Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Campus, United States.
Int J Psychophysiol. 2011 Sep;81(3):142-51. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2011.06.001. Epub 2011 Jun 17.
The current study investigates whether established associations between physical aggression and low autonomic nervous system arousal, as indexed by heart rate and blood pressure, also apply to the study of the development of relational aggression. Baseline heart rate and blood pressure were collected in two samples of preschoolers, and teachers reported on classroom physical and relational aggression. In Study 1, lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure were related to increased engagement in relational aggression among older preschoolers. In Study 2, lower heart rate and blood pressure predicted increased engagement in classroom physical and relational aggression concurrently and across a preschool year in some cases. Low baseline arousal-aggression associations were strongest for children with poorer self-regulation abilities, whereas high self-regulation appeared to protect children with low heart rate and blood pressure from engagement in aggressive classroom behavior. These findings suggest the utility of examining baseline physiological measures in the study of relational aggression as well as physical aggression. Implications for interventions targeted to physical and relational aggression in early childhood are discussed.
本研究旨在探讨生理攻击（以心率和血压为指标）与低自主神经系统兴奋之间的既定关联是否也适用于关系攻击发展的研究。本研究在两个学龄前儿童样本中采集了基线心率和血压数据，并由教师报告课堂身体和关系攻击行为。在研究 1 中，较低的收缩压和舒张压与年龄较大的学龄前儿童更多地参与关系攻击有关。在研究 2 中，在某些情况下，较低的心率和血压预示着儿童在课堂身体和关系攻击方面的同时和跨年度的参与度增加。对于自我调节能力较差的儿童，低基线唤醒-攻击关联最强；而对于心率和血压较高的儿童，高自我调节能力似乎可以防止他们参与攻击性行为。这些发现表明，在研究关系攻击和身体攻击时，检查基线生理指标是有用的。讨论了针对幼儿期身体和关系攻击的干预措施的意义。
