Leiden University Student Repository

Mildt, Christiane de (2026)

Het verband tussen kindermishandeling en reactietijd van emotieherkenning bij jongvolwassenen

Master thesis | Education and Child Studies (MSc)

In the Netherlands, 25% of children report having experienced some form of childhood maltreatment and/or neglect. Such experiences can affect socio-emotional development, including difficulties in recognizing and understanding emotions. This study examines whether there is an association between different types of childhood maltreatment and reaction time in recognizing positive (happiness) and negative (fear, sadness, and anger) emotions. It was hypothesized that emotional neglect would be associated with longer reaction times for happiness, and that physical abuse would be associated with shorter reaction times for negative emotions. Furthermore, it was expected that younger participants would recognize emotions more quickly than older participants, and that women would respond faster than men. The sample consisted of 90 young adults (aged 18 to 24) with childhood adversity who completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and the Emotion Facial Recognition Task. Multiple regression...Show moreIn the Netherlands, 25% of children report having experienced some form of childhood maltreatment and/or neglect. Such experiences can affect socio-emotional development, including difficulties in recognizing and understanding emotions. This study examines whether there is an association between different types of childhood maltreatment and reaction time in recognizing positive (happiness) and negative (fear, sadness, and anger) emotions. It was hypothesized that emotional neglect would be associated with longer reaction times for happiness, and that physical abuse would be associated with shorter reaction times for negative emotions. Furthermore, it was expected that younger participants would recognize emotions more quickly than older participants, and that women would respond faster than men. The sample consisted of 90 young adults (aged 18 to 24) with childhood adversity who completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and the Emotion Facial Recognition Task. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to test the associations. The results showed that physical neglect was significantly associated with longer reaction times for happiness, sadness, and anger. No significant effect on the reaction time for fear was found, and no significant associations were found for other forms of maltreatment. These findings highlight that physical neglect, as a relatively underexplored form of child maltreatment, deserves further attention in order to develop appropriate interventions and support.Show less

Author

Mildt, Christiane de

Faculty

Faculty of Social & Behavioural Sciences

Specialisation

Parenting and Child Development

Supervisors

Buimer, E.E.L.

ECTS Credits

20

Language

nl