The impact of culture on physiological processes of emotion regulation: a comparison of US and Chinese preschoolers

Psychological and Physical Abuse and Cortisol Response to Stress: The Moderating Role of Psychosocial Resources

Child abuse is associated with alterations in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning. However, the unique effects of psychological and physical abuse and protective factors against these effects remain largely unknown. To close these gaps, the present study examined the unique effects of psychological and physical abuse on cortisol stress response and explored the moderating role of psychosocial resources in these associations among a sample of Chinese preadolescent children (N = 150; aged 9-13 years; M_age = 10.69 years; 51% boys). The results showed that both psychological and physical abuse were associated with blunted cortisol reactivity slopes. Psychological abuse, but not physical abuse, was associated with lower peak cortisol values and flatter cortisol recovery slopes. Further, psychosocial resources moderated the association between abuse and hyporesponsiveness of the HPA axis. The association between psychological abuse and lower peak cortisol values and the association between physical abuse and steeper cortisol recovery slopes (faster cortisol recovery following the stressor) were observed only among children with low levels of psychosocial resources. These findings indicate the differential effects of psychological and physical abuse on various phases of cortisol stress response, and the protective role of psychosocial resources. This study also has practical implications, given that preadolescence serves as a critical period for maximizing benefit of interventions of adversity.

Socioeconomic Status and Childhood Executive Function: Differing Conceptualizations, Diverse Assessments, and Decontextualized Investigations

Developing the ability to regulate actions, thoughts, and emotions is necessary for successfully engaging in goal-directed activities, which form the essence of success in many life situations. In this regard, executive function (EF), as an aspect of these top-down control processes, has been the subject of inquiry in many developmental studies aiming to identify its link with various other aspects of a child's life, including family socioeconomic status (SES). This article presents a critical look at the association between family SES and childhood EF by reviewing studies that provide contrasting perspectives compared to the generally reported positive correlation between these two constructs. We first address the various aspects of assessing SES and childhood EF, emphasizing their multifaceted nature. Next, we discuss the interplays between different components of these two constructs, especially as it unfolds in various cultural contexts. Finally, we conclude by discussing mainly neglected lines of research that could further improve our understanding of the extent of socioeconomic impacts on child development, specifically regarding executive function. Considering these lines of research is a necessary step to a more accurate analysis of the link between socioeconomic factors and childhood executive function.

Emotion Reactivity and Suicide Ideation Among Chinese Adolescents: A Longitudinal Serial Mediation Model

OBJECTIVE

Previous studies have indicated that emotion reactivity is an important predictive factor for suicide ideation. However, the mechanism underlying their association has remained largely unexplored. The current study aims to investigate a serial mediation model to examine the potential mechanism in the relationship between emotion reactivity and suicide ideation.

METHOD

A total of 5,423 Chinese adolescents (52.7% females, M_age = 14.63 years, SD = 1.25) completed self-report questionnaires regarding emotion reactivity, suicide ideation, distress intolerance, and depressive symptoms. Assessment was conducted for two waves, 6 months apart.

RESULTS

In descriptive analyses, the prevalence of suicide ideation in this study was 15.3% for Wave 1 and 14.3% for Wave 2. Emotion reactivity, distress intolerance, and depressive symptoms were positively related to suicide ideation. In serial mediation analyses, there was a significant total effect of emotion reactivity on suicide ideation. After controlling for baseline variables, distress intolerance and depressive symptoms played serial mediating roles in the relation between emotion reactivity and suicide ideation, with emotion reactivity influencing suicide ideation through three mediation pathways.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrates a potential mechanism underlying the path from emotion reactivity to suicide ideation. Interventions that target emotion reactivity may be an effective way to reduce the risk of developing suicide ideation. HIGHLIGHTSEmotion reactivity was positively related to suicide ideation.Distress intolerance and depressive symptoms mediated the relationship between emotion reactivity and suicide ideation.Emotion reactivity also exerted an influence on suicide ideation through serial mediation of distress intolerance and depressive symptoms, after controlling for baseline variables.

