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Trust and childhood maltreatment: evidence of bias in appraisal of unfamiliar faces
Author(s) -
Neil Louise,
Viding Essi,
ArmbrusterGenc Diana,
Lisi Matteo,
Mareschal Isabelle,
Rankin Georgia,
Sharp Molly,
Phillips Harriet,
Rapley Jessica,
Martin Peter,
McCrory Eamon
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/jcpp.13503
Subject(s) - psychology , developmental psychology , poison control , neglect , attribution , mental health , attribution bias , child abuse , injury prevention , cognition , social cognition , suicide prevention , human factors and ergonomics , social psychology , psychiatry , medicine , environmental health
Background Child maltreatment is associated with poorer social functioning and increased risk of mental health problems in adolescence and adulthood, but the processes underlying these associations remain unclear. Although crucial for establishing and maintaining relationships, trust judgements have not been experimentally investigated in children who have experienced abuse and neglect. Methods A community‐based sample of 75 children aged 8–16 years with maltreatment documented on the basis of social services records, and a group of 70 peers matched on age, gender, cognitive ability, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity took part in the study. Children completed a trustworthiness face‐judgement task in which they appraised the trustworthiness of unfamiliar facial stimuli varying along a computationally modelled trustworthiness dimension. Results In line with clinical observations that childhood maltreatment is associated with an atypical pattern of trust processing, children with maltreatment experience were significantly less likely than their peers to rate unfamiliar faces as trustworthy. Moreover, they were more variable in their trust attributions than their peers. Conclusions The study provides compelling experimental evidence that children with documented maltreatment perceive others as less trustworthy than their peers and are less consistent in their estimates of trustworthiness in others. Over time, alterations in trust processing may disrupt the development of social bonds and contribute to ‘social thinning’ (a reduction in the extent and quality of social relationships), leaving children more vulnerable to environmental stressors, increasing risk of mental health difficulties.