Exploring Fixation Times During Emotional Decoding in Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrators: An Eye-Tracking Pilot Study
Background/Objectives: Deficits in emotion recognition abilities have been described as risk factors for intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration. However, much of this research is based on self-reports or instruments that present limited psychometric properties. While current scientific literat...
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2025-07-01
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| author | Carolina Sarrate-Costa Marisol Lila Luis Moya-Albiol Ángel Romero-Martínez |
| author_facet | Carolina Sarrate-Costa Marisol Lila Luis Moya-Albiol Ángel Romero-Martínez |
| author_sort | Carolina Sarrate-Costa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background/Objectives: Deficits in emotion recognition abilities have been described as risk factors for intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration. However, much of this research is based on self-reports or instruments that present limited psychometric properties. While current scientific literature supports the use of eye tracking to assess cognitive and emotional processes, including emotional decoding abilities, there is a gap in the scientific literature when it comes to measuring these processes in IPV perpetrators using eye tracking in an emotional decoding task. Hence, the aim of this study was to examine the association between fixation times via eye tracking and emotional decoding abilities in IPV perpetrators, controlling for potential confounding variables. Methods: To this end, an emotion recognition task was created using an eye tracker in a group of 52 IPV perpetrators. This task consisted of 20 images with people expressing different emotions. For each picture, the facial region was selected as an area of interest (AOI). The fixation times were added to obtain a total gaze fixation time score. Additionally, an ad hoc emotional decoding multiple-choice test about each picture was developed. These instruments were complemented with other self-reports previously designed to measure emotion decoding abilities. Results: The results showed that the longer the total fixation times on the AOI, the better the emotional decoding abilities in IPV perpetrators. Specifically, fixation times explained 20% of the variance in emotional decoding test scores. Additionally, our ad hoc emotional decoding test was significantly correlated with previously designed emotion recognition tools and showed similar reliability to the eyes test. Conclusions: Overall, this pilot study highlights the importance of including eye movement signals to explore attentional processes involved in emotion recognition abilities in IPV perpetrators. This would allow us to adequately specify the therapeutic needs of IPV perpetrators to improve current interventions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-fd9794da426b4689ae9d068f09cf1686 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2076-3425 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Brain Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-fd9794da426b4689ae9d068f09cf16862025-08-20T03:58:25ZengMDPI AGBrain Sciences2076-34252025-07-0115773210.3390/brainsci15070732Exploring Fixation Times During Emotional Decoding in Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrators: An Eye-Tracking Pilot StudyCarolina Sarrate-Costa0Marisol Lila1Luis Moya-Albiol2Ángel Romero-Martínez3Department of Psychobiology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Valencia, 46010 Vealencia, SpainDepartment of Social Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Valencia, 46010 Vealencia, SpainDepartment of Psychobiology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Valencia, 46010 Vealencia, SpainDepartment of Psychobiology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Valencia, 46010 Vealencia, SpainBackground/Objectives: Deficits in emotion recognition abilities have been described as risk factors for intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration. However, much of this research is based on self-reports or instruments that present limited psychometric properties. While current scientific literature supports the use of eye tracking to assess cognitive and emotional processes, including emotional decoding abilities, there is a gap in the scientific literature when it comes to measuring these processes in IPV perpetrators using eye tracking in an emotional decoding task. Hence, the aim of this study was to examine the association between fixation times via eye tracking and emotional decoding abilities in IPV perpetrators, controlling for potential confounding variables. Methods: To this end, an emotion recognition task was created using an eye tracker in a group of 52 IPV perpetrators. This task consisted of 20 images with people expressing different emotions. For each picture, the facial region was selected as an area of interest (AOI). The fixation times were added to obtain a total gaze fixation time score. Additionally, an ad hoc emotional decoding multiple-choice test about each picture was developed. These instruments were complemented with other self-reports previously designed to measure emotion decoding abilities. Results: The results showed that the longer the total fixation times on the AOI, the better the emotional decoding abilities in IPV perpetrators. Specifically, fixation times explained 20% of the variance in emotional decoding test scores. Additionally, our ad hoc emotional decoding test was significantly correlated with previously designed emotion recognition tools and showed similar reliability to the eyes test. Conclusions: Overall, this pilot study highlights the importance of including eye movement signals to explore attentional processes involved in emotion recognition abilities in IPV perpetrators. This would allow us to adequately specify the therapeutic needs of IPV perpetrators to improve current interventions.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/15/7/732emotion recognitionfixation timeseye trackerintimate partner violence |
| spellingShingle | Carolina Sarrate-Costa Marisol Lila Luis Moya-Albiol Ángel Romero-Martínez Exploring Fixation Times During Emotional Decoding in Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrators: An Eye-Tracking Pilot Study Brain Sciences emotion recognition fixation times eye tracker intimate partner violence |
| title | Exploring Fixation Times During Emotional Decoding in Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrators: An Eye-Tracking Pilot Study |
| title_full | Exploring Fixation Times During Emotional Decoding in Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrators: An Eye-Tracking Pilot Study |
| title_fullStr | Exploring Fixation Times During Emotional Decoding in Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrators: An Eye-Tracking Pilot Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exploring Fixation Times During Emotional Decoding in Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrators: An Eye-Tracking Pilot Study |
| title_short | Exploring Fixation Times During Emotional Decoding in Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrators: An Eye-Tracking Pilot Study |
| title_sort | exploring fixation times during emotional decoding in intimate partner violence perpetrators an eye tracking pilot study |
| topic | emotion recognition fixation times eye tracker intimate partner violence |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/15/7/732 |
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