Longitudinal Relations between Rejection Sensitivity and Adjustment in Chinese Children: Moderating Effect of Emotion Regulation

The goal of the present study was to examine the moderating effect of emotion regulation in the longitudinal relations between rejection sensitivity and indices of adjustment among Chinese children. Participants were N = 590 children (M_age= 11.25 years, SD = 1.33) attending public elementary and middle schools in Shanghai, P.R. China. Measures of anxious rejection sensitivity and socio-emotional functioning were collected via self-reports and peer nominations. Among the results, rejection sensitivity significantly predicted higher levels of later internalizing problems. Moreover, emotion regulation significantly moderated (i.e. buffering effect) the relations between rejection sensitivity and later peer and emotional difficulties. The current findings suggest that rejection sensitivity poses developmental risk over time, but emotion regulation may serve as a protective factor for Chinese youth. Results are discussed in terms of the implications of rejection sensitivity and emotion regulation in Chinese culture.

Executive functions in preschool-aged children with neurofibromatosis type 1: Value for early assessment

Introduction: Executive functions (EFs) impairment is common in children with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), and could be a significant vulnerability associated with this medical disorder. However, we still know little about EFs in preschool NF1. Our study assessed EFs in NF1 children using performance-based tests and daily life questionnaires, which combined the views of parents and teachers.Method: Seven classic experimental tasks were used to evaluate EFs in 33 NF1 children aged 3 to 5 years old, and BRIEF-P questionnaires were completed by their parents and teachers. These children's performance was compared with a control group of 52 healthy children matched in age, gender and socio-cultural status.Results: NF1 children have significantly lower scores for 5 out of 7 executive tasks than control children and significantly higher levels of EF concerns in the parent and teacher BRIEF-P ratings. The correlations between performance-based tests and questionnaires are weak.Conclusions: Our results support an early executive dysfunction in NF1 children and call for early and systematic assessment of EFs. Both performance-based tests and questionnaires are complementary tools to investigate early EFs dysfunction in children with NF1.

Parents' Views on Play and the Goal of Early Childhood Education in Relation to Children's Home Activity and Executive Functions: A Cross-Cultural Investigation

The present study investigated the cross-cultural variations in parents' views on the role of play in child development and the primary purpose of preschool education from Ethiopia and Hungary. It also examined the cross-cultural variations in preschoolers' executive functions (EF), the frequency of their engagement in home activities, and the role of these activities in the development of EF skills. Participants included 266 preschoolers (Ethiopia: 139 of which 44.6% boys; M _age = 63.83 months; SD = 7.68 months; Hungary: 127 of which 48% boys; M _age = 62.06 months; SD = 9.37 months) with their parents (Ethiopia: 45.32% male; M_age = 36.66 years; SD = 7.14 years; Hungary: 13.18% male; M _age = 37.71 years; SD = 5.97 years). The independent samples t-test showed that Ethiopian parents view fostering academic skills for preschooler significantly more important than their Hungarian counterparts do. We also found that while Ethiopian parents hold the belief that academic and cognitive development is the major purpose of preschool education, Hungarian prioritize social-emotional development and entertainment. Additionally, preschoolers in Ethiopia were reported to engage in academic and arts and crafts activities after preschool significantly more frequently than their Hungarian counterparts. On the contrary, preschoolers in Hungary were found to engage in fine-motor activities, solitary play, sports and other physical activities significantly more frequently than their Ethiopian counterparts. No significant differences were found in EF skills between preschoolers from Ethiopia and Hungary. Results from hierarchical regression analyses showed that, after accounting for age and SES, preschoolers' frequency of pretend play and their parents' play support beliefs were found to be small to medium-sized predictors of inhibitory control skills in both samples. However, children's frequency of having breakfast at home was another significant predictor in the Ethiopian sample only. The frequency of participation in arts and crafts and other fine-motor activities were found to be important predictors of preschoolers' visual-spatial working memory skills in the Ethiopian and the Hungarian samples, respectively. We also found that, after controlling for SES, parental play support was an important factor associated with preschoolers' shifting skills only in the Hungarian sample. Based on the findings, we made important conclusions.

