The development of frustration regulation over early childhood: Links between attention diversion and parasympathetic activity.

Abstract

Diverting attention away from negative emotional stimuli has been associated with calmer physiological states in the moment, but little is known about the potential long-term effects of this emotion regulation strategy on physiology. Similarly, how physiological states, in turn, may contribute to the development of regulatory behaviors has seldom been examined. The current study investigated the concurrent and prospective associations between children's parasympathetic activity and attention diversion during a frustrating experience over 2.5 years. At 3.5 (n = 83) and 6 years (n = 58), children participated in age-appropriate frustration inductions. Multiphase latent growth curve models were used to model dynamic changes in respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) reactivity to and recovery from frustration. At 6 years, attention diversion was associated with concurrent increases in RSA (increased parasympathetic influence). However, longitudinal path models showed the opposite association. Attention diversion at 3.5 years predicted heightened autonomic arousal at 6 years in the form of greater decreases in RSA throughout the reactivity phase. Additionally, RSA recovery at 3.5 years predicted less use of attention diversion at 6 years. These findings suggest a developmental process by which earlier emotion regulation behaviors shape later physiological responses, with different short- versus long-term correlates of attention diversion. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).