Research master thesis | Developmental Psychopathology in Education and Child Studies (research) (MSc)
open access
2019-07-19T00:00:00Z
Problems with emotion regulation in childhood are related to negative child outcomes later in life, such as behavior problems. Because parents play an essential role by assisting their infant to...Show moreProblems with emotion regulation in childhood are related to negative child outcomes later in life, such as behavior problems. Because parents play an essential role by assisting their infant to develop the ability to regulate their emotions, the purpose of this study was to gain deeper understanding of the relation between maternal behavior and infants’ behavioral and physiological emotional reactivity and emotion regulation. 66 mother-infant dyads participated in two stress paradigms: the still-face paradigm was conducted at 6 months of age and the child was exposed to the robot paradigm at 12 months of age. During the stress paradigms infants’ behavioral reactivity, self-soothing behavior, heart rate and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) were examined. Maternal sensitivity and maternal intrusiveness were observed during a free play task at the 6-month appointment. Overall, the infants showed behavioral and physiological arousal and regulation during stress. Although no effect of maternal intrusiveness was found, the 6-month-old infants of mothers judged as more sensitive showed more emotional reactivity, indicated by a greater increase in negative affect and heart rate than infants of less sensitive mothers. These infants also showed more physiological regulation, indicated by a greater decrease in RSA during stress than infants of less sensitive mothers. The stability of emotional reactivity and emotion regulation between 6 and 12 months was low: only the difference in RSA from stress to recovery was modestly stable. It is concluded that maternal behavior has an effect on the development of infants’ emotional reactivity and emotion regulation Future studies should further investigate the environmental characteristics influencing the development of emotion regulation in children using longitudinal designs.Show less
Research master thesis | Developmental Psychopathology in Education and Child Studies (research) (MSc)
open access
2018-01-01T00:00:00Z
The aim of the present study was to examine infant emotion regulation, expressed in autonomic nervous system-reactivity, during the Still-Face Paradigm (SFP). In addition, the effect of maternal...Show moreThe aim of the present study was to examine infant emotion regulation, expressed in autonomic nervous system-reactivity, during the Still-Face Paradigm (SFP). In addition, the effect of maternal risk status on children’s emotional and behavioural development was examined. The sample consisted of 51 mothers and their 6-month-old infants. Measures of heart rate, pre-ejection period (PEP), skin conductance level (SCL), and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) were collected during baseline and during the SFP episodes. Infant behavioural responses were coded as well. The SFP was able to elicit sympathetic and parasympathetic activity. In response to the still-face an increase in sympathetic activity was found, but only by SCL and heart rate, not by PEP. In addition, the still-face elicited an inhibition of the parasympathetic nervous system, the RSA decreased and the heart rate increased. In the transition from still-face to reunion, an effect of risk status was found on the pattern of heart rate and SCL. Infants from the high-risk group showed more sympathetic activity, indicating more stress and less emotion regulation. Overall, the SFP is able to elicit physiological features of emotion regulation and is able to indicate early differences in the autonomic nervous system activity in response to stress. Future studies should replicate these findings and should further investigate the role of maternal risk status.Show less
