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About this paper symposium
| Panel information |
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| Panel 3. Biological Processes: Psychophysiology |
| Paper #1 | |
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| Associations Between Neighborhood Risk and Infants’ Moment-to-Moment Parasympathetic Regulation During a Stranger Approach | |
| Author information | Role |
| Anna M. Zhou, Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus; Department of Psychology, University of Denver, United States | Presenting author |
| Marisa N. Lytle, The Pennsylvania State University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Jianing Sun, The Pennsylvania State University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Elizabeth A. Youatt, The Pennsylvania State University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Vanessa LoBue, Rutgers University- Newark, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Koraly Pérez-Edgar, The Pennsylvania State University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Kristin A. Buss, The Pennsylvania State University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Abstract | |
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Fluctuations in parasympathetic nervous system activity during an affect-eliciting task can be a meaningful measure of individual differences in emotion regulation (Hastings & Kahle, 2019). Studies have shown associations between respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), a measure of parasympathetic regulation, and toddler socioemotional outcomes. In particular, infant RSA during a stranger approach task has been linked with outcomes such as behavioral inhibition (Brooker et al., 2013), a temperamental risk marker for anxiety. However, individual differences in physiological regulation may also arise due to early experience (Del Giudice, 2011). Specifically, stress response system functioning can be modified to match the conditions of the social and physical context. Unfortunately, few studies have considered contextual risk factors such as neighborhood disadvantage. The present study examined whether neighborhood risk measured at 4-months is associated with 8-month-old infants’ moment-to-moment physiological regulation during a stranger approach task. Parents and their infants (N=209; 51% female; 57% White, non-Hispanic) participated in a longitudinal, multi-site study. We assessed structural neighborhood disadvantage using census block group of participants’ addresses to collect data on percentage of residents below the poverty level, percentage of unemployed residents aged 16 and older, percentage of residents aged 25 and older without a high school diploma, percentage of female headed households, and average neighborhood income. When infants were 4-months of age, caregivers reported on their perceptions of social disorder using the PHDCN community survey (Earls et al., 2007). When infants were 8-months of age, we collected RSA data during a stranger approach task (average length of 92.72 seconds). Moment-to-moment RSA was calculated using a hamming window and short-time Fourier transformation, with a 30-second sliding window. A linear growth model fit our data best, with significant decreases in RSA across the task (Figure 1). While structural neighborhood disadvantage was not associated with RSA, the interaction between perceived social disorder and time was significant (b=0.01, SE=0.00, p=.001). There were significant decreases in RSA across time at low and average levels of perceived social disorder, but no significant change in RSA at high levels of perceived social disorder (Figure 2). Additionally, we computed root mean square of successive differences scores (RMSSD) between consecutive moment-to-moment RSA values to examine fluctuations in RSA across the task. Higher RMSSD reflects more fluctuations in RSA. Linear regressions showed that structural disadvantage was not associated with fluctuations (b=0.01, SE =0.01, p=.079), while social disorder was significantly associated with less fluctuations in RSA (b=-0.03, SE=0.01, p=.001). While structural neighborhood disadvantage may not be associated with infant parasympathetic regulation, caregivers’ perceptions of neighborhood social disorder are associated with infants’ parasympathetic regulation during a stranger approach task. Decreases in RSA as well as dynamic fluctuations in RSA may reflect adaptive and flexible responses to contextual stressors (Grossman & Taylor, 2007). Our findings suggest that infants in environments that caregivers perceive as containing high social disorder exhibit less physiological flexibility in the context of affective demands, which may have important implications for later socioemotional development and psychopathology risk. |
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| Paper #2 | |
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| Predictive Relations Between Early Adversity, Non-Linear Trajectories of HPA Functioning, and Later Callous-Unemotional Traits | |
| Author information | Role |
| Nicole Huth, Psychological and Brian Sciences, Boston University, United States | Presenting author |
| Sarah C. Vogel, Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Roger Mills-Koonce, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Nicholas J. Wagner, Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Abstract | |
