The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA.
Hunter College, The City University of New York, New York, NY, USA.
Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 2021 Aug;21(4):805-821. doi: 10.3758/s13415-021-00888-8. Epub 2021 Mar 31.
Emotion regulation (ER) is a key facet of positive adjustment throughout the lifespan. Recent theoretical and empirical innovations suggest that current methods for assessing ER are limited, because they measure discrete strategy use instead of ER flexibility and are insensitive to ecologically valid social contexts that influence ER. This is particularly important for studying the impact of parenting on ER development during childhood. The current study (N = 93; 47 females; M = 6.98, SD = 1.12) examined child ER flexibility during a directed reappraisal task (DRT) with two parenting contexts: passive parent presence or active scaffolding. Two biological signatures of ER flexibility were measured: respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), an index of physiological flexibility; and the late positive potential (LPP), an index of neurocognitive flexibility. Emotion regulation behavior was observed during a frustrating wait, and parents reported on child ER and adjustment. Greater ER flexibility indexed via the LPP and RSA both predicted observed ER during the frustrating wait, but only RSA predicted parent-reported trait ER and fewer adjustment problems. Emotion regulation flexibility indexed by the LPP was bolstered by parent presence and scaffolding of child ER during the DRT, but RSA measures were not sensitive to parenting context. Taken together, the results provide converging evidence for the conceptualization of ER in terms of physiological and neurocognitive flexibility in childhood. Furthermore, among school-aged children, while physiological flexibility broadly predicted parent-reported child adjustment, neurocognitive flexibility may be context-sensitive and predictive of concurrent observed ER.
情绪调节（ER）是整个生命周期中积极适应的一个关键方面。最近的理论和实证创新表明，当前评估 ER 的方法存在局限性，因为它们测量离散策略的使用，而不是 ER 的灵活性，并且对影响 ER 的生态有效社会背景不敏感。这对于研究育儿对儿童期 ER 发展的影响尤为重要。本研究（N=93；47 名女性；M=6.98，SD=1.12）在两种育儿环境下，即被动父母在场或积极支架，考察了儿童在定向重评任务（DRT）中的 ER 灵活性：呼吸窦性心律失常（RSA），一种生理灵活性的指标；以及晚期正电位（LPP），一种神经认知灵活性的指标。在令人沮丧的等待中观察到情绪调节行为，父母报告了孩子的 ER 和适应情况。通过 LPP 和 RSA 衡量的更大的 ER 灵活性都预测了在令人沮丧的等待期间观察到的 ER，但只有 RSA 预测了父母报告的特质 ER 和较少的适应问题。通过 LPP 衡量的情绪调节灵活性在 DRT 中受到父母存在和孩子 ER 支架的支持，但 RSA 测量对育儿环境不敏感。总的来说，这些结果为儿童期 ER 的生理和神经认知灵活性的概念化提供了一致的证据。此外，在学龄儿童中，虽然生理灵活性广泛预测了父母报告的儿童适应情况，但神经认知灵活性可能对情境敏感，并预测了同期观察到的 ER。
