Helping young children with low empathy notice and respond to others' facial emotions
Official title: Facial Affect Sensitivity Training for young children with CU traits.
Funded at University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa · NIH-10896409 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A computer-based program that gives feedback and small rewards to help young children with callous-unemotional traits better recognize fearful and sad facial expressions.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Tuscaloosa, United States) |
| Project start | February 6, 2020 |
| Project end | July 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $371,650 |
| NIH project number | 5R33MH117192-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-10896409 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Young children who show callous-unemotional traits such as low guilt, low empathy, shallow affect, or early persistent conduct problems are the ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
Children without CU traits, much older adolescents or adults, or children whose difficulties stem primarily from other developmental disorders may be unlikely to benefit.
What this research studies
You and your young child would use a computer program that shows faces and gives immediate feedback and small rewards when the child correctly notices fearful or sad expressions. Sessions are brief and designed to be engaging for children, and researchers will track whether recognition skills change over time. In the early phase children are randomized to the training or a control activity so the team can refine the program, with later phases testing effects on behavior and empathy. The work aims to change how children pay attention to and process others' emotions in everyday situations.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the training could improve children's ability to recognize others' distress and reduce early conduct problems linked to callous-unemotional traits.
How similar studies have gone: Some prior emotion-recognition trainings have improved labeling of emotions in children, but applying this computerized incentive-based approach specifically to CU traits is relatively new and unproven.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa
Tuscaloosa, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: White, Bradley — University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa
- Study coordinator: White, Bradley
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.