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Callous-unemotional (CU) traits (e.g., blunted affect, low guilt) represent identifiable dispositional and behavioral attributes that are robust predictors of longitudinal risk for psychopathy and externalizing disorders (Waller & Wagner, 2019). Pathways to CU traits are likely characterized by substantial heterogeneity (Frick, 2012). Identifying common developmental precursors to CU trait development is crucial for designing specialized treatment programs. In particular, researchers have emphasized the importance of examining early stress physiology in relation to the development of CU traits, as these neurophysiological processes, such as lower resting cortisol levels, have been linked with CU traits later in life (Hawes et al., 2009; Stadler et al., 2008). However, longitudinal research suggests that CU traits may be preceded by elevated stress physiology, including cortisol, in infancy (Mills-Koonce et al., 2015). Importantly, stress physiology and risk for psychopathology are inextricably linked to children’s early environmental experiences, such as adversity. Indeed, some children high on CU traits experience early adversity (Kahn et al., 2013; Kimonis, 2023), which may influence physiological regulatory systems (McLaughlin et al., 2015). Taken together, a comprehensive understanding of the various pathways to CU traits may require exploring whether and how trajectories of stress physiology and early adversity interact across development. In this project we used Latent Basis Growth Mixture Modeling (Ram & Grimm, 2009) and integrated prediction models in a large longitudinal study (N = 1,292) to examine the relationship between cortisol, early adversity, and the emergence of CU traits. Results suggest a two-class solution for baseline cortisol characterized by a low-stable baseline cortisol class (class 1, ~95%) and a second class that transitions from high to low baseline cortisol (class 2, ~5%) from 6 to 48 months. Latent class 2 had significantly higher levels of CU traits at age 12, α = 19.04, SE = 2.72, p < 0.00, than class 1, α = 18.22, SE = 0.95, p < 0.00, Wald’s X2(1) = 13.308, p = 0.003, adjusting for disruptive behavioral disorders, anxiety, and other covariates. A measure of deprivation and threat at 6 months predicted CU traits at age 12, β = .874, p = .03. Finally, deprivation and threat at 6 months predicted later CU traits only in class 2, β = 0.26, p = .04. Taken together, these results indicate that elevated CU traits in pre-adolescence are preceded by comparatively high levels of baseline cortisol at 15 months followed by a transition to lower levels of baseline cortisol at 2-3 years of age, as well as elevated exposure to adversity in infancy. This project contributes to a growing literature examining the neurophysiological and environmental mechanisms underlying the emergence of CU traits, a critical first step in developing personalized and effective intervention. Future work will involve exploring potential interactions between early adversity, HPA activity, and other physiological predictors relevant to CU trait development, such as respiratory sinus arrhythmia. |
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| Paper #3 | |
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| At the Heart of Resilience: Baseline RSA, Early Life Adversity, and Middle Childhood Aggressive Behaviors | |
| Author information | Role |
| Jennifer J. Phillips, Centre for Child Development, Mental Health, and Policy; Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Canada | Presenting author |
| Ruth Speidel, Centre for Child Development, Mental Health, and Policy; Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Canada | Non-presenting author |
| Marc Jambon, Department of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada | Non-presenting author |
| Tyler Colasante, Humboldt Science Center for Child Development, Leipzig University, Germany | Non-presenting author |
| Tina Malti, Centre for Child Development, Mental Health, and Policy, Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga; Humboldt Science Center for Child Development, Leipzig University, Canada; Germany | Non-presenting author |
| Abstract | |
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Aggressive behaviors in middle childhood can result from early life emotion dysregulation (Rohlf et al., 2017) and can lead to negative outcomes, like peer rejection (Beeson et al., 2020). Early life adversity, like growing up in a low socioeconomic status (SES) household, has been linked to childhood emotional dysregulation and aggression (Miller et al., 2021). Individual biological factors, such as a high baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (bRSA) could protect against maladaptive outcomes in the face of adversity (Susman et al., 2021). In our current study, we examined the interactive roles of SES and bRSA in longitudinally predicting aggressive behaviors in middle childhood. Children (N = 150) were assessed at age 5-years (T1) and again at age 7-years (T2). Data were pulled from a larger longitudinal dataset, where SES was assessed prior to T1 when children were age 4-years. A composite SES score was created for each child using caregiver report on household size, income, and years of caregiver education. This score was compared to the cost of living for their household size in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada in 2016 at the time of T1 data collection, and then mean-centered so that higher values indicated higher SES (method from Lindberg et al., 2022). Child bRSA was collected at T1. At T2, a research assistant interviewed children on their aggressive behaviors using an 18-item measure (Little et al., 2003). Predictor variables were mean-centered prior to analysis. A two-step hierarchical linear regression was conducted to assess the main and interactive effects of SES and bRSA on aggressive behaviors. Step 1 included SES and bRSA as independent predictors and Step 2 included an interaction term to test for moderation of SES on the association between bRSA and