Positive Emotional Expressions Research Articles

Emotional valence and the types of information provided by children in forensic interviews

BackgroundEmotions can powerfully affect memory retrieval although this effect has seldom been studied in everyday contexts. ObjectiveThis study aimed to explore the association between children's verbal emotional expressions and the type of information reported during forensic interviews. Participants and settingThe sample included 198 interviews with 4- to 14-year-old (M = 9.36, SD = 2.37) alleged victims of repeated physical abuse perpetrated by family members conducted using the Revised NICHD Protocol which emphasizes a supportive interviewing style. MethodsInterview videos were transcribed and each conversational turn was coded to reflect the amount and type of children's verbal emotional expressions, forensic information provided, interviewers' demeanor, and type of question asked. ResultsThe verbal expression of negative emotions was positively associated with the production of more central details (β = 0.29, SE = 0.05, p < 0.001) and peripheral details (β = 0.66, SE = 0.07, p < 0.001), while the verbal expression of positive emotions was correlated with peripheral details (β = 0.29, SE = 0.15, p = 0.047). The verbal expression of negative emotions was associated with the production of more specific details (β = 0.73, SE = 0.06, p < 0.001]) and less generic information (β = −0.39, SE = 0.18, p = 0.029) whereas positive emotions were associated only with increased specific information (β = 0.28, SE = 0.12, p = 0.025). ConclusionsThese findings highlight how emotional expression, especially of negative emotions, enhances the quantity and quality of children's reports in forensic contexts.

Geographical Distribution and Driving Meteorological Forces of Facial Expressions of Visitors in Urban Wetland Parks in Eastern China

Interacting with aquatic environments in blue spaces is believed to benefit mental well-being. Relevant understanding is limited to regional pilot studies using self-reported emotions on questionnaires. We assessed emotional response by rating facial expressions on a large geographical scale with the purpose of detecting a relationship to microclimates. A total of 920 facial photographs were collected from Sina Weibo from 20 wetland parks in 14 eastern cities of China during 2020. Daily average air temperature, rainfall, average relative humidity (RH), and wind velocity were also recorded from the days when photographs were posted online. We found that happy expressions were higher in wetlands of eastern cities than in northern and inland cities. Sad expressions varied statistically among wetland locations. Weather records differed between temperate and subtropical climatic zones and were highly varied among cities. Happy and sad scores were driven by the change in average air temperature. Combined multivariable regression and binomial correlation suggested that increasing air temperature would not evoke positive emotions unless higher than 11.5°C, and an air temperature range of 17.5–22.3°C will be optimum to induce the presentation of a smiling face. Air humidity generally imposed a negative effect on expressions of positive emotions. Further verification of our findings is suggested on a larger geographical scale using more powerful big-data to obtain more robust conclusions.

Trajectories of infant positive emotion during the still face paradigm are associated with toddler temperament

Guided by temperament and positive psychology theory, this study examined whether changes in infant expressed positive emotion were related to toddler temperamental positivity. At 4 months of age, infant expressions of positive, neutral and negative emotion were coded across the Still Face Procedure (SFP). Temperamental positivity was assessed at 24 months of age when toddlers participated in several tasks designed to elicit a range of emotions. Using a conditional multiphase nominal growth model that accommodated the structure of the SFP (free play, still face, and reunion episodes) and the categorical nature of the second-by-second repeated measurements of emotion, trajectories of infant emotion were derived and related to 24-month temperamental positivity. Results revealed that although temperamentally positive toddlers showed similar emotion trajectories overall to their peers differences emerged for the start of the still face episode. Temperamentally positive toddlers were more likely to show higher levels of positive (and lower levels of negative) emotion expression when mothers switched from free play to the still face episode. The data indicate that toddler temperamental positivity may be foreshadowed in early infancy by positive emotion expression immediately following an interactive rupture.

