Negative Mood States Are Related to the Characteristics of Facial Expression Drawing: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Chika Nanayama Tanaka,Tomohiro Nakamura,Hayato Higa,Masato Nishiwaki,Minenori Ishido,Noriko Ogawa

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.576683

Chika Nanayama Tanaka, Tomohiro Nakamura + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.576683

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Abstract

An assessment of mood or emotion is important in developing mental health measures, and facial expressions are strongly related to mood or emotion. This study thus aimed to examine the relationship between levels of negative mood and characteristics of mouth parts when moods are drawn as facial expressions on a common platform. A cross-sectional study of Japanese college freshmen was conducted, and 1,068 valid responses were analyzed. The questionnaire survey consisted of participants’ characteristics, the Profile of Mood States (POMS), and a sheet of facial expression drawing (FACED), and the sheet was digitized and analyzed using an image-analysis software. Based on the total POMS score as an index of negative mood, the participants were divided into four groups: low (L), normal (N), high (H), and very high (VH). Lengths of drawn lines and between both mouth corners were significantly longer, and circularity and roundness were significantly higher in the L group. With increasing levels of negative mood, significant decreasing trends were observed in these lengths. Convex downward and enclosed figures were significantly predominant in the L group, while convex upward figures were significantly predominant and a tendency toward predominance of no drawn mouths or line figures was found in the H and VH groups. Our results suggest that mood states can be significantly related to the size and figure characteristics of drawn mouths of FACED on a non-verbal common platform. That is, these findings mean that subjects with low negative mood may draw a greater and rounder mouth and figures that may be enclosed and downward convex, while subjects with a high negative mood may not draw the line, or if any, may draw the line shorter and upward convex.

Highlights

Poor mental health is one of the most important social problems in contemporary society, and countermeasures have been discussed for years (Wagner et al, 2016; McLafferty et al, 2017)
The standardized Profile of Mood States (POMS) Total Mood Disturbance (TMD) score was higher in the N, H, and very high (VH) groups than in the L group, was higher in the H and VH groups than in the N group, and was notably higher in the VH group than in the H group
A significant increasing trend was observed in the standardized POMS TMD score

Summary

Introduction

Poor mental health is one of the most important social problems in contemporary society, and countermeasures have been discussed for years (Wagner et al, 2016; McLafferty et al, 2017). The World Health Organization (2019) has reported that early identification of individuals with acute emotional distress is of paramount importance to prevent suicide. Many cases of social withdrawal and delinquency are found in developed countries. Such maladaptive states are strongly related to mood changes, such as enhanced anxiety, before falling into these situations (Ellis and Hoskin, 2018). Further scientific evidence for the simple assessment of anxiety or mood is urgently needed to develop countermeasures against poor mental health

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