Emotion expression among abusive mothers is associated with their children's emotion processing and problem behaviours

Abstract

The current study evaluated the quality of facial and vocal emotional expressions in abusive and non-abusive mothers, and assessed whether mothers' emotional expression quality was related to their children's cognitive processing of emotion and behavioural problems. Relative to non-abusive mothers, abusive mothers produced less prototypical angry facial expressions, and less prototypical angry, happy, and sad vocal expressions. The intensity of mothers' facial and vocal expressions of anger was related to their children's externalising and internalising symptoms. Additionally, children's cognitive processing of their mothers' angry faces was related to the quality of mothers' facial expressions. Results are discussed with respect to the impact of early emotional learning environments on children's socioemotional development and risk for psychopathology.

Keywords:

• Facial expressions
• Vocal expressions
• Physical abuse
• Psychopathology
• Mothers

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health to SDP (MH61285, MH68858). JES was supported by a National Institutes of Mental Health National Research Service Award (NRSA, MH073313) and a University of Wisconsin Graduate Fellowship.

The authors wish to thank the many children and their families who volunteered to participate in this study.