Varying Cognitive Scars – Differential Associations Between Types of Childhood Maltreatment and Facial Emotion Processing

Abstract

Background: Distorted cognitive processing has been found among survivors of child maltreatment. However, different types of abuse and neglect may bring about differences in emotion and attention processing. The present study aimed to detect differential associations between various types of childhood maltreatment and attentional biases in facial emotion processing. Methods: A non-clinical sample was recruited on University campus and consisted of 67 individuals with varying degrees of maltreatment. In an evaluative conditioning task, images of faces with neutral emotional expressions were either associated with short videos of intense negative statements, or associated with neutral videos. Subsequently, these faces were used as stimuli in a face in the crowd recognition task in which the familiar faces had to be recognized within a crowd of unfamiliar neutral faces. Results: In multiple linear regression analyses controlling for the intercorrelatedness of types of maltreatment, differential relationships between types of maltreatment and attentional bias were found. While emotional abuse was associated with faster detection of negatively associated faces, emotional neglect was associated with an impaired recognition of familiar stimuli regardless of the emotional content. Conclusion: Results indicated that interindividual differences in cognitive biases may be due to the activation of diverse cognitive schemas based on differential experiences of maltreatment.

Peer Victimization Influences Attention Processing Beyond the Effects of Childhood Maltreatment by Caregivers

“…Experiences of physical abuse were shown to be associated with slower detection of negatively associated faces compared to neutrally associated faces. Past experiences of sexual abuse, however, did not have an impact on individuals' performance in this study (Iffland and Neuner, 2020). In addition, processing of emotional cues varied between types of maltreatment in a facial emotion recognition task (Pollak et al, 2000).…”

“…Notably, the relationship of childhood maltreatment and sustained attention was not confounded by the severity of symptoms of depression, even though a sample of depressed individuals was examined. Similarly, attentional processes varied as a function of different forms of childhood maltreatment in a study using a visual search paradigm combining a social conditioning paradigm with a face in the crowd recognition task (Iffland and Neuner, 2020). Specifically, emotional forms of maltreatment were particularly associated with an altered sensitivity in detecting faces.…”

“…In addition, most studies examined attentional biases as a function of childhood maltreatment including emotional, physical, or sexual abuse and neglect by caretakers (e.g., Günther et al, 2015;Iffland and Neuner, 2020). However, maltreatment is not isolated within the context of families alone.…”

Evidence for dissociable cognitive and neural pathways from poverty versus maltreatment to deficits in emotion regulation

“…However, recruitment, and maintenance, of youth with TE is a problem across a host of studies ( Hussey et al, 2006 ; Kinard, 2001 . Furthermore, the use of a dichotomous variable for childhood TE may limit the ability to detect differences by type of TE ( Iffland and Neuner, 2020 ). In addition, information on timing and duration of TE was not collected as part of this project, and thus differential associations based on chronicity and severity of TE to emotion regulation outcomes cannot be inferred from this data and continue to be an important target for research.…”

“…Exposure to threat in childhood is associated with altered processing of emotional stimuli (e.g., generalization of fear to neutral stimuli), and heightened emotional reactivity (i.e., elevated emotional and neural responses to emotional cues) ( Lavi et al, 2019 ; Pine et al, 2005 ; Pollak and Tolley-Schell, 2003 ). These effects are long-lasting; childhood TEs are related to biased attention and increased emotional reactivity toward negatively-valanced emotional stimuli during childhood and adulthood ( Dannlowski et al, 2012 , 2013 ; Iffland and Neuner, 2020 ; McLaughlin et al, 2014 , 2019 ; Pollak, 2008 ; Sheridan and McLaughlin, 2014 ). These alterations may be emotion-specific; some studies have reported increased biased attention toward sad faces ( Romens and Pollak, 2012 ) and others have reported decreased attention to angry/threatening stimuli ( Pine et al, 2005 ).…”