Relações entre o desempenho cognitivo e o reconhecimento de emoções em crianças com dificuldades de aprendizagem.

Abstract

Recognition of facial expressions is considered a form of nonverbal communication, belonging to the skills of emotional competence. This construct can be understood as the set of capabilities that make it possible not only to recognize, understand and respond coherently to the emotions of others, but also to regulate and make use of expressions of their emotions. In this sense, recognition of facial expressions provides important interpersonal information by allowing the attempt to predict other people's behavior and intentions, and thus, adapt their own actions. Because of that, deficits in this function are associated with impulsivity, aggressive behavior, anxiety disorder, autism spectrum, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, among others. Thus, the present study aimed to analyze cognitive development and emotional competence in children with learning disabilities. Therefore, an empirical study was carried out with 52 children between 7 and 11 years old, of both sexes, which are assisted in the Organization Paper Marchê (center specialized in the care of children with special educational needs). The instruments used were the sociodemographic questionnaire, the Human Figure Drawing (HFD-III) and the Test of Emotion Comprehension (TEC). It was found that the majority of the participants obtained the average concept in both instruments. In addition, it was observed that children who performed well on the HFD-III also had a good final score in the TEC, and those who had a low performance on the HFD-III presented difficulties in the use of emotional competence. Therefore, it is important to have clinical and educational interventions that address these constructs in order to make their practices more effective in helping children develop.