Maltreated and neglected children show less accurate facial emotion identification, difficulty with positive emotions, and higher rumination¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · review r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2020 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Maltreated children, including those experiencing neglect and other forms of abuse, show less accurate identification of facial emotions in general and particular difficulty identifying positive emotions. → Karen E. Smith and Seth D. Pollak 2020 q2 i? Maltreated children show higher levels of rumination, which has been associated with an attention bias to sad faces and may contribute to risk for depressive symptomatology. → Karen E. Smith and Seth D. Pollak 2020 (2)

Evidence¶

Karen E. Smith and Seth D. Pollak 2020¶

Karen E. Smith and Seth D. Pollak. (2020). Early life stress and development: potential mechanisms for adverse outcomes. Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1186/s11689-020-09337-y

q2 · i? · review · r2

Narrative review synthesis of emotion recognition studies in maltreated children. The review reports these children "show less accurate identification of facial emotions in general" and "particular difficulty identifying positive emotions," alongside abnormalities in emotion expression and regulation. No effect sizes are printed.

"Studies of maltreated children (including those who experience neglect and other forms of abuse) also show less accurate identification of facial emotions in general [41, 131] and particular difficulty identifying positive emotions [ 134]."

Karen E. Smith and Seth D. Pollak 2020 (2)¶

Karen E. Smith and Seth D. Pollak. (2020). Early life stress and development: potential mechanisms for adverse outcomes. Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1186/s11689-020-09337-y

q2 · i? · review · r2

Narrative review synthesis reporting rumination findings. The review states "Maltreated children also show higher levels of rumination," associated with an attention bias to sad faces and potentially contributing to depressive symptomatology risk. No effect sizes are printed.

"Maltreated children also show higher levels of rumination (repeat- edly dwelling on past negative experiences), which has been associated with an attention bias to sad faces [136] and may contribute to risk for depressive symptomatol- ogy."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Physically abused children show heightened perceptual and attentional sensitivity to angry facial expressions — related
• Child maltreatment has a documented independent negative impact on children's language development — related
• Early intervention can remediate neurodevelopmental consequences associated with maltreatment or institutional rearing — related