Facial emotion processing and recognition among maltreated children: a systematic literature review.

Exposure to maltreatment is associated with biological, psychological, and social development impairments in children. This systematic literature review sought to determine whether an association exists between child maltreatment and facial emotion processing and recognition. The search was conducted using the databases PubMed, PsycINFO, and SciELO using the following keywords: "maltreatment," "adversity," "neglect," "sexual abuse," "emotional abuse," "physical abuse," "child(*)," "early," "infant," "face," "facial," "recognition," "expression," "emotion(*)," and "impairment.