Patterns of emotions in mother-adolescent interactions: analysis of AI-coded facial expressions in face-to-face footage from wearable head-cameras

Background: Mother-adolescent interactions are important for adolescents’ emotional development, but few studies have assessed patterns of mothers’ or adolescents’ emotional expressions using ecologically valid tools. This study investigates patterns of emotional expression in mothers and adolescents using video filmed with head cameras during a novel interaction task. Methods: Participants were 26 mother-adolescent dyads (13 boys and 13 girls) from the Wirral Child Health and Development Study. Mothers and adolescents played a card game answering questions about each other whilst wearing head-cameras. Card responses were coded as correct and incorrect. The intensity of mother and adolescent emotional expressions was analysed by AI software FaceReader and collapsed into three categories: positive, negative, and neutral. Linear regressions tested the following preregistered hypotheses: (H1) mother and adolescent emotional expressions are positively associated; (H2) mothers display more positive emotions than their adolescents; (H3) mothers express more positive and neutral emotions when their adolescents are negative, whereas adolescents react more negatively to their mothers’ negativity; (H4) both mothers and adolescents display more positive emotions during agreements than during disagreements; and (H5) mothers express greater emotional variability during disagreements than during agreements. Results: Mothers demonstrated higher emotional variability during periods in which adolescents expressed a higher intensity of negative emotions, supporting H1 and H3, and expressed higher intensity of positive emotions compared to adolescents, supporting H2. There was no evidence to support H4 and H5. Conclusions: Mothers express greater positive emotional intensity than their adolescents and a wider range of emotional expressions in response to their adolescents’ negative emotions. This could inform parenting interventions and advice around the de-escalation of negative emotional states in adolescents.