Diaconu, Bianca (2024). Emotion processing, psychophysiology and brain volume in maltreated youth. Markers of latent vulnerability and resilience. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.
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Diaconu2024PhD.pdf
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Abstract
The aim of this thesis was to explore differences in emotion processing, psychophysiology, and brain structure, in children and adolescents with experiences of childhood maltreatment with versus without psychopathology. Chapter 3 investigated emotion recognition and learning, indicating that maltreated youth without psychopathology were less accurate than non-maltreated youth when recognizing happiness, fear, and disgust. Similarities and differences were also observed between sexes, whereby males and females exhibited reduced recognition for fear, but females showed an impairment for happy faces, and males for disgust. For emotion learning, maltreated girls were worse at learning from punishment compared to non-maltreated girls, and maltreated boys were better than non-maltreated boys. Chapter 4 focused on parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system functioning, showing that in the absence of psychopathology, maltreated youth exhibited increased heart rate variability (HRV) than non-maltreated youth, and increased electrodermal activity (EDA) irrespective of psychopathology levels. Chapter 5 explored brain structure, showing that when psychopathology was present, maltreated males had increased volume in the caudate compared to non-maltreated males, whereas maltreated females exhibited reduced volume in this region compared to non-maltreated females. Taken together, these findings highlight the importance of accounting for co-morbid psychopathology and exploring sex differences in studies of childhood maltreatment, while extending our understanding of latent vulnerability and resilience.
| Type of Work: | Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.) | |||||||||
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| Award Type: | Doctorates > Ph.D. | |||||||||
| Supervisor(s): |
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| Licence: | All rights reserved | |||||||||
| College/Faculty: | Colleges > College of Life & Environmental Sciences | |||||||||
| School or Department: | School of Psychology | |||||||||
| Funders: | None/not applicable | |||||||||
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology Q Science > Q Science (General) |
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| URI: | http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/14852 |
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