About this srcd poster session

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Panel information
Panel 6. Developmental Psychopathology

Abstract

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Meta-analytic work demonstrates that reactive aggression, conceptualized as angry, emotion-driven responses to perceived threats (Dodge & Coie, 1987; Vitaro et al., 1998), is linked with physiological reactivity (Hubbard et al., 2002; Murray-Close et al., 2017; Wagner & Abaied, 2015). Associations between physiological reactivity to threat and reactive aggression may be mediated by emotion dysregulation, given evidence that physiological arousal is related to emotion dysregulation (Gentzler et al., 2009), and emotion dysregulation is linked to reactive aggression (Card & Little, 2006). Additionally, accumulating research underscores the importance of considering how the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) together influence developmental outcomes (e.g., El-Sheikh et al., 2009; Perry et al., 2023), although the interactive patterns of risk for reactive aggression have varied across studies (e.g., Moore et al., 2018; Murray-Close et al., 2017; Wagner et al., 2015). This study examined how interactions between PNS and SNS responses to a social exclusion task relate to participants’ reactive relational aggression (RRA) and considered the mediating roles of emotion dysregulation and anger/frustration.

A subsample of 93 3- to 5-year-old children from a larger longitudinal study of 300 children (M age = 44.70 months, 56% male, 3% African-American/Black, 7.7% Asian/Pacific Islander, 11% multiracial, 62.3% White, 1% Hispanic/Latinx) watched a developmentally appropriate social exclusion video while measures of respiratory sinus arrhythmia reactivity (RSA-R; index of PNS) and skin conductance reactivity (SCL-R; index of SNS) were collected. This occurred in the summer between preschool and Pre-Kindergarten (T1). Reactivity was calculated by subtracting mean baseline RSA and SCL from mean exclusion RSA and SCL, respectively. At T1 and T2 (Pre-K fall/winter), teachers rated children’s emotion dysregulation (ED; lability/negativity subscale of the Emotion Regulation Checklist; Shields & Cicchetti, 1997) and anger/frustration (4 items adapted from an observational measure; Hubbard et al., 2004). Children’s RRA was assessed via classroom observer-report using the Preschool Proactive and Reactive Aggression-Revised scale at T1 and T3 (Pre-K spring; Ostrov & Crick, 2007). Moderated mediation was tested using PROCESS macro v.4.2 (Hayes, 2022) in SPSS (Figure 1). Covariates included T1 reactive physical aggression, T1 RRA, and T1 ED or anger.

There was a significant interaction between T1 SCL-R and RSA-R in predicting T2 ED (p = .02, b = 0.41, SE = .14) and a marginally significant interaction between T1 SCL-R and RSA-R in predicting T3 RRA (p = .07, b = -1.11, SE = .59). Children with reciprocal PNS activation (low SCL-R, high RSA-R) had the greatest T2 RRA (Figure 2a). However, children with reciprocal PNS activation at T1 also had the lowest T2 ED (Figure 2b). Indirect effects were nonsignificant.

Consistent with some prior work, reciprocal PNS activation, which functions to decrease physiological arousal, predicted greater RRA (Moore et al., 2018; Murray-Close et al., 2017). Reciprocal PNS activation also predicted less ED. Additional moderators may be helpful in clarifying for whom reciprocal PNS activation relates to positive versus negative outcomes. Missing data may explain null moderated mediation effects. Additional analyses will be conducted in Mplus using FIML to accommodate missing data.

Author information

Author	Role
Margaret A. Azu, University at Buffalo, SUNY	Presenting author
Jamie M. Ostrov, University at Buffalo, SUNY	Non-presenting author
Dianna Murray-Close, University of Vermont	Non-presenting author

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