Individual Differences In Regulation Research Articles

Prenatal maternal psychological distress and fetal developmental trajectories: associations with infant temperament.

Associations between prenatal maternal psychological distress and offspring developmental outcomes are well documented, yet relatively little research has examined links between maternal distress and development in utero, prior to postpartum influences. Fetal heart rate (FHR) parameters are established indices of central and autonomic nervous system maturation and function which demonstrate continuity with postnatal outcomes. This prospective, longitudinal study of 149 maternal-fetal pairs evaluated associations between prenatal maternal distress, FHR parameters, and dimensions of infant temperament. Women reported their symptoms of psychological distress at five prenatal visits, and FHR monitoring was conducted at the last three visits. Maternal report of infant temperament was collected at 3 and 6 months of age. Exposure to elevated prenatal maternal psychological distress was associated with higher late-gestation resting mean FHR (FHRM) among female but not male fetuses. Higher late-gestation FHRM was associated with lower infant orienting/regulation and with higher infant negative affectivity, and these associations did not differ by infant sex. A path analysis identified higher FHRM as one pathway by which elevated prenatal maternal distress was associated with lower orienting/regulation among female infants. Findings suggest that, for females, elevated maternal distress alters fetal development, with implications for postnatal function. Results also support the notion that, for both sexes, individual differences in regulation emerge prenatally and are maintained into infancy. Collectively, these findings underscore the utility of direct assessment of development in utero when examining if prenatal experiences are carried forward into postnatal life.

ADRB2 gene polymorphism modulates the retention of fear extinction memory.

Individual differences in regulation of fear and extinction memory play significant roles in the aetiology development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Previous animal based studies showed that the activity of β-adrenergic receptors (β-ARs) are involved in memory modulation. However in humans it is not clear that whether genetic variability in β-ARs contributes to individual differences of fear and extinction memory. In the current study, we investigated the role of a common single-nucleotide polymorphism of β2-adrenergic receptor (ADRB2) gene in fear memory acquisition, fear memory extinction, extinction recall and fear generalization in human participants. Ninety-one male participants were exposed to a Pavlovian fear conditioning and their fear responses were assessed by the skin conductance response. Participants were genotyped for a polymorphism (rs2400207) located within the promoter region of the human ADRB2. Differences between genotypes were observed in the extinction memory recall test but not in fear acquisition, extinction learning and fear generalization. Particularly, A-allele carriers of rs2400707 displayed successful retention of extinction memory and prevented the return of fear during recall test. The results revealed the involvement of human noradrenergic system in the retention of extinction memory and genetic variability in this system may underlie individual differences in PTSD. Furthermore, rs2400207 polymorphism of ADRB2 gene may play a key role in the treatment efficacy of PTSD and can be a basis for future studies investigating a personalized medicine for fear memory related disorders.

443 Aggressive and and Self-Harm Behaviors in Adolescents: the Role of Emotion Regulation

IntroductionThe ability to regulate emotions has been identified as a protective factor associated with a reduced risk behaviors (Schneider and Caffray, 2000). Studies show that adolescents experience more frequent and...

Typical performance measures of emotion regulation and emotion perception and frontal EEG asymmetry in an emotional contagion paradigm

In order to replicate and extend previous observations of validity of the self-reported habitual regulation of one’s affect and the perception of other people’s emotions, prefrontal electroencephalographic (EEG) asymmetry was recorded during and after social-emotional stimulation. After stimulation with other people’s vocal expression of anxiety, individuals with lower scores on emotion regulation did not show recovery of asymmetry changes but even increased changes in the direction that had been adopted during the stimulation. Whether this was to the right or to the left depended on their scores on emotion perception. Participants high on perception showed the expected changes to the right during the anxiety stimulation (indicating increased withdrawal motivation) and to the left during the cheerfulness stimulation (indicating increased approach motivation), whereas individuals low on perception showed the opposite pattern. During the anxiety stimulation, participants low on perception only showed the unexpected change to the left if they were also low on regulation. Individual differences in regulation did not play a role when participants were confronted with other people’s laughter. The findings demonstrate the validity of the self-report measures by using EEG measures, and moreover support the usefulness of differentiated and process-oriented approaches in the field of trait emotional intelligence.

