Citation

Hautle LL, Jellestad L, Schenkel S, Wingenbach TSH, Peyk P, Schnyder U, Weilenmann S, Pfaltz MC. Eur. J. Psychotraumatol. 2023; 14(2): e2214388.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, The Author(s), Publisher Co-action Publishing)

DOI

10.1080/20008066.2023.2214388

PMID

37317552

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Individuals with child maltreatment (CM) experiences show alterations in emotion recognition (ER). However, previous research has mainly focused on populations with specific mental disorders, which makes it unclear whether alterations in the recognition of facial expressions are related to CM, to the presence of mental disorders or to the combination of CM and mental disorders, and on ER of emotional, rather than neutral facial expressions. Moreover, commonly, recognition of static stimulus material was researched.

OBJECTIVE: We assessed recognition of dynamic (closer to real life) negative, positive and neutral facial expressions in individuals characterised by CM, rather than a specific mental disorder. Moreover, we assessed whether they show a negativity bias for neutral facial expressions and whether the presence of one or more mental disorders affects recognition.

METHODS: Ninety-eight adults with CM experiences (CM+) and 60 non-maltreated (CM-) adult controls watched 200 non-manipulated coloured video sequences, showing 20 neutral and 180 emotional facial expressions, and indicated whether they interpreted each expression as neutral or as one of eight emotions.

RESULTS: The CM+ showed significantly lower scores in the recognition of positive, negative and neutral facial expressions than the CM- group (p < .050). Furthermore, the CM+ group showed a negativity bias for neutral facial expressions (p < .001). When accounting for mental disorders, significant effects stayed consistent, except for the recognition of positive facial expressions: individuals from the CM+ group with but not without mental disorder scored lower than controls without mental disorder.

CONCLUSIONS: CM might have long-lasting influences on the ER abilities of those affected. Future research should explore possible effects of ER alterations on everyday life, including implications of the negativity bias for neutral facial expressions on emotional wellbeing and relationship satisfaction, providing a basis for interventions that improve social functioning.

Language: en

Keywords

Adult; Child; Humans; Emotions; child maltreatment; *Child Abuse; *Mental Disorders; *Psychotic Disorders; expresiones neutras; Facial emotion recognition; Facial Expression; maltrato infantil; mental disorders; negativity bias; neutral expressions; Reconocimiento facial de emociones; sesgo de negatividad; trastornos mentales; 面部情绪识别，儿童虐待，消极偏差，中性表情，精神障碍