How do social factors relate to blunted facial affect in schizophrenia? A digital phenotyping study using ambulatory video recordings

Clinical interviews and laboratory-based emotional induction paradigms provide consistent evidence that facial affect is blunted in many individuals with schizophrenia. Although it is clear that blunted facial affect is not a by-product of diminished emotional experience in schizophrenia, factors contributing to blunted affect remain unclear. The current study used a combination of ambulatory video recordings that were evaluated via computerized facial affect analysis and concurrently completed ecological momentary assessment surveys to assess whether blunted affect reflects insufficient reactivity to affective or contextual factors. Specifically, whether individuals with schizophrenia require more intense affective experiences to produce expression, or whether they are less reactive to social factors (i.e. being in the presence of others, social motivation). Participants included outpatients with schizophrenia (n = 33) and healthy controls (n = 31) who completed six days of study procedures. Multilevel linear models were evaluated using both Null-Hypothesis Statistical Testing and Bayesian analyses. Individuals with schizophrenia displayed comparable expression of positive and negative emotion to controls during daily life, and no evidence was found for a different intensity of experience required for expression in either group. However, social factors differentially influenced facial expression in schizophrenia compared to controls, such that individuals with schizophrenia did not modulate their expressions based on social motivation to the same extent as controls. These findings suggest that social motivation may play an important role in determining when blunting occurs.

Childhood adversity and approach/avoidance-related behaviour in boys

Childhood adversity has been suggested to affect the vulnerability for developmental psychopathology, including both externalizing and internalizing symptoms. This study examines spontaneous attention biases for negative and positive emotional facial expressions as potential intermediate phenotypes. In detail, typically developing boys (6–13 years) underwent an eye-tracking paradigm displaying happy, angry, sad and fearful faces. An approach bias towards positive emotional facial expressions with increasing childhood adversity levels was found. In addition, an attention bias away from negative facial expressions was observed with increasing childhood adversity levels, especially for sad facial expressions. The results might be interpreted in terms of emotional regulation strategies in boys at risk for reactive aggression and depressive behaviour.

Peculiarities of expression of sanogenic emotions in white rats in the realization of food behavior

Using a modern method of assessing emotional expression in the region of the rostral part of the head and auricles in laboratory rodents revealed significant differences in quantitative and especially in qualitative indicators of the expression of emotions in white rats depending on the degree of attractiveness and novelty of the food consumed, which indicates the possibility and adequacy of the application of this method as an alternative or additional in the study of expression of not only negative (as shown earlier), but also positive emotions in the context of the implementation of eating behavior and other types of activities. Experimental results show that food intake with hedonic properties in combination with limiting its amount and preliminary food deprivation significantly stimulates positive emotional expression, which is weakened with a decrease of the effect of novelty of the complex of sensory reflexogenic stimuli.

Social class and prosocial behavior in early adolescence: The moderating roles of family and school factors

ABSTRACT The association between prosocial behavior and adolescents’ social class—defined as one’s parents’ position in society assessed in terms of education, income, and occupation status—is far from conclusive and the moderators of the link have not been fully researched. Using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (NICHD SECCYD) (N = 1,058), this study investigated the association between social class and 5th graders’ prosocial behavior, as well as the moderating roles of maternal sensitivity, positive family emotional expressiveness, teacher-student relationship, and peer support. The current research found that social class was positively associated with adolescents’ prosocial behavior, and the positive association between social class and prosocial behavior was less pronounced for adolescents with higher levels of maternal sensitivity, positive family emotional expressiveness, teacher-student relationship, and peer support than those with lower levels of maternal sensitivity, positive family emotional expressiveness, teacher-student relationship, and peer support. The present findings yield evidence on the negative influence of low social class on adolescents’ prosocial behavior, but this effect would be buffered by supportive and healthy relationships in family and school contexts.

Does positive affect predict mortality and morbidity? A 19-year longitudinal study of middle-aged and older Japanese adults

Positive affect contributes to health and longevity. While most research has been conducted in individualistic societies where the experience and expression of positive emotions are highly valued, evidence remains scarce in collectivistic societies that de-emphasize the importance thereof. Employing 19-year longitudinal data of Japanese adults (age range 40–79; N = 2,033), we examined whether positive affect predicted mortality and morbidity. Health outcomes were all-cause and cause-specific mortality as well as the onset of morbidity (heart disease, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, and cancer). After adjusting for relevant covariates, the Cox proportional hazards models revealed that positive affect predicted none of the outcomes. Our results did not replicate the health−benefits of positive affect. We discussed potential reasons for the null results.

Post accidental injury: Mediating roles of emotional expressivity, rumination, and posttraumatic growth.

