title: Attachment anxiety moderates the relationship between childhood maltreatment and attention bias for emotion in adults.
abstract: Research indicates that some individuals who were maltreated in childhood demonstrate biases in social information processing. However, the mechanisms through which these biases develop remain unclear-one possible mechanism is via attachment-related processes. Childhood maltreatment increases risk for insecure attachment. The internal working models of self and others associated with insecure attachment may impact the processing of socially relevant information, particularly emotion conveyed in facial expressions. We investigated associations among child abuse, attachment anxiety and avoidance, and attention biases for emotion in an adult population. Specifically, we examined how self-reported attachment influences the relationship between childhood abuse and attention bias for emotion. A dot probe task consisting of happy, threatening, and neutral female facial stimuli was used to assess possible biases in attention for socially relevant stimuli. Our findings indicate that attachment anxiety moderated the relationship between maltreatment and attention bias for happy emotion; among individuals with a child abuse history, attachment anxiety significantly predicted an attention bias away from happy facial stimuli.
authors.affiliation: Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Atlanta, GA, USA. Electronic address: davisjs9@email.sc.edu.
authors.forename: Jennifer S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Atlanta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: Negar
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fani
authors.affiliation: Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Atlanta, GA, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, USA.
authors.forename: Kerry
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ressler
authors.affiliation: Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Atlanta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: Tanja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jovanovic
authors.affiliation: Georgia State University, Department of Psychology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: Erin B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Tone
authors.affiliation: Atlanta VA Medical Center, Mental Health Service, Atlanta, GA, USA; Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Atlanta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: Bekh
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bradley
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D001288:Attention; D001362:Avoidance Learning; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006240:Happiness; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011287:Prejudice; D057566:Self Report; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Child abuse; Dot probe; Emotion processing