Pamela M. Cole

Individual differences in emotion regulation and behavior problems in preschool children.

Emotion regulation (ER) was assessed during a negative mood induction in 79 preschoolers who varied in degree of behavior problems. Facial expressivity during the induction was used to identify 3 ER groups: inexpressive, modulated expressive, and highly expressive. Group differences in ER were significantly related to heart rate and skin conductance. Inexpressive preschoolers had the highest heart rate, lowest vagal tone, and smallest autonomic nervous system (ANS) change during the induction. Highly expressive preschoolers had the slowest heart rate, highest vagal tone, and largest ANS change. The inexpressive and highly expressive groups had more externalizing symptoms than the modulated group at preschool age and at follow-up at the end of 1st grade. Inexpressive preschoolers appeared to have more depressed and anxious symptoms at follow-up.

Prenatal Micronutrient Supplementation and Intellectual and Motor Function in Early School-aged Children in Nepal

CONTEXT Iron and zinc are important for the development of both intellectual and motor skills. Few studies have examined whether iron and zinc supplementation during gestation, a critical period of central nervous system development, affects childrens later functioning. OBJECTIVE To examine intellectual and motor functioning of children whose mothers received micronutrient supplementation during pregnancy. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Cohort follow-up of 676 children aged 7 to 9 years in June 2007-April 2009 who had been born to women in 4 of 5 groups of a community-based, double-blind, randomized controlled trial of prenatal micronutrient supplementation between 1999 and 2001 in rural Nepal. Study children were also in the placebo group of a subsequent preschool iron and zinc supplementation trial. INTERVENTIONS Women whose children were followed up had been randomly assigned to receive daily iron/folic acid, iron/folic acid/zinc, or multiple micronutrients containing these plus 11 other micronutrients, all with vitamin A, vs a control group of vitamin A alone from early pregnancy through 3 months postpartum. These children did not receive additional micronutrient supplementation other than biannual vitamin A supplementation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Childrens intellectual functioning, assessed using the Universal Nonverbal Intelligence Test (UNIT); tests of executive function, including go/no-go, the Stroop test, and backward digit span; and motor function, assessed using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC) and finger-tapping test. RESULTS The difference across outcomes was significant (Bonferroni-adjusted P < .001) for iron/folic acid vs control but not for other supplement groups. The mean UNIT T score in the iron/folic acid group was 51.7 (SD, 8.5) and in the control group was 48.2 (SD, 10.2), with an adjusted mean difference of 2.38 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.06-4.70; P = .04). Differences were not significant between the control group and either the iron/folic acid/zinc (0.73; 95% CI, -0.95 to 2.42) or multiple micronutrient (1.00; 95% CI, -0.55 to 2.56) groups. In tests of executive function, scores were better in the iron/folic acid group relative to the control group for the Stroop test (adjusted mean difference in proportion who failed, -0.14; 95% CI, -0.23 to -0.04) and backward digit span (adjusted mean difference, 0.36; 95% CI, 0.01-0.71) but not for the go/no-go test. The MABC score was lower (better) in the iron/folic acid group compared with the control group but not after adjustment for confounders (mean difference, -1.47; 95% CI, -3.06 to 0.12; P = .07). Finger-tapping test scores were higher (mean difference, 2.05; 95% CI, 0.87-3.24; P = .001) in the iron/folic acid group. CONCLUSION Aspects of intellectual functioning including working memory, inhibitory control, and fine motor functioning among offspring were positively associated with prenatal iron/folic acid supplementation in an area where iron deficiency is prevalent. TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00115271.

Cultural Differences in Children's Emotional Reactions to Difficult Situations

Although cultures vary in terms of how their members appraise situations, communicate emotions, and act on them, little is known about how culture influences childrens emotional reactions. This study examined beliefs about revealing emotion in 223 second-, fourth-, and fifth-grade children from three cultures (Brahman, Tamang, and the United States). Interviews yielded descriptions of how children would feel, whether they would want others to know their feelings, why they would or would not, and what they would do in difficult interpersonal situations. Findings revealed three distinct cultural patterns. Tamang were more likely to appraise difficult situations in terms of shame than were Brahman and U.S. children, who endorsed anger. Brahman children, however, were more likely to not communicate negative emotion than were Tamang and U.S. children. The responses of U.S. children appeared to be more problem focused and action oriented than those of Brahman and Tamang children. Age influenced the degree to which children used emotion-focused coping, and affected decisions about communicating anger in Tamang and U.S. children. Features of cultural contexts that influence childrens sense of appropriate emotional behavior are discussed.

Avoiders vs. Amenders: Implications for the investigation of guilt and shame during Toddlerhood?

Abstract Recent research and theory highlights the distinctive features of shame vs. guilt, as well as the important implications of that distinction for typical and atypical behaviour regulation. Briefly, shame is characterised by withdrawal and hiding from judgemental others, and guilt by making amends–repairing and confessing. The present study was aimed at determining whether a shame-relevant and a guilt-relevant pattern of responses to a standard violation could be distinguished in toddlers. Two-year-old children participated in a play session, during which a mishap occurred that the children appeared to have caused. Based upon whether or not children avoided the experimenter (E) after the mishap, they were dichotomised into a shame-relevant group of subjects (Avoiders) who avoid E after the mishap, are slow to make reparation, and are slow to tell E about the mishap; and a guilt-relevant group (Amenders) showing the opposite pattern. All guilt-relevant behaviours were greater for Amenders than Avoid...