aggressive behaviors. Step 1 of the regression model was significant [F(148, 2) =11.815, R2 = .138, p < .001] and demonstrated significant main effects of both SES (β = .245, p = .002) and bRSA (β = -.284, p < .001) on aggressive behaviors. Step 2 was not significant [F(147, 1) = 5.354, ΔR2 = .016, p = .093], indicating that there was no evidence of SES moderating the association between bRSA and aggressive behaviors. The results of this study suggest individual biology and early life adversity contribute uniquely to middle childhood aggressive behaviors. Specifically, the data showed that higher familial SES predicts higher aggressive behaviors and higher bRSA predicts lower aggressive behaviors. The latter finding was expected, but the former was surprising given that previous research often links lower adversity, such as a higher familial SES, with more adaptive outcomes (i.e., lower aggression; Miller et al., 2021). Others, however, have suggested that children from higher SES backgrounds may have difficulty regulating their emotions due to a lack of being required to conserve resources and delay gratification (Troy et al., 2017). The results will be discussed in light of this research and will attempt to understand how other factors may influence these complex associations among SES, bRSA, and aggressive behaviors. |
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| Paper #4 | |
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| Impacts of Early Adversity on the Neural Basis of Emotion Perception and Regulation | |
| Author information | Role |
| Jennifer A. Silvers, Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles, United States | Presenting author |
| Natalie Saragosa-Harris, Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Saché Coury, Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles, United States | Non-presenting author |
| Abstract | |
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Decades of research have demonstrated that exposure to early adversity such as abuse, neglect, or institutional care can have lasting effects on emotional health and wellbeing. However, identifying the mechanistic links that tie adverse exposures to poor psychosocial outcomes has proven more elusive. This is unfortunate, given that elucidating the means by which early adversity negatively impacts emotional health may provide novel insights about how best to potentially prevent adverse outcomes. The present talk will describe data from two fMRI studies aimed at detailing how early adversity impacts emotion perception and regulation, respectively. The primary goal of Study 1 was to build upon and extend prior behavioral studies in children demonstrating that early adversity may bias individuals to interpret ambiguous information in valenced ways (e.g., to interpret an ambiguous situation as threatening). Testing this possibility in important because negative appraisals of ambiguity have been associated with heightened anxiety and other disorders characterized by poor emotion regulation. To this end, a community sample of healthy emerging adults (n=41, ages 18-19 years) who differed in terms of their self-reported histories of exposure to early adversity as children (assessed via the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire) underwent fMRI scanning while they viewed negative (angry), positive (happy), and ambiguous (surprised) facial expressions. Representational similarity analyses revealed that across a host of brain regions involved in appraising affective stimuli (amygdala, ventral striatum, anterior insula, ventromedial prefrontal cortex), individuals exposed to adversity were more likely to represent ambiguous and threatening stimuli in similar ways (but not ambiguous and positive stimuli). This suggests that early adversity exposure may tune the brain to “err on the safe side” and interpret ambiguous information negatively – perhaps as an adaptation aimed at facilitating self-preservation. While Study 1 explored how early adversity changes the way in which emotional content may be perceived and represented, Study 2 instead looked at how adversity exposure might alter the way in which individuals regulate negative emotion. In a prior behavioral study, we reported that youth exposed to institutional orphanage care, a severe form of adversity, are more likely to report using maladaptive forms of emotion regulation (e.g., suppression) in their everyday lives than youth with no history of institutional care. However, very few studies have examined how the neural bases of emotion regulation differs as a function of adversity exposure. To fill this knowledge gap, we conducted a fMRI study in a sample of 95 youth, half of whom were exposed to institutional orphanage care, while they either regulated (half of trials) or did not regulate (the other half of trials) their emotional responses to negative photographic stimuli. fMRI analyses reveal that lateral prefrontal recruitment differs as a function of adversity history and ongoing analyses will examine amygdala-prefrontal connectivity, which has previously been demonstrated to strengthen significantly during adolescent development. Together, these talks point to the significance of neurodevelopment related to emotion perception and regulation in the context of early adversity and underscore the need for more research on whether these might represent malleable targets of intervention. |
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Examining Adversity and Biomarkers as Predictors of Emotion Regulation Development from Infancy through Emerging Adulthood
Submission Type
Paper Symposium
Description
| Session Title | Examining Adversity and Biomarkers as Predictors of Emotion Regulation Development from Infancy through Emerging Adulthood |