No association of childhood maltreatment experiences and attention to facial emotions in men.

A recent study investigated the relationship between childhood trauma and attention to emotions as a function of type and severity of maltreatment in a sample of women. It was found that high levels of physical and emotional abuse severity were associated with a diminished attentional preference for happy faces. Given that men exhibit distinct patterns of childhood maltreatment and often show lower accuracy and attention toward facial emotions compared to women, investigating these relationships specifically in male populations is warranted. In the present study, we examined the relationship between childhood trauma and attention to emotions in a sample of men. Gaze behavior of 98 men with a history of childhood trauma was analyzed in a free-viewing task. Pairs of faces with an emotional (happy, surprised, angry, disgusted, fearful, and sad) and a neutral face were shown for 5 s. An attentional bias score was calculated by subtracting the total fixation duration on the neutral face from that on the emotional face. To assess childhood maltreatment experiences, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire was employed. Linear mixed models were used to investigate research questions. The attentional bias scores exhibited high reliability. For all emotion categories, participants looked longer at the emotional compared to the neutral face. The highest attentional preference was found for happy faces. Results indicated neither a significant main effect of childhood maltreatment type, nor a significant interaction effect between childhood maltreatment type and emotion category. Similarly, no main effect or interaction involving overall childhood maltreatment severity was found. The present findings reveal no significant relationship between childhood experiences of maltreatment (including emotional, sexual, and physical abuse, as well as emotional neglect) and visual attention to facial emotions in men. Our data do not support the hypothesis that early life trauma may lead to alterations in attentional processing of emotional facial expressions in men.