Psychological Science ›› 2014, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (2): 335-341.

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The Impact of Childhood Psychological Maltreatment on Attentional Bias for Facial Expressions

LIU AiShu1, 2   

  1. 1.
    2. Harbin Normal University
  • Received:2013-01-22 Revised:2013-07-10 Online:2014-03-20 Published:2014-03-20
  • Contact: LIU AiShu

童年期心理虐待对情绪面孔注意偏向的影响

刘爱书,王春梅   

  1. 哈尔滨师范大学
  • 通讯作者: 刘爱书

Abstract: Purposes: Psychological maltreatment is one of the most common yet often underrecognized forms of child abuse. It has a negative impact on the development of children’s body and mind, but the mechanisms of psychological abuse and the development of children are unknown. So the main object of this study was to explore the attentional bias for facial expression of the adults with childhood history of psychological maltreatment. Methods: Cluster sampling was applied in this study while 390 college students were chosen from Harbin Normal University. The Child Psychological Maltreatment Scale was tested in this investigation and 376 valid questionnaires were received. Then 18 students (8 male and 10 female) with psychological maltreatment and 19 students (8 male and 11 female) without psychological maltreatment were selected to take part in the dot-probe task experiment. The stimuli in the dot-probe task were 40 paired facial expressions (negative-neural, positive-neural) which were presented in random order. In this experiment, the presentation duration of the paired stimuli was 800ms, then a dot was showed and the participants reacted to it, press F while the dot was at the left and press J while the dot was at the right. The experiment used 2 (groups: maltreated and controlled) ×2 (facial types: positive and negative) ×2 (consistency: consistent and inconsistent) mixed design on the index of reaction time and used 2 (groups: maltreated and controlled) ×2 (facial types: positive and negative)) mixed design on the index of attention bias score. All stimuli were presented through E-prime program in order to obtain participants’ reaction time. The statistical analyses were performed with SPSS 18.0. Results:The reaction time were analyzed with Repeated Measurement ANOVA and the results showed that the main effects in facial types (F=17.362, p<.001, power=0.982), consistency (F=55.829, p<.001, power=1.000) and the interaction effect among group, facial types and consistency (F=9.624,p<.001, power=0.855) were found. Further analysis showed that psychological abused individuals reacted more slowly when position of the dot wasn’t in consistent with neglect facial expresses (468.094±37.012) than when the position of the dot wasn’t in consistent with positive facial expresses (409.144±44.896); the attention bias scores were analyzed with Repeated Measurement ANOVA and the results showed that the main effects in groups (F=31.098, p<.001, power=1.000) and facial types (F=32.361, p<.001, power=1.000) , and the interaction effect among group and facial types (F=9.624, p<.001, power=.855) were found, that is, there was significant difference between groups and between facial types, respectively. Further analysis showed attention bias scores of psychological abused group to negative facial expression was significantly higher than that of the controlled group. Conclusions: College students who experienced psychological maltreatment in childhood had attentional bias to negative facial expression.

Key words: psychological maltreatment, facial expression, dot-probe task, attentional bias

摘要: 目的 探讨童年期心理虐待对情绪面孔注意偏向的影响。方法 使用儿童心理虐待量表,筛选童年期受心理虐待者18人,对照组19人,采用点探测任务,以成对情绪面孔为实验材料,考查童年期心理虐待对情绪面孔注意偏向的影响。 结果 以反应时为指标得出组别、面孔性质及一致性交互作用显著,在探测点位置与面孔不一致时,心理虐待组对消极面孔的反应时长于积极面孔。以注意偏向分数为指标发现组别和面孔性质交互作用显著,心理虐待组对消极面孔的注意偏向分数高于控制组。 结论 童年期心理虐待对情绪面孔注意偏向存在影响。

关键词: 心理虐待, 情绪面孔, 点探测任务, 注意偏向

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