Shared and distinct profiles of attention to emotional faces in childhood trauma and depression: An eye-tracking...

Exposure to childhood trauma (CT) increases the risk of depression, yet it remains unclear how childhood trauma modulates the attentional processing of emotional information in individuals with depressive symptoms (DS).

This study aimed to investigate the shared and distinct eye-tracking attentional profiles of individuals with DS, with and without a history of CT.

A sample of 159 young adults (age range 18-24) was recruited and categorized into four groups: co-occurring childhood trauma and depressive symptoms (CT + DS, n = 32), childhood trauma only (CT, n = 24), depressive symptoms only (DS, n = 31), and healthy controls (Control, n = 72).

Self-reported attentional biases were assessed using the Attention to Positive and Negative Information Scale (APNI). Visual attention was assessed using a free-viewing eye-tracking paradigm with four facial expressions (happy, sad, angry, neutral); indices included First Fixation Duration (FFD), Percentage of Fixation Duration (PFD), and Number of Revisits.

Significant group differences were found for FFD (F = 5.15, p < .001) and PFD (F = 15.24, p < .001), and significant interaction was found for number of revisits (F = 20.60, p < .001). While the DS group exhibited a classic negative attentional bias (more revisits to angry and sad faces), the CT + DS group demonstrated a reversal, specifically avoiding sad faces, and the CT group showed avoidance of angry faces.

The observed avoidance of sad faces might signal depressive vulnerability following childhood trauma, highlighting the need for trauma-stratified depression screening and personalized attention modification in early interventions.