disordered girls than boys, but previous research using conventional statistical analyses has failed to support this hypothesis. Here, we used novel analytic techniques such as machine learning (ML) to uncover potentially sex-specific differences in emotion dysfunction among girls and boys with CD compared to their neurotypical peers.

Authors

  • Gregor Kohls
    Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, TU Dresden, Fetscherstrasse 74, 01307, Dresden, Germany.
  • Erik M Elster
    Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, TUD Dresden University of Technology, German Center for Child and Adolescent Health (DZKJ), partner site Leipzig/Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
  • Peter Tiňo
    School of Computer Science, The University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK. Electronic address: P.Tino@cs.bham.ac.uk.
  • Graeme Fairchild
    Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, UK.
  • Christina Stadler
    Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychiatric University Hospital, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
  • Arne Popma
    Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
  • Christine M Freitag
    Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
  • Stephane A De Brito
    Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
  • Kerstin Konrad
    Child Neuropsychology Section, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
  • Ruth Pauli
    Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.

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