COVID-19 and Protective Equipment: Impact of the Obstruction of Facial Features on the Recognition of Emotional Facial Expressions in Children.

The arrival of COVID-19 came along with the requirement of wearing protective gear, like facial masks, which potentially affects the recognition of facial expressions in others. The aim of the current study was to examine the impact of a facial feature obstruction on emotional facial expression recognition of the six basic emotions in children aged 5 and 10 years old. Children were presented 24 stimuli within two different conditions: the full face and only the eyes visible. While both age groups were similarly affected by reduced facial information, differences emerged depending on the emotion: 5-year-olds struggled more with recognizing happiness from just the eyes, whereas 10-year-olds had more difficulty with anger. Nevertheless, both age groups had a significant reduction in accuracy for most emotions (4 out 6). Common confusions, such as mistaking fear for surprise or disgust for anger, might have contributed to the variations in results from previous studies.