This study explored the relationship between rumination (deliberate or intrusive), emotional expressivity (positive or negative), and posttraumatic growth among patients within 1 month after an accidental injury. Using a cross-sectional design, 313 patients were investigated in two comprehensive hospitals. The results revealed that intrusive rumination had a significant positive effect on posttraumatic growth, partly through four different pathways: (i) the mediating role of deliberate rumination; (ii) the chain mediating role of deliberate rumination and negative emotional expressivity; (iii) the chain mediating role of negative emotional expressivity and positive emotional expressivity; and (iv) the chain mediating role of negative emotional expressivity, positive emotional expressivity, and deliberate rumination. Interventions to encourage emotional expressivity and facilitate the transition from intrusive rumination to deliberate rumination may promote posttraumatic growth soon after an accidental injury.

How being observed influences preschoolers’ emotions following (less) deserving help

AbstractChildren sometimes show positive emotions in response to seeing others being helped, yet it remains poorly understood whether there is a strategic value to such emotional expressions. Here, we investigated the influence seeing a peer receive deserving help or not on children's emotions, which were assessed while the peer was present or not. To measure children's emotional expression, we used a motion depth sensor imaging camera, which recorded children's body posture. Five‐year‐old children (N = 122) worked on a task which yielded greater rewards for them compared to their peer, rendering the peer to be in greater need of help. An adult—who was unaware of the different levels of neediness—then either helped the child who had a lesser need for help (less deserving outcome) or helped the needier peer (deserving outcome). Overall, both children showed a lowered body posture, a more negative emotional expression, after not being helped and an elevated body posture, a more positive emotional expression, after being helped. Seeing their peer (less deservedly) not receive help, and to a lesser extent being observed, blunted children's otherwise positive emotions in response to receiving help. These results are discussed in the broader theoretical context of how children's emotions sometimes reflect their commitment to cooperative relationships with peers.

Sex differences in automatic emotion regulation in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder.

Autism may be underdiagnosed in females because their social difficulties are often less noticeable. This study explored sex differences in automatic facial emotion processing in 45 adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (22 female, 23 male), age 10-16 years, performing active target detection task and Go/NoGo tasks where faces with positive and negative emotional expressions served as irrelevant distractors. The combined sample demonstrated more accurate performance on the target detection (response initiation) than the Go/NoGo task (response inhibition), replicating findings previously reported in typical participants. Females exhibited greater difficulty than males with response initiation in the target detection task, especially in the context of angry faces, while males found withholding a response in the Go/NoGo block with happy faces more challenging. Electrophysiological data revealed no sex differences or emotion discrimination effects during the early perceptual processing of faces indexed by the occipitotemporal N170. Autistic males demonstrated increased frontal N2 and parietal P3 amplitudes compared to females, suggesting greater neural resource allocation to automatic emotion regulation processes. The associations between standardized behavioral measures (autism severity, theory of mind skills) and brain responses also varied by sex: more adaptive social functioning was related to the speed of perceptual processing (N170 latency) in females and the extent of deliberate attention allocation (P3 amplitudes) in males. Together, these findings suggest that males and females with autism may rely on different strategies for social functioning and highlight the importance of considering sex differences in autism. LAY SUMMARY: Females with autism may exhibit less noticeable social difficulties than males. This study demonstrates that autistic females are more successful than males at inhibiting behavioral responses in emotional contexts, while males are more likely to initiate a response. At the neural level, social functioning in females is related to the speed of automatic perceptual processing of facial cues, and in males, to the extent of active attention allocation to the stimuli. These findings highlight the importance of considering sex differences in autism diagnosis and treatment selection.

Family Systems and Emotional Functioning in Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing Preschool Children.

This study examined how deaf or hard-of-hearing (DHH) and typically hearing (TH) children may differ in their family system and emotional functioning and examined the relations between family system and children’s emotional functioning. Parents of 106 DHH and 99 TH children (2–6 years) reported on family cohesion and adaptability, parental emotion communication, and their child’s emotional functioning. The DHH children were rated lower on family cohesion and positive emotion expression than the TH children. Higher levels of family cohesion related to more positive emotion expression in TH children but not in DHH children. For all children, higher levels of family cohesion related to fewer negative emotion expressions and more parental emotion communication related to more negative emotion expression. The results emphasize the importance of sharing leisure activities together and open communication within the family, which can support DHH and TH children’s experience of emotions and their expressions of them.

