Research master thesis | Developmental Psychopathology in Education and Child Studies (research) (MSc)
closed access
Individual differences in behavior are best explained through a multisystem approach by integrating neurobiological, neurocognitive, and social environmental factors. This longitudinal study...Show moreIndividual differences in behavior are best explained through a multisystem approach by integrating neurobiological, neurocognitive, and social environmental factors. This longitudinal study examined whether early physical aggression could be predicted by stress regulation, inhibitory control, risk background, and sex. In addition, this study is among the first to investigate whether the four stress response patterns of the Adaptive Calibration Model (Del Giudice et al., 2011) could be generalized to 12-month-old children by studying: autonomic nervous system (ANS), sympathetic nervous system (SNS), parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), and hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis. ANS was indexed by heart rate, SNS by salivary alpha-amylase and pre-ejection period, PNS by respiratory sinus arrhythmia, and HPA axis by salivary cortisol. The sample consisted of 214 mother-child dyads (116 boys) with an equal number of high- and low-risk backgrounds. Physical aggression was assessed through maternal reports at 12, 20, and 30 months of age. At 12 months, children performed an inhibitory control task and the fear task (robot paradigm) was used to measure baseline, response, and recovery levels of the stress systems. Latent profile analysis revealed three profiles: (1) ANS Responders, (2) Moderate Arousal, and (3) Hormonal Responders. No significant differences were found between the profiles with regard to inhibitory control, average age of mother and child, number of boys and girls, and number of high- and low-risk children. Results showed that higher physical aggression scores were associated at 12 months with ANS Responders and lower inhibitory control, at 20 months with Hormonal Responders, boys and high-risk, and at 30 months with boys and high-risk. In addition, an interaction effect was found at 20 months: higher inhibitory control in girls was associated with lower physical aggression scores, but not in the Hormonal Responders. The discussion highlights the importance of using a multisystem approach to explain individual differences in early physical aggression.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