Contrasting executive function development among primary school children from Hong Kong and Germany

Previous research findings indicate that young children from East Asia outperform their counterparts from Europe and North America on executive function (EF) tasks. However, very few cross-national studies have focused on EF development during middle childhood. The current study assessed the EF performance of 170 children in grades 2 and 4 from Hong Kong (n = 80) and Germany (n = 90) in a cross-sectional design. Children completed tasks assessing the main components of EF, namely inhibition (child-friendly Stroop task), updating (Object Span task), and shifting (Contingency Naming task). Results of multilevel models showed that all three EF measures differentiated well between younger and older children across the full sample. However, contrary to our hypothesis and previous research, we did not find any significant differences in EF performance between children from Hong Kong and Germany at primary school age. Our findings highlight the possibility that issues related to the measurement of EF and features specific to Hong Kong and Germany underlie our results.

International Comparisons of Emotionally Reactive Problems in Preschoolers: CBCL/1½-5 Findings from 21 Societies

Our goal was to conduct international comparisons of emotion regulation using the 9-item Emotionally Reactive (ER) syndrome of the Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 1½-5. We analyzed parent ratings for 17,964 preschoolers from 21 societies, which were grouped into 8 GLOBE study culture clusters (e.g., Nordic, Confucian Asian). Omnicultural broad base rates for ER items ranged from 8.0% to 38.8%. Rank ordering for mean item ratings varied widely across societies (omnicultural Q = .50) but less so across culture clusters (M Q = .66). Societal similarity in mean item rank ordering varied by culture cluster, with large within-cluster similarity for Anglo (Q = .96), Latin Europe (Q = .74), Germanic (Q = .77), and Latin American (Q = .76) clusters, but smaller within-cluster similarity for Nordic, Eastern Europe, and Confucian Asian clusters (Qs = .52, .23, and .44, respectively). Confirmatory factor analyses of the ER syndrome supported configural invariance for all 21 societies. All 9 items showed full to approximate metric invariance, but only 3 items showed approximate scalar invariance. The ER syndrome correlated . 65 with the Anxious/Depressed (A/D) syndrome and .63 with the Aggressive Behavior syndrome. ER items varied in base rates and factor loadings, and societies varied in rank ordering of items as low, medium, or high in mean ratings. Item rank order similarity among societies in the same culture cluster varied widely across culture clusters, suggesting the importance of cultural factors in the assessment of emotion regulation in preschoolers.

The Relation between Specific Parenting Behaviors and Toddlers' Early Anxious Behaviors is Moderated by Toddler Cortisol Reactivity

Differential susceptibility theory posits that neurobiological reactivity (e.g., cortisol levels) should be considered as an individual index of susceptibility to both positive and negative environments. The current investigation separately examines cortisol reactivity and total concentration in toddlerhood as moderators of the longitudinal relation between maternal protection and encouragement of independence and increases or decreases in observed anxious behaviors, respectively. A total of 119 mother-toddler dyads participated in a laboratory visit when toddlers were 12- to 18-months-old. Mothers reported on their parenting behaviors and toddlers participated in a novelty episode from which their anxious behaviors were coded. Toddlers provided three saliva samples, yielding measures of cortisol reactivity and total cortisol concentration. One year later, dyads returned to the laboratory where toddlers participated in another novelty episode to observationally assess anxious behaviors. Results revealed that maternal protection tended to relate to greater increases in anxious behaviors one year later only for toddlers who displayed high cortisol reactivity. Cortisol reactivity also moderated the relation between maternal encouragement of independence and change in toddler anxious behaviors, with this parenting behavior relating to greater decreases in anxious behaviors only for toddlers with high cortisol reactivity. Results examining total cortisol concentration as a moderator were not significant. Results suggest the importance of considering toddler cortisol reactivity a context of susceptibility when examining the longitudinal relation between parenting behaviors and the development of anxious behaviors in toddlerhood.

Emotion reactivity, nonsuicidal self-injury, and regulatory emotional self-efficacy: A moderated mediation model of suicide ideation

BACKGROUND

Adolescent suicide ideation (SI) has received increased attention in recent years, and emotion reactivity (ER) has been found to be a risk factor for SI. However, little is known about the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying this relationship. The aim of this study is to test a moderated mediation model of SI.

METHOD

A total of 2,716 Chinese adolescents (53.2% males, mean age = 13.19 years, SD = 0.52) completed self-report questionnaires regarding SI, ER, nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), and regulatory emotional self-efficacy (RESE).

