Citation

Koizumi M, Tomoda A, Takiguchi S, Kosaka PH. Pediatr. Int. 2022; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Japan Pediatric Society, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/ped.15443

PMID

36528865

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The development of the ability to understand others' facial expressions is thought to be dependent on the environment in which one has been reared.

METHODS: This study compared the ability to understand others' facial expressions between 15 children who were in an unstable environment, 11 children who had been maltreated before and were in a stable environment, like a foster family, and 33 children who had never been maltreated. We used the "Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test" (RMET) as measure.

RESULTS: Children who were in an unstable environment scored higher in the RMET than children who had never been maltreated.

CONCLUSIONS: The results suggested that hypersensitivity to others' facial expressions might be an adaptive response to a harmful environment, and that it might decline when in a stable environment because such sensitivity is no longer needed.

Language: en

Keywords

child maltreatment; facial expressions; living environment; RMET; social cognition