Ramos Michelle L, Zhou Anna M, Buss Kristin A
Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA.
Dev Psychobiol. 2025 May;67(3):e70048. doi: 10.1002/dev.70048.
Externalizing behaviors (e.g., aggression, oppositionality, conduct problems) typically peak then decrease across early childhood (ages 2-5). However, some children continue to exhibit elevated levels of externalizing behavior throughout childhood, which can have implications for later socioemotional difficulties. Emotion regulation (ER) is an early predictor of continuity in externalizing behaviors. Toddlers with poor ER are more likely to exhibit externalizing behaviors during childhood. Additionally, individual differences in resting autonomic nervous system activity (respiratory sinus arrhythmia; RSA) reflect the capacity for physiological regulation and therefore may moderate associations between early dysregulation and later externalizing behaviors. Therefore, the current study (n = 174) examined the interaction between 18-month toddler behavioral dysregulation and resting RSA in the prediction of externalizing behaviors across early childhood (ages 4-6). Toddlers high in behavioral dysregulation and with lower RSA showed increased levels of externalizing behaviors across early childhood. Toddlers with higher RSA showed decreasing levels of externalizing behaviors across early childhood. These results highlight the importance of using multimethod approaches that capture different dimensions of regulation when examining the role of regulation in externalizing behaviors as the capacity for early physiological regulation may interfere with behavioral regulation to influence the express of later problematic behavior.
外化行为（如攻击性行为、对立行为、品行问题）通常在幼儿期（2至5岁）达到峰值后下降。然而，一些儿童在整个童年期持续表现出较高水平的外化行为，这可能对后期的社会情感困难产生影响。情绪调节（ER）是外化行为连续性的早期预测指标。情绪调节能力差的幼儿在童年期更有可能表现出外化行为。此外，静息自主神经系统活动（呼吸性窦性心律不齐；RSA）的个体差异反映了生理调节能力，因此可能调节早期调节障碍与后期外化行为之间的关联。因此，本研究（n = 174）考察了18个月大幼儿的行为调节障碍与静息RSA之间的相互作用，以预测幼儿期（4至6岁）的外化行为。行为调节障碍程度高且RSA较低的幼儿在幼儿期表现出更高水平的外化行为。RSA较高的幼儿在幼儿期外化行为水平呈下降趋势。这些结果凸显了在研究调节在外化行为中的作用时，采用多方法途径来捕捉调节的不同维度的重要性，因为早期生理调节能力可能会干扰行为调节，从而影响后期问题行为的表现。