RESULTS

After controlling for gender, ER was significantly associated with SI, and this association was mediated by NSSI. RESE buffered the relation between ER and SI, as well as the relation between ER and NSSI.

LIMITATION

This study was cross-sectional in design and relied upon self-report measures only. Almost all participants were recruited from a single city of China.

CONCLUSION

Findings of this study demonstrate a relationship among ER, NSSI, and SI, and expand our understanding of the development of SI. Further, RESE may be a protective factor against SI and NSSI in adolescence, which suggests a potential role of promoting RESE in the prevention and intervention of SI and NSSI.

The sampling precision of research in five major areas of psychology

After obtaining a sample of published, peer-reviewed articles from journals with high and low impact factors in social, cognitive, neuro-, developmental, and clinical psychology, we used a priori equations recently derived by Trafimow (Educational and Psychological Measurement, 77, 831-854, 2017; Trafimow & MacDonald in Educational and Psychological Measurement, 77, 204-219, 2017) to compute the articles' median levels of precision. Our findings indicate that developmental research performs best with respect to precision, whereas cognitive research performs the worst; however, none of the psychology subfields excelled. In addition, we found important differences in precision between journals in the upper versus lower echelons with respect to impact factors in cognitive, neuro-, and clinical psychology, whereas the difference was dramatically attenuated for social and developmental psychology. Implications are discussed.

The psychobiology of emotional development: The case for examining sociocultural processes

Psychobiological techniques to assess emotional responding have revolutionized the field of emotional development in recent decades by equipping researchers with the tools to quantify children's emotional reactivity and regulation more directly than behavioral approaches allow. Knowledge gained from the incorporation of methods spanning levels of analysis has been substantial, yet many open questions remain. In this prospective review, we (a) describe the major conceptual and empirical advances that have resulted from this methodological innovation, and (b) lay out a case for what we view as the most pressing challenge for the next decades of research into the psychobiology of emotional development: focusing empirical efforts toward understanding the implications of the broader sociocultural contexts in which children develop that shape the psychobiology of emotion. Thus, this review integrates previous knowledge about the psychobiology of emotion with a forward-looking set of recommendations for incorporating sociocultural processes into future investigations.

Exploring cross-cultural variations in the development of executive function for preschoolers from low and high socioeconomic families

This study investigated cross-cultural variation in the development of executive functioning (EF) across the preschool period for United States and Chinese children from low and high socioeconomic families using a longitudinal design. Participants included 216 preschool children ( n = 125 from the US; n = 91 from Shanghai and Jiangxi, China). On average, children were approximately 4 years old. In the US sample, 56% were female, and in the Chinese sample, 54% were female. Results from multi-level models varied slightly with regard to specific EF domains, but generally indicated that Chinese children experienced greater gains in EF during the preschool period compared to US children. Cross-cultural differences in EF growth did not vary by socioeconomic status. These findings highlight cultural variability in the development of EF and provide a foundation for additional research exploring factors that may help explain differential growth in EF for Chinese children compared to US children during the preschool period.

Neural correlates of impaired self-regulation in male youths with autism spectrum disorder: A voxel-based morphometry study

Although recent studies revealed impaired self-regulation (dysregulation) in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), neural correlates of dysregulation and its impacts on autistic neuroanatomy remain unclear. Voxel-based morphometry was applied on structural MRI images in 81 ASD and 61 typically developing (TD) boys aged 7-17years. Dysregulation was defined by the sum of T-scores of Attention, Aggression, and Anxiety/Depression subscales in the Child Behavior Checklist>180. There were 53 and 28 boys in the ASD+Dysregulation and ASD-Dysregulation groups, respectively. First, we compared regional gray matter (GM) volume for ASD and TD. Second, we investigated regional GM volumetric differences among the ASD+Dysregulation, ASD-Dysregulation and TD groups. Lastly, shared and distinct neurostructural correlates of dysregulation were investigated in the ASD and TD groups. The ASD-TD difference on neuroanatomy no longer existed after controlling the dysregulation severity. ASD+Dysregulation had larger regional GM volumes in the right fusiform gyrus, and smaller GM volumes in the anterior prefrontal cortex than ASD-Dysregulation and TD, respectively. ASD+Dysregulation had smaller GM volumes in the left lateral occipital/superior parietal cortex than TD boys. No GM difference was identified between ASD-Dysregulation and TD. ASD and TD had a shared association between GM volumes in the orbitofrontal cortex and dysregulation levels. Our findings suggest that atypical neuroanatomy associated with ASD might partially reflect a disproportionate level of impaired self-regulation. Categorical and dimensional considerations of dysregulation should be implemented in future ASD studies.

