Data_Sheet_1_Searching for Best Predictors of Paralinguistic Comprehension and Production of Emotions in Communication in Adults With Moderate Intellectual Disability.PDF

Paralinguistic comprehension and production of emotions in communication include the skills of recognizing and interpreting emotional states with the help of facial expressions, prosody and intonation. In the relevant scientific literature, the skills of paralinguistic comprehension and production of emotions in communication are related primarily to receptive language abilities, although some authors found also their correlations with intellectual abilities and acoustic features of the voice. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate which of the mentioned variables (receptive language ability, acoustic features of voice, intellectual ability, social-demographic), presents the most relevant predictor of paralinguistic comprehension and paralinguistic production of emotions in communication in adults with moderate intellectual disabilities (MID). The sample included 41 adults with MID, 20–49 years of age (M = 34.34, SD = 7.809), 29 of whom had MID of unknown etiology, while 12 had Down syndrome. All participants are native speakers of Serbian. Two subscales from The Assessment Battery for Communication – Paralinguistic comprehension of emotions in communication and Paralinguistic production of emotions in communication, were used to assess the examinees from the aspect of paralinguistic comprehension and production skills. For the graduation of examinees from the aspect of assumed predictor variables, the following instruments were used: Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test was used to assess receptive language abilities, Computerized Speech Lab (“Kay Elemetrics” Corp., model 4300) was used to assess acoustic features of voice, and Raven’s Progressive Matrices were used to assess intellectual ability. Hierarchical regression analysis was applied to investigate to which extent the proposed variables present an actual predictor variables for paralinguistic comprehension and production of emotions in communication as dependent variables. The results of this analysis showed that only receptive language skills had statistically significant predictive value for paralinguistic comprehension of emotions (β = 0.468, t = 2.236, p < 0.05), while the factor related to voice frequency and interruptions, form the domain of acoustic voice characteristics, displays predictive value for paralinguistic production of emotions (β = 0.280, t = 2.076, p < 0.05). Consequently, this study, in the adult population with MID, evidenced a greater importance of voice and language in relation to intellectual abilities in understanding and producing emotions.

沟通中的情绪副语言（paralinguistic）理解与表达，指借助面部表情、韵律与语调识别和解读情绪状态的相关技能。在相关科学文献中，沟通中的情绪副语言理解与表达能力主要与接受性语言能力相关，尽管部分学者也发现其与智力能力及语音声学特征存在关联。因此，本研究旨在探讨在成年中度智力障碍（moderate intellectual disabilities, MID）人群中，上述提及的变量（接受性语言能力、语音声学特征、智力能力、社会人口学特征）中，哪一项是沟通中情绪副语言理解与表达的最相关预测因子。本研究纳入41名成年中度智力障碍患者，年龄范围为20至49岁（均值M=34.34，标准差SD=7.809），其中29名患者的中度智力障碍病因不明，12名患者为唐氏综合征。所有参与者均为塞尔维亚语母语者。本研究采用《沟通评估成套测验（Assessment Battery for Communication）》中的两个分量表，分别为"沟通中的情绪副语言理解"与"沟通中的情绪副语言表达"，从副语言理解与表达技能层面评估受试者。为对受试者在预设预测变量维度上的表现进行测评，本研究使用了以下工具：采用皮博迪图片词汇测验（Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test）评估接受性语言能力，采用计算机语音实验室（Computerized Speech Lab, "Kay Elemetrics" Corp., 型号4300）评估语音声学特征，采用瑞文推理测验（Raven’s Progressive Matrices）评估智力能力。本研究采用分层回归分析（hierarchical regression analysis），探究上述变量在以沟通中情绪副语言理解与表达为因变量时，作为实际预测因子的有效性。分析结果显示，仅接受性语言技能对情绪副语言理解具有统计学意义上的显著预测价值（β=0.468, t=2.236, p<0.05）；而语音声学特征领域中与语音频率及停顿相关的因素，对情绪副语言表达具有预测价值（β=0.280, t=2.076, p<0.05）。综上，本研究证实，在成年中度智力障碍人群中，语音与语言因素在情绪理解与表达方面的重要性高于智力能力。