Trait irritability and social cue identification and interpretation in young adult females

Difficulty labeling facial expressions and tendencies to interpret ambiguous faces as hostile are potential mechanisms of irritability. However, most research into social cue processing and irritability has been conducted in pediatric populations, has not examined the role of affective context, and has not accounted for co-occurring constructs independently associated with social cue processing. The present study investigates how an experimental frustration manipulation impacts associations between trait irritability and social cue processing among non-clinical adult females (N = 100). Higher trait irritability was associated with difficulties identifying happy and disgust faces on a dynamic face task following frustration. Replicating prior work, higher trait irritability was associated with hostile interpretations of ambiguous social scenarios. These associations persisted after accounting for aggression, anxiety, and depression. These findings suggest that trait irritability and social cue processing associations in adults vary across tasks and affective contexts.