Maternal Response to Positive Affect Moderates the Impact of Familial Risk for Depression on Ventral Striatal Response to Winning Reward in 6- to 8-Year-Old Children

BackgroundA growing body of research has demonstrated that adolescent offspring of depressed parents show diminished responding in the ventral striatum to reward. More recent work has suggested that altered reward responding may emerge earlier than adolescence in offspring at familial risk for depression, although factors associated with neural alterations in childhood remain poorly understood. MethodsWe tested whether 6- to 8-year-old children, 49% at heightened risk for depression via maternal history, showed altered neural responding to winning reward. We evaluated whether maternal socialization of positive emotion moderated the association between familial risk and child neural response to reward. Participants were 49 children 6 to 8 years of age (24 with a maternal history of recurrent or chronic depression, 25 with no maternal history of any psychiatric disorder). Children underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while completing the Doors Guessing Task, a widely used reward guessing task. Mothers reported their use of encouraging and dampening responses to child positive affect. ResultsFindings demonstrated that children at high familial risk for depression showed lower ventral striatum responding to winning reward relative to low-risk children, but only when mothers used less encouragement or greater dampening responses to their child’s positive emotion expressions. ConclusionsNeural reward alterations in the ventral striatum may emerge earlier than previously thought, as early as 6 to 8 years of age, specifically in the context of maternal discouragement of child positive emotions. Clinical interventions that focus on coaching mothers on how to encourage child positive emotions may be beneficial for supporting child reward-related brain development.

Effects of Familial Relationships on School Adjustment of Adolescents and Young Adults With Congenital Heart Disease.

As more than 85% of patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) have grown to adulthood through improvement in treatment and surgery, the difficulties they experience are expanding into areas related to daily life. Accordingly, adjustment to school in adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with CHD is of increasing interest and is influenced by familial factors. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study to examine the effects of parental positive emotional expressiveness and sibling relationships on school adjustment of AYAs with CHD. In this study, a self-reported questionnaire survey was used to collect the data. The participants were 104 AYAs with CHD aged 13 to 21 years who were attending school and had siblings. Maternal positive emotional expressiveness ( r = 0.584, P < .01), paternal positive emotional expressiveness ( r = 0.584, P < .01), and sibling warmth/closeness ( r = 0.478, P < .01) were significantly correlated with school adjustment. However, the results of multiple regression analysis showed that only maternal positive emotional expressiveness (ß = 0.459, P < .05) and sibling warmth/closeness (ß = 0.236, P < .05) were significantly associated with school adjustment. Adolescents and young adults with CHD who reported higher maternal positive emotional expressiveness and sibling warmth/closeness exhibited better school adjustment. Findings suggest that intervention programs to increase parental positive expressiveness and enhance warmth/closeness of sibling relationships may contribute to improving school adjustment.

Assessing Emotional Expressions During a Cycling-Based Initiative for Older Care Home Residents Using Video-Based Recordings.

Objective: Through Cycling Without Age, trained volunteers use specially designed trishaws to provide rides for older adults living in care homes and other supported living environments. Qualitative and quantitative research suggests benefits in terms of improvements in mood and wellbeing. Those studies have predominantly been interviews with participants reflecting on previous rides, or as pre-/post-assessments. The current study assessed emotional experiences using video recordings acquired during participants’ rides. Methods: Twelve older adults (50% female; 67-92 years old (M = 81.8, SD = 7.4)) living in care homes or supported living environments were recruited. During a Cycling Without Age ride, participants were filmed using an action camera mounted on the trishaw. Recordings were rated using the Facial Expression Coding System by two researchers to assess the frequency, duration and intensity of positive and negative emotions. Results: On average, 23.7 positive emotional expressions were observed per ride, significantly higher than negative emotions (0.4). As well as more frequent, positive emotions were observed over a longer duration in total (139.5 seconds vs. 1.3) and rated as more intense (1.9 out of 5 vs. 0.3). Conclusion: The study supported the value of directly assessing emotional responses during this cycling-based initiative, including minimising the input required from participants. The predominantly positive emotional expressions observed were consistent with both qualitative and quantitative assessments of Cycling Without Age, and suggests a potential pathway by which those benefits manifest. Future studies might adopt a triangulated approach, using in-activity monitoring, quantitative assessments and participant reflections.

