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Cited by 515Child Abuse and TraumaChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentFace Recognition and Perception

Selective attention to facial emotion in physically abused children.

Pollak, Seth D., Tolley-Schell, Stephanie A.·2003·Journal of Abnormal Psychology
DOI 10.1037/0021-843x.112.3.323
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Abstract

The ability to allocate attention to emotional cues in the environment is an important feature of adaptive self-regulation. Existing data suggest that physically abused children overattend to angry expressions, but the attentional mechanisms underlying such behavior are unknown. The authors tested 8-11-year-old physically abused children to determine whether they displayed specific information-processing problems in a selective attention paradigm using emotional faces as cues. Physically abused children demonstrated delayed disengagement when angry faces served as invalid cues. Abused children also demonstrated increased attentional benefits on valid angry trials. Results are discussed in terms of the influence of early adverse experience on children's selective attention to threat-related signals as a mechanism in the development of psychopathology.

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  • Processing patterns can be predicted from earlier life experiences such as physical maltreatment and peer social rejection.

    “Furthermore, processing patterns can be predicted from earlier life experiences, such as physical maltreatment (Pollak & Tolley-Schell, 2003) and peer social rejection (Dodge et al., 2003), and these processing patterns mediate the effect of those early experiences on later antisocial behavior (Dodge, Bates, & Pettit, 1990; Weiss, Dodge, Bates, & Pettit, 1992).”

    From Social-information-processing patterns mediate the impact of preventive intervention on adolescent antisocial behavior (2013) · cites this paper as Pollak & Tolley-Schell, 2003

  • Maltreated children show heightened emotional reactivity.

    “Evidence from behavioral and neuroimaging studies also suggest that child maltreatment is associated with heightened emotional reactivity.”

    From Childhood maltreatment exposure and disruptions in emotion regulation: A transdiagnostic pathway to adolescent internalizing and externalizing psychopathology (2016) · cites this paper as Pollak and Tolley-Schell 2003

  • Children who have been physically abused require greater resources to disengage from angry faces and show greater accuracy at identifying angry facial expression targets during a Go/No-Go type task.

    “In addition to increased detection of angry emotional expression, children who have been physically abused require greater resources to disengage from angry faces (Pollak and Tolley-Schell, 2003), and show greater accuracy at identifying angry facial expression targets during a Go/No-Go type task (Pollak et al, 2001).”

    From Deviations from the expectable environment in early childhood and emerging psychopathology (2015) · cites this paper as Pollak and Tolley-Schell, 2003

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Authors
Pollak, S. D., & Tolley-Schell, S. A.
Affiliations
University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
ORCID
Pollak, Seth D.
Venue
Journal of Abnormal Psychology
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
2003-08
Volume
112
Issue
3
Pages
323-338
ISSN
  • 0021-843X (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-1846
DOI
10.1037/0021-843x.112.3.323
OpenAlex
W2156265515
Cited by
515
References
69
Citations by year
2026: 17 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 33 · 2021: 36 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 36 · 2018: 24 · 2017: 35 · 2016: 28 · 2015: 27 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 24 · 2012: 31
FWCI
12.22
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Journal of Abnormal Psychology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
National Institute of Mental Health (T32MH18931, R01 MH61285, T32MH018931, R01MH061285)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
Keywords
physical abuse, child abuse, selective attention, facial emotion, anger, emotional face processing, attentional disengagement, childhood adversity, self-regulation, psychopathology development
MeSH terms
Affect, Attention, Child, Child Abuse, Cues, Environment, Evoked Potentials, Visual, Facial Expression, Female, Humans, Male, Psychological Tests

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