Effects of Functional Polymorphisms Related to Catecholaminergic Systems on Changes in Blood Catecholamine and Cardiovascular Measures After Alcohol Ingestion in the Japanese Population

The polymorphism of human aldehyde dehyrogenase-2 (ALDH2) Glu(487)Lys is well known to be a crucial factor underlying the genetic background for alcohol sensitivity in Asian populations. Subjects with the inactive Lys(487) allele show a marked increase in blood acetaldehyde level after alcohol intake, which results in facial flushing and various cardiovascular-related symptoms. However, other polymorphisms related to catecholaminergic systems that tightly regulate the activity of the sympathetic nervous system may also influence the physiological changes after acute alcohol intake. We investigated whether, together with the ALDH2 Gly(487)Lys and ADH1B Arg(47)His genotype, putative functionally important polymorphisms, including 9 loci in 7 human genes, were associated with changes in blood catecholamine levels and cardiovascular measures after alcohol ingestion. Forty-nine young Japanese males were subjected to blood catecholamine analysis after alcohol ingestion. Among them, 28 were also subjected to heart rate variability and blood pressure analysis. The contribution of polymorphisms to the alcohol-induced response was analyzed by multiple regression analysis. Among the polymorphisms examined in this study, haplotypes of the phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PNMT) promoter [(-182bpG/A)_(-387bpG/A)] and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) exon 4 [(Ex4 + 119bpC/G)_(Ex4 + 138bpG/A), Leu(136)Leu_Val(158)Met] are suggested to have functionally important effects on alcohol-induced cardiovascular symptoms by affecting blood catecholamine levels. The neuropeptide Y (NPY) promoter C-1450T genotype is also suggested to be involved in the individual differences in regulation of catecholamine secretion. This study suggested that these common polymorphisms of genes related to catecholaminergic systems, as well as those of the alcohol metabolizing system, are significant for understanding the basis of individual differences in alcohol sensitivity.

The relations of regulation and negative emotionality to Indonesian children's social functioning.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relations of individual differences in regulation and negative emotionality to 127 third-grade Indonesian children's social skills/low externalizing problem behavior, sociometric status, and shyness. Parents and multiple teachers provided information on children's regulation, negative emotionality, and social functioning; peer sociometric information on liking and social behavior was obtained; and children reported on their self-regulation. In general, children's low socially appropriate behavior/ high problem behavior and rejected peer status were related to low dispositional regulation and high negative emotionality (intense emotions and anger), and regulation and negative emotionality (especially teacher rated) sometimes accounted for unique (additive) variance in children's social functioning. Adult-reported shyness was related to low peer nominations of disliked/fights (although shy children were not especially liked), low adult-reported regulation, and (to a lesser degree) low teacher-rated negative emotionality. Findings are compared with work on regulation, negative emotionality, social competence, and shyness in other countries.

Regulation, emotionality, and preschoolers' socially competent peer interactions.

In this study, the relations of regulatory control to the qualities of children's everyday peer interactions were examined. Effortful control (EC) and observations of peer interactions were obtained from 135 preschoolers (77 boys and 58 girls, mean ages = 50.88 and 50.52, respectively). The results generally confirmed the prediction that children who are high in EC were relatively unlikely to experience high levels of negative emotional arousal in response to peer interactions, but this relation held only for moderate to high intense interactions. Socially competent responding was less likely to be observed when the interaction was intense or when negative emotions were elicited. Moreover, when the interactions were of high intensity, highly regulated children were likely to evidence socially competent responses. The relation of EC and intensity to social competence was partially mediated by negative emotional arousal. The results support the conclusion that individual differences in regulation interact with situational factors in influencing young children's socially competent responding.