Children 's Skin Conductance Level Research Articles

Negative parenting and functions of relational aggression: The moderating roles of gender and physiological reactivity.

Dimensions of negative parenting, including permissive, authoritarian, and psychologically controlling parenting behaviors, are associated with children's engagement in relational aggression. However, some youth may be more strongly influenced by negative parenting than others, and effects may depend on whether aggression is proactive or reactive in function. In a community sample of 236 preadolescent children followed over 1 year, we examined whether children's skin conductance level reactivity (an index of "fight or flight" response) and gender moderated links between parents' self-reported negative parenting behaviors and increases in children's teacher-reported proactive and reactive relational aggression. Findings indicated that negative parenting predicted increases in proactive and reactive relational aggression, and, consistent with differential susceptibility theory, effects often emerged among highly reactive youth. Associations between negative parenting and proactive relational aggression emerged for boys but not girls. Results tentatively suggest that associations between parenting and aggression vary by the function of aggression, children's physiological reactivity to stress, and gender, although results should be interpreted with caution due to high levels of missing data. Implications for theory and intervention are discussed.

Interactive Effects of Parent Emotion Socialization and Child Physiological Reactivity in Predicting Adolescent Borderline Personality Disorder Features.

Theories suggest that a transaction between child biological vulnerability and parent emotion socialization underlies the development of borderline personality disorder (BPD) features. Yet, few studies have examined the interaction between these factors prospectively in at-risk samples. Consequently, this study tested whether parental reactions to children's negative emotions moderated the effect of the child's physiological reactivity to stress in predicting adolescent BPD features in a sample of youth with and without clinical elevations in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Participants were 61 children (52% female) and parents (90% mothers). When children were 9-13years old, their physiological reactivity to a social stressor was assessed based on respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and skin conductance level (SCL) reactivity; parents also reported on their supportive and non-supportive reactions to their child's negative emotions. Children were followed-up four to five years later at ages 14-18years old and their BPD features were assessed based on parent and adolescent report. Significant interactions between children's SCL reactivity and parental reactions to children's negative emotions were found in predicting adolescent BPD features. Children with low SCL reactivity to social stress and parents high in supportive/low in non-supportive reactions were lowest in adolescent BPD features. However, greater SCL reactivity predicted greater adolescent BPD features specifically when the parent was high in support or low in non-support. Childhood ADHD symptoms also significantly predicted greater adolescent BPD features. Findings suggest that children with different patterns of SCL reactivity may respond differently to parental reactions to their emotions.

Emotional Reactivity and Regulation in Preschool-Age Children Who Do and Do Not Stutter: Evidence From Autonomic Nervous System Measures.

Purpose: This experimental cross-sectional research study examined the emotional reactivity and emotion regulation in preschool-age children who do (CWS) and do not stutter (CWNS) by assessing their psychophysiological response during rest and while viewing pictures from the International Affective Picture System (Lang et al., 2008).Method: Participants were 18 CWS (16 boys and two girls; mean age 4 years, 5 months) and 18 age- and gender-matched CWNS. Participants' psychophysiological responses were measured during two baselines and two picture viewing conditions. Skin conductance level (SCL) and heart rate were measured to assess emotional reactivity. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was measured to assess emotional regulation. Participants' shyness and executive function were assessed via parent report and considered for their effects on participants' psychophysiological responses.Results: First, CWNS and CWS did not differ in their initial baseline SCL, heart rate, or RSA, but all participants had higher SCL and lower RSA in the second baseline, subsequent to the first challenge condition, compared to the first baseline. Second, during the challenge conditions, CWS did not differ from CWNS in their SCL, but showed a significantly higher heart rate than CWNS. Third, CWS exhibited a significantly lower RSA during the challenge conditions compared to CWNS. Lastly, the temperamental quality of shyness was associated with preschool-age children's SCL, such that participants who were rated higher in shyness had a higher SCL during the challenge conditions. Participants' executive function had a marginally significant effect on the RSA, such that the participants who had higher executive function composite scores exhibited lower RSA during the challenge conditions.Conclusions: Our findings suggest that CWS and CWNS did not differ in their emotional reactivity and emotional regulation abilities at rest. During challenge conditions, however, CWS tended to be more emotionally reactive, as indicated by a higher heart rate, and also employed more emotional regulation, indexed by a greater decrease in RSA, compared to CWNS. Preschool-age children's behavior is largely dominated by reactivity, but there is the emergence of regulation, which can help children adjust to various contextual demands. For CWS who are more emotionally reactive, regulatory skills may be particularly critical to their prognosis and treatment.

Taming anger and trusting others: Roles of skin conductance, anger regulation, and trust in children's aggression.

Proactive and reactive aggression subtypes are distinguishable as early as the preschool years. However, their early physiological and social-emotional correlates have not been examined simultaneously. We tested whether children's skin conductance level, anger regulation, and trust in others were differentially related to their proactive and reactive aggression. Four-year-olds and their primary caregivers were recruited from a large Canadian city (N=150). Controlling for reactive aggression, higher trust was associated with lower proactive aggression, but only for children with low anger regulation or skin conductance level. Controlling for proactive aggression, lower anger regulation was related to higher reactive aggression, and higher trust was related to higher reactive aggression for children with high skin conductance level. Findings highlight the unique and collective relations of physiology, emotion regulation, and trust to different forms of aggression in early childhood. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject Proactive and reactive aggression subtypes are distinguishable as early as the preschool years. Unique physiological and social-emotional correlates of each subtype have been studied in middle and late childhood. Trust is a critical milestone for positive social interactions in early childhood and has been linked to aggression. What the present study adds Physiological and social-emotional correlates are uniquely linked to subtypes of aggression already at age 4. Trust is differentially linked to aggression subtypes as a function of anger regulation and skin conductance level.