Mother-Toddler Cortisol Synchrony Moderates Risk of Early Internalizing Symptoms

Cortisol synchrony is the degree to which mother-toddler cortisol levels are mutually regulated within a dyad. Synchrony's impact on toddler development is not well understood, so this study investigated how synchronous cortisol levels (reactivity and total concentration) in mother-toddler dyads moderates the association between risk factors (i.e., maternal worry, toddler inhibition) and early internalizing symptoms. Seventy mothers and their 2-year-old toddlers provided interpretable saliva samples. Behavioral observations were made to assess the toddler's temperament at age 2, and mothers reported on their toddler's internalizing symptoms when toddlers were 2- and 3-years-old. Results suggest that mother-toddler synchrony in total cortisol concentration moderates the relation between risk factors and internalizing symptoms. Specifically, toddler inhibition and maternal worry were less associated with concurrent toddler internalizing symptoms when dyads demonstrated greater cortisol synchrony in total concentration. Further, synchrony in total cortisol levels marginally moderated the association between toddler inhibition and future internalizing symptoms, such that inhibited toddlers were less likely to demonstrate internalizing symptoms at age 3 when dyads demonstrated more cortisol synchrony. This suggests that cortisol synchrony may serve as an advantageous context that reduces the risk of developing of internalizing symptoms and augments the field's understanding of the implications of shared physiological responses within mother-toddler dyads.

Emotional development through the lens of affective social competence

Emotion competence, particularly as manifested within social interaction (i.e., affective social competence) is an important contributor to children's optimal social and psychological functioning. In this article we highlight advances in understanding three processes involved in affective social competence: first, experiencing emotions, second, effectively communicating one's emotions, and third, understanding others' emotions. Experiencing emotion is increasingly understood to include becoming aware of, accepting, and managing one's emotions. Effective communication of emotion involves multimodal signaling rather than reliance on a single modality such as facial expressions. Emotion understanding includes both recognizing others' emotion signals and inferring probable causes and consequences of their emotions. Parents play an important role in modeling and teaching children all three of these skills, and interventions are available to aid in their development.

Consequences of 'tiger' parenting: a cross-cultural study of maternal psychological control and children's cortisol stress response

Parenting strategies involving psychological control are associated with increased adjustment problems in children. However, no research has examined the extent to which culture and psychological control predict children's stress physiology. We examine cultural differences in maternal psychological control and its associations with children's cortisol. Chinese (N = 59) and American (N = 45) mother-child dyads participated in the study. Mothers reported on psychological control. Children's cortisol was collected during a stressor and two indices of Area Under the Curve (AUC) were computed: AUCg which accounts for total output, and AUCi, which captures reactivity. Results indicate that Chinese mothers reported higher levels of psychological control and Chinese children had higher levels of AUCg than their American counterparts. Across both cultures, psychological control was significantly associated with increased cortisol levels as indexed by AUCg. There were no associations for AUCi. Finally, mediation analyses demonstrated that psychological control fully explained cultural differences in children's cortisol stress response as indexed by AUCg.

Current Themes in Understanding Children's Emotion Regulation as Developing from within the Parent-Child Relationship

A large existing literature has established that children's emotion regulation (ER) behaviors and capacities emerge from within the parent-child relationship. This review identified very recently published studies that exemplify contemporary themes in this area of research. Specifically, new research suggests that the influence of fathers, above and beyond that of mothers, becomes more pronounced across development. Further, culture influences how parents socialize emotion and how specific parenting behaviors relate to children's developing ER. Lastly, studies find child-elicited effects, such that children's ER predicts parents' emotion socialization and other relevant behaviors. We suggest several future directions, including understanding the nature of situations that elicit ER patterns, as well as both expanding upon and integrating the areas highlighted in the review.