SPATIAL ABILITIES, SEX DIFFERENCES AND EEG FUNCTIONING

Abstract The relationship of EEG asymmetry to spatial performance was studied for high and low spatial ability males and females. As in previous research for high spatial ability males relatively greater right hemispheric activity was associated with successful spatial performance. For low ability males, a group rarely studied, the opposite relationship was found. Both high and low ability females showed no consistent pattern of relationships.

Nepali Children's Ideas about Emotional Displays in Hypothetical Challenges.

Although culture plays an important role in specifying socially prescribed ways to communicate and act in emotional situations, few cultures have been studied. This study describes the ideas of 50 first-grade boys and girls (aged 6-9 years) from 2 different Nepali cultures (Tamang and Chhetri-Brahmin) regarding how they would feel and act in 6 emotionally challenging situations (e.g., peer conflict, family conflict). Significant cultural differences were found. Chhetri-Brahmin children were more likely than Tamang children to endorse negative emotions and to report masking negative emotion. These differences appeared to be related to socialization processes in the respective cultures. Chhetri-Brahmin mothers reported teaching their children about emotion, whereas Tamang mothers reported that children learned by themselves. The childrens responses may reflect ideas about emotion regulation that emerge from the differing socioreligious contexts in which they live.

The functional organization of preschool-age children's emotion expressions and actions in challenging situations.

Although functional links between emotion and action are implied in emotion regulation research, there is limited evidence that specific adaptive actions for coping with a challenge are more probable when certain negative emotions are expressed. The current study examined this question among 3- and 4-year-olds (N = 113; M age = 47.84 months, SD = 6.19). Emotion expressions and actions were observed during 2 challenging tasks: children waited for a gift while the mother worked, and children worked alone to retrieve a prize from a locked box with the wrong key. Angry and happy expressions, compared with sad expressions, were associated with more actions. These actions varied with the nature of the task, reflecting appreciation of situational appropriateness. In addition, when waiting with the mother, happiness was associated with the broadest range of actions, whereas when working alone on the locked box, anger was associated with the broadest range of actions. Results are discussed in terms of the adaptive function of negative emotions and in terms of functional and dimensional models of emotion. Findings have implications for the development of emotion regulation and social-emotional competence.

Self in Context: Autonomy and Relatedness in Japanese and U.S. Mother-Preschooler Dyads

Cultural differences and similarities in socialization during two contrasting laboratory tasks were examined in 30 Japanese mothers and their preschoolers, both temporarily residing in the United States, and 30 U.S. mothers and their preschoolers (age: M = 55.8 months, SD = 4.9). Mother and child actions, speech, emotion, and attention were coded from videotaped observations during a free play task and waiting task. Cross-cultural comparisons showed that U.S. mothers had more conversations that emphasized individual experiences, more often acted as playmates and used joint attention, maintained more physical distance, showed more positive emotions, and made more positive responses to child accomplishment. In contrast, Japanese mothers had more conversations that emphasized shared experiences, showed more divided attention, and maintained social role distinctions. Similar, but fewer cultural differences emerged for children. However, maternal and child characteristics also varied by task context. The results suggested an emphasis on autonomy in U.S. dyads and an emphasis on relatedness in Japanese dyads, but the interactions with task context revealed the coexistence of autonomy and relatedness.

Attitudes and labeling biases toward behavior modification: The effects of labels, content, and jargon *

Previous research has suggested that the label “behavior modification” results in negative evaluations of treatment. Three experiments were conducted to separate the impact of the label, content, and manner of presenting treatment on evaluations of behavior modification. In each experiment, undergraduate students rated treatments designed to alter classroom behavior. Experiment 1 examined the effects of labels (behavior modification, humanistic education, and a new teaching method) and content (behavioral, humanistic, and neutral conditions). Experiment 2 evaluated the effects of content (behavioral versus neutral methods) and the manner in which they were described (in scientific jargon versus ordinary language). Experiment 3 examined the impact of labels (behavior modification versus no label) and the manner in which behavioral methods were presented (jargon versus ordinary language). Content of the method consistently contributed to negative evaluations. Behavior modification was evaluated less favorably than were humanistic or neutral procedures. Labeling of treatment as “behavior modification” failed to contribute to the evaluations of the procedures. Interestingly, presenting behavioral treatments in jargon rather than in ordinary language was associated with more positive evaluations.

Longitudinal Relations Among Language Skills, Anger Expression, and Regulatory Strategies in Early Childhood

Researchers have suggested that as childrens language skill develops in early childhood, it comes to help children regulate their emotions (Cole, Armstrong, & Pemberton, 2010; Kopp, 1989), but the pathways by which this occurs have not been studied empirically. In a longitudinal study of 120 children from 18 to 48 months of age, associations among child language skill, observed anger expression, and regulatory strategies during a delay task were examined. Toddlers with better language skill, and whose language skill increased more over time, appeared less angry at 48 months and their anger declined more over time. Two regulatory strategies, support seeking and distraction, explained a portion of the variance in the association between language skill and anger expression after toddlerhood.