Perception of Attachment Security, Neurodynamics of Emotion Recognition,
and Social Skills in Late Childhood and Early Adolescence: A
Hierarchical Multilinear Modeling Study
Abstract
This study explored the link between Perception Attachment Security
(PAS), neurobehavioral dynamics during emotion recognition, and social
skills using a hierarchical multilinear EEG model. We used facial
expression recognition tasks, behavior, and socio-affective measures to
model a lower-dimensional parameter (LDP), which we built to encapsulate
specific task-related neurobehavioral patterns influenced by personal
history. We hypothesized that higher PAS levels would correlate with
better emotion recognition performance and social skills. Our results
showed an early midline occipital LDP/PAS increase at around 70 and 170
ms, suggesting that attachment security influences the nervous system’s
organization and early neurobehavioral processes. We suggest this
implies higher attachment security individuals might be better at
perceiving and understanding emotions, leading to improved social
competence. Social competence was found to affect early LDP dynamics
over right hemisphere sensors, emphasizing the role of positive social
skills and attachment security in processing facial expressions of
emotions. In later temporal stages, LDP dynamics linked with antisocial
behavior showed an increase around 200 ms post-stimulus, suggesting
cognitive resources might be used to disengage from or maintain
emotional processing, possibly hindering the consideration of
interpersonal interactions and contextual factors vital for social skill
development. This underscores the need to consider a wide range of
factors to fully understand social competence.