Parent–Child Eye Gaze Congruency to Emotional Expressions Mediated by Child Aesthetic Sensitivity
Background/Objectives: Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS), particularly its aesthetic subcomponent (Aesthetic Sensitivity; AES), has been linked to individual differences in emotional processing. This study examined whether parental visual attention to emotional facial expressions predicts corresp...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-06-01
|
| Series: | Children |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/12/7/839 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849418210036678656 |
|---|---|
| author | Antonios I. Christou Kostas Fanti Ioannis Mavrommatis Georgia Soursou |
| author_facet | Antonios I. Christou Kostas Fanti Ioannis Mavrommatis Georgia Soursou |
| author_sort | Antonios I. Christou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background/Objectives: Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS), particularly its aesthetic subcomponent (Aesthetic Sensitivity; AES), has been linked to individual differences in emotional processing. This study examined whether parental visual attention to emotional facial expressions predicts corresponding attentional patterns in their children, and whether this intergenerational concordance is mediated by child AES and moderated by child empathy. Methods: A sample of 124 Greek Cypriot parent–child dyads (children aged 7–12 years) participated in an eye-tracking experiment. Both parents and children viewed static emotional facial expressions (angry, sad, fearful, happy). Parents also completed questionnaires assessing their child’s SPS, empathy (cognitive and affective), and emotional functioning. Regression analyses and moderated mediation models were employed to explore associations between parental and child gaze patterns. Results: Children’s fixation on angry eyes was significantly predicted by parental fixation duration on the same region, as well as by child AES and empathy levels. Moderated mediation analyses revealed that the association between parent and child gaze to angry eyes was significantly mediated by child AES. However, neither cognitive nor affective empathy significantly moderated this mediation effect. Conclusions: Findings suggest that child AES plays a key mediating role in the intergenerational transmission of attentional biases to emotional stimuli. While empathy was independently associated with children’s gaze behavior, it did not moderate the AES-mediated pathway. These results highlight the importance of trait-level child sensitivity in shaping shared emotional attention patterns within families. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7d6e2bf8795d432da01de59186c39b10 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2227-9067 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Children |
| spelling | doaj-art-7d6e2bf8795d432da01de59186c39b102025-08-20T03:32:31ZengMDPI AGChildren2227-90672025-06-0112783910.3390/children12070839Parent–Child Eye Gaze Congruency to Emotional Expressions Mediated by Child Aesthetic SensitivityAntonios I. Christou0Kostas Fanti1Ioannis Mavrommatis2Georgia Soursou3Department of Special Education, University of Thessaly, 38221 Volos, GreeceDepartment of Psychology, University of Cyprus, 1678 Nicosia, CyprusDepartment of Psychology, University of Cyprus, 1678 Nicosia, CyprusDepartment of Psychology, University of Cyprus, 1678 Nicosia, CyprusBackground/Objectives: Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS), particularly its aesthetic subcomponent (Aesthetic Sensitivity; AES), has been linked to individual differences in emotional processing. This study examined whether parental visual attention to emotional facial expressions predicts corresponding attentional patterns in their children, and whether this intergenerational concordance is mediated by child AES and moderated by child empathy. Methods: A sample of 124 Greek Cypriot parent–child dyads (children aged 7–12 years) participated in an eye-tracking experiment. Both parents and children viewed static emotional facial expressions (angry, sad, fearful, happy). Parents also completed questionnaires assessing their child’s SPS, empathy (cognitive and affective), and emotional functioning. Regression analyses and moderated mediation models were employed to explore associations between parental and child gaze patterns. Results: Children’s fixation on angry eyes was significantly predicted by parental fixation duration on the same region, as well as by child AES and empathy levels. Moderated mediation analyses revealed that the association between parent and child gaze to angry eyes was significantly mediated by child AES. However, neither cognitive nor affective empathy significantly moderated this mediation effect. Conclusions: Findings suggest that child AES plays a key mediating role in the intergenerational transmission of attentional biases to emotional stimuli. While empathy was independently associated with children’s gaze behavior, it did not moderate the AES-mediated pathway. These results highlight the importance of trait-level child sensitivity in shaping shared emotional attention patterns within families.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/12/7/839sensory processing sensitivityaesthetic sensitivityempathyeye gazeemotion processingparent–child dyads |
| spellingShingle | Antonios I. Christou Kostas Fanti Ioannis Mavrommatis Georgia Soursou Parent–Child Eye Gaze Congruency to Emotional Expressions Mediated by Child Aesthetic Sensitivity Children sensory processing sensitivity aesthetic sensitivity empathy eye gaze emotion processing parent–child dyads |
| title | Parent–Child Eye Gaze Congruency to Emotional Expressions Mediated by Child Aesthetic Sensitivity |
| title_full | Parent–Child Eye Gaze Congruency to Emotional Expressions Mediated by Child Aesthetic Sensitivity |
| title_fullStr | Parent–Child Eye Gaze Congruency to Emotional Expressions Mediated by Child Aesthetic Sensitivity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Parent–Child Eye Gaze Congruency to Emotional Expressions Mediated by Child Aesthetic Sensitivity |
| title_short | Parent–Child Eye Gaze Congruency to Emotional Expressions Mediated by Child Aesthetic Sensitivity |
| title_sort | parent child eye gaze congruency to emotional expressions mediated by child aesthetic sensitivity |
| topic | sensory processing sensitivity aesthetic sensitivity empathy eye gaze emotion processing parent–child dyads |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/12/7/839 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT antoniosichristou parentchildeyegazecongruencytoemotionalexpressionsmediatedbychildaestheticsensitivity AT kostasfanti parentchildeyegazecongruencytoemotionalexpressionsmediatedbychildaestheticsensitivity AT ioannismavrommatis parentchildeyegazecongruencytoemotionalexpressionsmediatedbychildaestheticsensitivity AT georgiasoursou parentchildeyegazecongruencytoemotionalexpressionsmediatedbychildaestheticsensitivity |