Personality-Culture Interaction as a Predictor of Emotion Suppression on Facebook

Although personality and culture have been employed as independent predictors of emotion regulation, less is known about the interplay between them. Thus, the present study tests their interaction by focusing on the match between personality (public self-consciousness) and culture (valuing independence vs. interdependence) in modulating an emotion regulation strategy, namely, emotion suppression, on Facebook. Furthermore, relationship concern related to the expression of positive and negative emotions on Facebook is explored as a potential underlying mechanism. An online survey on Facebook users in the United States (n = 320) and South Korea (n = 336) was conducted through two professional survey companies. The results revealed that the positive association between public self-consciousness and emotion suppression was stronger among respondents who value interdependence (vs. independence), which led to a significant interaction between the two predictors. Furthermore, public self-consciousness was associated with emotion suppression through relationship concern for the expression of positive, but not negative, emotions. Furthermore, this mediated relationship was stronger among respondents who value interdependence (vs. independence). Lastly, the study discussed the importance of exploring the interplay between personality and culture and the implication of dialectic emotions.

The Mediation Effect of Young Children’s Self-Control in the Relationship between the Positive Emotional Expression of Early Childhood Teachers and Young Children’s Self-Esteem

연구목적: 본 연구는 유아교사의 긍정정서표현성과 유아의 자아존중감과의 관계에서 유아의 자기조절력이 어떠한 매개효과를 가지는지에 대해 살펴보고자 수행되었다. 연구방법: 부산광역시에 소재한 유아교육기관을 구 단위로 나눈 후 10곳으로 추려 만 5세반을 운영하고 있는 기관 중 본 연구에 동의하는 만 5세반 교사 200명을 임의표집 한 후 그 반에 재원중인 유아를 1대 1로 매칭하여 총 200명의 연구대상으로 선정, 설문조사를 실시하였다. 수집된 자료는 SPSS 21.0과 PROCESS macro v3.4를 이용해 매개효과를 살펴보았다. 연구결과: 첫째, 유아교사의 긍정정서표현성, 유아의 자기조절력, 자아존중감 세변인은 모두 정적상관이 있었다. 둘째, 유아교사의 긍정정서표현성과 유아의 자아존중감과의 관계에서 유아의 자기조절력이 부분 매개 효과를 가지는 것으로 나타났다. 결론: 유아교사의 긍정정서표현성이 유아의 자아존중감에 직, 간접적으로 영향을 미치므로 유아의 자아존중감을 높이기 위해서는 유아교사의 긍정정서표현성의 함양을 위한 노력이 필요하다.

Teachers' emotional expressiveness and classroom management practices: Associations with young students' social‐emotional and behavioral competence

AbstractUsing data from 832 kindergarten and first grade primary teachers and 662 of their students, the current study investigated teachers' use of behavioral and instructional classroom practices and whether these strategies moderated associations between teachers' expressions of positive and negative classroom emotion and students' social‐emotional and behavioral competence. Results indicated that teachers' positive expressiveness positively predicted young students' social competence and was inversely related to negative child outcomes, irrespective of teachers' behavioral and instructional classroom management practices. In contrast, teachers' negative emotional expressiveness positively predicted students' anger/aggression, but only when teachers reported using controlling and teacher‐centered approaches to classroom behavioral management. At the same time, teachers' negative expressiveness predicted low levels of student anger/aggression when teachers reported more child‐centered instructional management approaches. Findings contribute to the understanding of the intersection of teachers' expressiveness and their classroom management practices for explaining children's social‐emotional and behavioral competence in early childhood classrooms.

Trends in food sensory science

Trends in food sensory science

Cortisol in early childhood moderates the association between family routines and observed affective balance in children from low-income backgrounds.

The study of emotion regulation often addresses control of negative emotion. Researchers have proposed that affective balance is an indicator of emotion regulation that incorporates the role of positive emotion in the context of negative emotional experiences. Environmental and individual factors, such as family processes and biological stress regulation, are known to shape emotion regulation. The present study investigated whether child diurnal cortisol, an indicator of biological stress regulation, moderated the association between family routines and observed affective balance. Children (N=222; M age=4.70 years, SD=0.60) from low-income households provided saliva samples to measure diurnal cortisol and completed a behavioral task designed to elicit negative emotions. Affective balance was defined as the difference score between the proportion of positive and negative emotional expressions displayed during the task. A higher affective balance score indicated greater positive compared with negative emotional displays. Simple slope analyses indicated that for children with a low morning cortisol intercept, more frequent family routines were associated with more affective balance. This pattern was not observed in children with average or high morning cortisol. Positive family routines may play an important role in shaping affective balance among children with disrupted cortisol levels from low-income backgrounds.