Department of Psychology, University of Bath, UK.
Dev Psychopathol. 2013 May;25(2):391-406. doi: 10.1017/S0954579412001137.
The development of emotional regulation capacities in children at high versus low risk for externalizing disorder was examined in a longitudinal study investigating: (a) whether disturbances in emotion regulation precede and predict the emergence of externalizing symptoms and (b) whether sensitive maternal behavior is a significant influence on the development of child emotion regulation. Families experiencing high (n = 58) and low (n = 63) levels of psychosocial adversity were recruited to the study during pregnancy. Direct observational assessments of child emotion regulation capacities and maternal sensitivity were completed in early infancy, at 12 and 18 months, and at 5 years. Key findings were as follows. First, high-risk children showed poorer emotion regulation capacities than their low-risk counterparts at every stage of assessment. Second, from 12 months onward, emotion regulation capacities showed a degree of stability and were associated with behavioral problems, both concurrently and prospectively. Third, maternal sensitivity was related to child emotion regulation capacities throughout development, with poorer emotion regulation in the high-risk group being associated with lower maternal sensitivity. The results are consistent with a causal role for problems in the regulation of negative emotions in the etiology of externalizing psychopathology and highlight insensitive parenting as a potentially key developmental influence.
本纵向研究考察了高、低外显障碍风险儿童情绪调节能力的发展：(a)情绪调节障碍是否先于并预测外显症状的出现；(b)敏感的母亲行为是否对儿童情绪调节能力的发展有重要影响。在妊娠期间，高（n=58）和低（n=63）社会心理压力水平的家庭被招募参与研究。在婴儿期、12 个月、18 个月和 5 岁时，直接观察评估了儿童情绪调节能力和母亲敏感性。主要发现如下。首先，高风险儿童在评估的各个阶段表现出较差的情绪调节能力，低于低风险儿童。其次，从 12 个月开始，情绪调节能力具有一定的稳定性，并与当前和前瞻性的行为问题相关。第三，母亲敏感性与儿童整个发展阶段的情绪调节能力相关，高风险组的情绪调节能力较差与母亲敏感性较低有关。这些结果与消极情绪调节问题在外显精神病理学病因学中的因果作用一致，并强调了不敏感的养育方式作为潜在的关键发展影响因素。
