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
2019-07-19T00:00:00Z
Objective. To examine the effect of the parenting style of the mother on the relation between maternal depression and the infant’s stress response system. Method. The sample consisted of 55 mothers...Show moreObjective. To examine the effect of the parenting style of the mother on the relation between maternal depression and the infant’s stress response system. Method. The sample consisted of 55 mothers and their infants. Maternal depressive symptoms were assessed during pregnancy and when the infant was six months old, by means of the Beck Depression Inventory-II. Maternal parenting style was observed from mother-infant interaction during the Still Face Paradigm, when the infant was six months old. When the infant was 12 months old, a stress-paradigm was conducted during which both physiological and behavioral measures of infant stress reactivity were obtained. Results. Maternal postnatal depressive symptoms were found to be negatively related to maternal sensitivity. In addition, maternal prenatal as well as postnatal depressive symptoms were found to predict infant baseline heart rate, infant stress reactivity and infant heart rate recovery, but only in interaction with certain characteristics of the mother’s parenting style. Conclusions. The present study underlines that the way a mother interacts with her child is very important for the development of the child’s neurobiological system and that her parenting style can either buffer or enhance the effect of maternal psychopathology. Teaching mothers at risk how to interact positively and adequately with their child and how to respond to its needs, could possibly decrease the deleterious effects of maternal depression on child development.Show less
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
2018-09-25T00:00:00Z
The present study was the first to investigate the association between mothers’ ability to reflect upon the relationship with her (unborn) infant during pregnancy and maternal and infant behavior...Show moreThe present study was the first to investigate the association between mothers’ ability to reflect upon the relationship with her (unborn) infant during pregnancy and maternal and infant behavior during the Still-Face Paradigm (SFP). The sample consisted of 52 mother-infant dyads, from both high (HR, N = 22)- and low (LR, N = 29) risk backgrounds, as defined by the presence/absence of unemployment, poverty or financial problems, housing problems, limited or instable social support network, being single or having changing partners, (subclinical) psychiatric problems (such as depression, anxiety, borderline, aggression), or substance abuse (smoking, alcohol, or drugs). High-risk (HR)-mothers had lower levels of reflective functioning than LR-mothers and showed less sensitive and more intrusive behavior in interaction with their infants. Infants from high risk backgrounds showed more negative affect during play and less gaze towards mother during the still-face episode of the SFP. Reflective functioning during pregnancy predicted maternal sensitive and intrusive behavior during play, but only for LR-mothers. In general, maternal reflective functioning predicted infant display of minimal positive affect during the still-face episode, an association that was not mediated by maternal behavior during the SFP. These results indicate that mothers’ reflective abilities predict later maternal sensitive and intrusive behavior, and even some infant behavior independently from maternal behavior. Future studies should further clarify the role of maternal reflective capacities in the development of children’s emotion regulation abilities, and its potential role in prenatal coaching and interventions.Show less
Research master thesis | Developmental Psychopathology in Education and Child Studies (research) (MSc)
open access
2018-11-01T00:00:00Z
This study investigated the effect of maternal depression on mother and infant behavior during the Still Face Paradigm (SFP). It was investigated whether the SFP elicited the still-face effect. In...Show moreThis study investigated the effect of maternal depression on mother and infant behavior during the Still Face Paradigm (SFP). It was investigated whether the SFP elicited the still-face effect. In addition, the effect of maternal depression on infant’s emotion regulation and maternal behavior during the SFP was examined. Fifty-two mother-infant dyads participated in this study. Maternal depression was measured using a positive score on either the MINI-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI-Plus) or Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) during the first or second appointment. Additionally, the cognitive development of six-month old infants was measured using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID-II). During a home-visit, the SFP was administered by trained PhD- or graduate students, and mother and infant behaviors were coded afterwards. Results indicated that the still face effect was found for negative affect, arching and/or squirming behavior, gaze toward mother, and additionally for maternal sensitivity and maternal positive affect. Infants of depressed mothers averted gaze during all episodes of the SFP compared to infants of non-depressed mothers. Combination of SFP episodes and maternal depression resulted in more arching and/or squirming behavior during the play and reunion episodes for infants of depressed mothers. Furthermore, mothers who feel depressed showed more internalizing or helpless behavior during the reunion. The findings of this study increase the knowledge of the effects of maternal depression on mother behavior and infant’s regulatory capacities during stress exposure.Show less
Research master thesis | Developmental Psychopathology in Education and Child Studies (research) (MSc)
open access
2018-07-19T00:00:00Z
This study investigated whether maternal reflective functioning was related to maternal sensitivity during the Still Face Paradigm (SFP). It was investigated whether the SFP elicited the still face...Show moreThis study investigated whether maternal reflective functioning was related to maternal sensitivity during the Still Face Paradigm (SFP). It was investigated whether the SFP elicited the still face effect. Additionally, the effect of maternal sensitivity on infants’ regulatory behaviors during the SFP was examined. Infants’ stress reactivity during the SFP was explored using skin conductance levels. Maternal risk status and infants’ temperament has been taken into account. The sample consisted of 52 mother-infant dyads (mean age infants 5.96 months). Reflective functioning was measured with an interview around 27 weeks of pregnancy. During a home-visit the SFP was administered and mothers reported about the infants’ temperament using the Infant Behavior Questionnaire. Infant and maternal behaviors were coded based on the SFP. Results indicated that the still face effect was found for arching and squirming, while it was not found for self-soothing behavior. Preliminary results showed an increased skin conductance level, and thus stress reactivity, over the whole SFP. Furthermore, maternal reflective functioning was found as predictor of maternal sensitivity during the SFP. Higher levels of maternal sensitivity predicted more self-soothing behaviors during the first minute of the reunion and less arching and squirming behaviors during the second minute of the reunion. It was not related to any other regulatory behaviors measured. Infants’ temperament was not associated with infants’ regulatory behaviors. The findings of this study can be used in developing interventions to improve maternal reflective functioning and sensitivity, which, in turn, can influence infants’ regulatory behaviors and emotional development.Show less
Research master thesis | Developmental Psychopathology in Education and Child Studies (research) (MSc)
open access
2016-11-15T00:00:00Z
This study investigated the predictive value of executive functioning for proactive and reactive aggression in a sample of 387 secondary school boys (Mage 14.1 years; SD = 1.2). Additionally, the...Show moreThis study investigated the predictive value of executive functioning for proactive and reactive aggression in a sample of 387 secondary school boys (Mage 14.1 years; SD = 1.2). Additionally, the effectiveness in terms of decrease in aggressive and executive functioning problems of the ‘Minder Boos en Opstandig’ (‘Less Anger and Rebellion’) intervention was investigated in a sample of 13 children (Mage at pretest 9.8 years; 3 girls). Executive functioning was assessed using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function. The Reactive Proactive Questionnaire was used as a measure of reactive and proactive aggression and the Inventory of Callous and Unemotional Traits was used to assess the influence of callous and unemotional traits. Results showed higher problem scores on the indices of the BRIEF to be uniquely predictive for reactive aggression. Several predictors on subscale level were found for reactive aggression and proactive aggression. Introducing the CU traits to the models of executive functioning as predictors of aggression did not lead to substantial differences. Treatment effects of the MBO intervention were found for both aggression and executive functioning, with significantly lower aggression scores for reactive individuals and a decrease in executive functioning problems. A focus on improving executive functioning in children and adolescents with aggression seems to be important as executive function impairments were associated with both reactive and proactive aggression. The differential influences of executive function impairments on both subtypes provide implications for treatment strategies of aggressive children and adolescents.Show less
