Abstract
BackgroundAttention disengagement is reportedly influenced by perceiving a fearful facial expression even in the first year of life. In the present study, we examined whether individual differences in disengaging from fearful expressions predict temperamental negative affectivity.MethodTwenty-six infants were studied longitudinally at 12, 18, 24, and 36 months, using an overlap paradigm and two temperament questionnaires: the Japanese versions of the revised Infant Behavior Questionnaire and Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire.ResultsThe infants fixated significantly more frequently to fearful than to happy or neutral faces. The attentional bias to threat (i.e., the number of fixed responses on fearful faces divided by the total number of fixed responses on faces) at 12 months was significantly positively correlated with negative affect at 12 months, and its relations with negative affect measured later in development was in the expected positive direction at each age. In addition, a moderation analysis indicates that the orienting network and not the executive network marginally moderated the relation between early attentional bias and later fear.ConclusionsThe results suggest that at 12 months, infants with more negative affectivity exhibit greater difficulty in disengaging their attention from fearful faces. We also found evidence that the association between parent-reported fear and disengagement might be modulated in the second year, perhaps because of the differences in temperamental control networks.
Highlights
Attention disengagement is reportedly influenced by perceiving a fearful facial expression even in the first year of life
While no relationship was observed with negative affect, we found that latency in the fearful expression condition was positively correlated with the scores on the Fear scale (r = .516, p = .012)
Moderating role of temperamental control We examined whether temperamental control moderates the relation between fearful attentional bias at 12 months and temperament at 3 years
Summary
Attention disengagement is reportedly influenced by perceiving a fearful facial expression even in the first year of life. Visual-spatial attention systems can reportedly detect threat-related stimuli rapidly. The propensity to quickly detect the presence of threatening stimuli, such as snakes and angry faces, may be an important survival and adaptive mechanism. Threat-related stimuli (e.g., threat words or angry faces) may cause a delay in disengagement [1], a tendency possibly increased by an individual’s elevated level of state anxiety. Peltola et al [6] found that the delayed withdrawal of attention reflected not a simple response to fearful wide-open eyes but rather an enhanced sensitivity to facial signals of threat. Fearful expressions caused greater heart rate deceleration responses in 7-month-old infants during the first 1000 ms of face viewing [7]. Leppänen et al [7] concluded that emotion–attention interactions such as those displayed by adults can be observed early in life
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
