Effects of childhood trauma on the amplitude of P300 ERP response

This event-related potential (ERP) study examines the relationship between prevalence and severity of childhood trauma on the P300 ERP in medial electrodes (Fz, Pz, Cz). Initial analysis of the participants evaluated how amplitude and latency differ due to the frequency and expression of specific emotional faces (angry and neutral). Rarely occurring stimuli and angry faces resulted in higher amplitude P300 ERPs on average compared to frequently occurring stimuli and neutral faces. Childhood trauma was found to have no significant effect overall on the amplitude or latency of P300 ERP. This leads to further questioning about the effect of latency since maltreatment, beginning age of maltreatment, and the effect of therapies between the time of maltreatment and participation in this study.