Contributions of Observed Parent Socialization of Coping and Skin Conductance Level Reactivity to Childhood Adjustment.

This research examined the longitudinal association between parent socialization of coping and child adjustment, as well as the moderating role of children's skin conductance level reactivity (SCLR). Participants were a community sample of children (n=64, M age=9.02, 54.5% females, 93.2% Caucasian) and their parent(s). Parent coping suggestions were observed while their child engaged in a stressful challenge task, during which the child's SCLR, a measure of children's physiological reactivity to stress, was also measured. Parent(s) completed the Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001) at baseline and a 6-month follow-up to assess internalizing and externalizing problems. Results revealed that secondary control engagement suggestions predicted fewer internalizing problems over time. In addition, disengagement suggestions predicted fewer externalizing problems over time among children with high SCLR. This study provides evidence that parent coping suggestions serve as a resource that protects youth from developing adjustment problems.

A cascade from disregard for rules of conduct at preschool age to parental power assertion at early school age to antisocial behavior in early preadolescence: Interplay with the child's skin conductance level-CORRIGENDUM.

Young children's disregard for conduct rules (failing to experience discomfort following transgressions and violating adults' prohibitions) often foreshadows future antisocial trajectories, perhaps in part because it elicits more power-assertive parental discipline, which in turn promotes children's antisocial behavior. This process may be particularly likely for children with low skin conductance level (SCL). In 102 two-parent community families, we tested a model in which children's SCL, assessed at 8 years, was posed as a moderator of the cascade from children's disregard for conduct rules at 4.5 years to parents' power assertion at 5.5 and 6.5 years to antisocial behavior at 10 and 12 years. Children's disregard for conduct rules was observed in scripted laboratory paradigms, parents' power assertion was observed in discipline contexts, and children's antisocial behavior was rated by parents. Conditional process analyses revealed that the developmental cascade from early disregard for rules to future parental power assertion to antisocial outcomes occurred only for the children with low SCL (below median), but not their high-SCL (above median) peers. By elucidating the specific interplay among children's disregard for rules, the parenting they receive, and their psychophysiology, this study represents a developmentally informed, multilevel approach to early etiology of antisocial behavior.

A cascade from disregard for rules of conduct at preschool age to parental power assertion at early school age to antisocial behavior in early preadolescence: Interplay with the child's skin conductance level.

Young children's disregard for conduct rules (failing to experience discomfort following transgressions and violating adults' prohibitions) often foreshadows future antisocial trajectories, perhaps in part because it elicits more power-assertive parental discipline, which in turn promotes children's antisocial behavior. This process may be particularly likely for children with low skin conductance level (SCL). In 102 two-parent community families, we tested a model in which children's SCL, assessed at 8 years, was posed as a moderator of the cascade from children's disregard for conduct rules at 4.5 years to parents' power assertion at 5.5 and 6.5 years to antisocial behavior at 10 and 12 years. Children's disregard for conduct rules was observed in scripted laboratory paradigms, parents' power assertion was observed in discipline contexts, and children's antisocial behavior was rated by parents. Conditional process analyses revealed that the developmental cascade from early disregard for rules to future parental power assertion to antisocial outcomes occurred only for the children with low SCL (below median), but not their high-SCL (above median) peers. By elucidating the specific interplay among children's disregard for rules, the parenting they receive, and their psychophysiology, this study represents a developmentally informed, multilevel approach to early etiology of antisocial behavior.

Latent change score modeling of psychophysiological data: An empirical instantiation using electrodermal responding

We examined latent change score (LCS) modeling as an approach to the analysis of children's skin conductance level (SCL) throughout a stressful task-a simulated interadult argument-as it relates to externalizing and internalizing symptoms. LCS is an extension of traditional multilevel modeling (MLM), which allows estimation of proportional growth terms. Children (age 6-12 years; N=150) were from two-parent families. Mothers reported on children's internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Results indicated that the LCS models outperformed the traditional MLM. The use of LCS yielded important novel information regarding profile and pattern of responding for various children and is likely to advance understanding of relations between children's physiological responses and psychopathology symptoms.

Children's skin conductance level and reactivity: Are these measures stable over time and across tasks?

The stability of children's skin conductance level during baselines (SCL-B) and SCL reactivity (SCL-R) were examined longitudinally. During two laboratory sessions (T1 and T2), 2 years apart, children participated in procedures during which they were exposed to two stressors namely exposure to an audiotaped conflict between two adults, and a problem solving task. Children ranged in age between 6 and 13 years at T1. Measures of SCL-B and SCL-R during the two stressors were obtained. Findings illustrated the temporal stability of SCL-B and SCL-R to the star-tracing task over 2 years. Results also indicated stability in SCL-R to the two stressors (argument and problem-solving) examined within the same session at either T1 or T2. These results support the proposition that SCL-B and SCL-R constitute stable individual differences at the ages examined, and build on the scant longitudinal literature on psychophysiological development in children.

The role of emotional responses and physiological reactivity in the marital conflict–child functioning link

Children's emotional responses and physiological reactivity to conflict were examined as mediators and moderators in the associations between exposure to parental marital conflict and child adjustment and cognitive problems. One hundred and eighty elementary school children participated. In response to a simulated argument, children's skin conductance level reactivity (SCLR) was examined, and their emotional responses (reported and observed anger, sadness, and fear) were assessed. A higher level of SCLR was a robust risk factor for various child outcomes, mediated boys' internalizing difficulties in the marital conflict-child functioning link, and functioned as a vulnerability factor for girls' externalizing, internalizing, and cognitive problems. Increased anger (for boys) and sadness (for girls) exacerbated adjustment difficulties related to marital conflict. Findings illustrate the aggregation of risk in relation to child and family characteristics.