Neural Activity and Emotion Socialization as Predictors of Later Emotion Regulation Difficulties in Children With and Without Hyperactivity/Impulsivity.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined emotion socialization and neural activity during frustration as predictors of emotion regulation (ER) difficulties, and the interplay of emotion socialization and neural activity, in children with and without hyperactivity/impulsivity (H/I). METHOD: At Time 1, neural activity (P1, N2, P3) during a frustration task, H/I symptoms, and emotion socialization were assessed in 68 children (aged 4-7 years old). At Time 2 (1.5-2 years later), child-report, maternal-report, and observation measures of ER difficulties were assessed. RESULTS: H/I symptoms moderated the relation between predictors and ER difficulties; there were significant relations for children with high, but not low, levels of H/I. Further, as emotion socialization quality increased, relations between event-related potentials and later ER difficulties became weaker. CONCLUSION: The processes underlying ER difficulties differ for children with H/I symptoms. High quality emotion socialization may have a protective effect for children whose neural patterns indicate risk for later ER difficulties.

Behavioral and Neural Markers of Emotion Competence as Predictors of Later Psychopathology in Children With and Without Hyperactive/Impulsive Symptoms.

Objective: We examined behavioral and neural markers of emotion competence in young children as predictors of psychopathology, and as mediators of the relation between hyperactivity/impulsivity (H/I) and psychopathology. Method: At Time 1 (T1), children (n = 49; ages 4-7 years) with and without H/I symptoms completed a frustration task. Frustration, observed emotion, and neural activity (P1, N2, and P3 event-related potentials) were measured. Symptoms of psychopathology were collected 18 months later (Time 2; T2). Results: T1 lability, negative affect, and frustration predicted T2 depression and aggression symptomatology, controlling for T1 symptoms. Children with difficulty allocating neural resources during and after frustration were at risk for depression, aggression, and anxiety symptoms, controlling for earlier symptoms. P3 amplitudes during recovery mediated the relation between H/I and later depression. Conclusion: Markers of emotion competence contribute to psychopathology symptoms, particularly in children at risk for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Emotion competence skills may be useful intervention targets.

Positive emotional attention bias in young children with symptoms of ADHD.

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often experience emotional dysregulation. Dysregulation can arise from heightened attention to emotional stimuli. Emotional attention biases are associated with a number of adverse socioemotional outcomes including reward sensitivity and externalizing behaviors. As reward sensitivity and externalizing behaviors are common in children with ADHD, the aim of the current study was to determine whether emotional attention biases are evident in young children with clinically significant ADHD symptoms. To test this, children with (n = 18) and without (n = 15) symptoms of ADHD were tested on a Dot Probe task. Provided recent evidence that emotional attention biases are attenuated by sleep, the task was performed before and after overnight sleep. Children with ADHD symptoms displayed positive, but not negative, attention biases at both time points, whereas typically developing children did not preferentially attend toward or away from positive or negative stimuli. Sleep did not alter attention biases in either group. Collectively, these results indicate that children with ADHD symptoms have stable, positive attention biases.

REM theta activity enhances inhibitory control in typically developing children but not children with ADHD symptoms.

Sleep disturbances impair cognitive functioning in typically developing populations. Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a disorder characterized by impaired inhibitory control and attention, commonly experience sleep disturbances. Whether inhibitory impairments are related to sleep deficits in children with ADHD is unknown. Children with ADHD (n = 18; M age = 6.70 years) and typically developing controls (n = 15; M age = 6.73 years) completed a Go/No-Go task to measure inhibitory control and sustained attention before and after polysomnography-monitored overnight sleep. Inhibitory control and sustained attention were improved following overnight sleep in typically developing children. Moreover, morning inhibitory control was positively correlated with rapid eye movement (REM) theta activity in this group. Although REM theta activity was greater in children with ADHD compared to typically developing children, it was functionally insignificant. Neither inhibitory control nor sustained attention was improved following overnight sleep in children with ADHD symptoms, and neither of these behaviors was associated with REM theta activity in this group. Taken together, these results indicate that elevated REM theta activity may be functionally related to ADHD symptomology, possibly reflecting delayed cortical maturation.

Early development of comorbidity between symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD).

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) are among the most common childhood disorders and frequently co-occur. The present study sought to advance our understanding of how comorbidity between ADHD and ODD develops during the preschool years by testing a cross-lagged model that integrates 2 prominent models: the developmental precursor model and the correlated risk factors model. Participants were 199 children (107 boys) who took part in a longitudinal study of preschoolers with behavior problems. Parent reports of ADHD and ODD symptoms were collected annually from ages 3 to 6 and a family history interview was administered at age 3. In support of the developmental precursors model, ADHD symptoms predicted later argumentative/defiant symptoms. In support of the correlated risk factors model, family histories of ADHD and ODD/CD symptoms were correlated risk factors that uniquely predicted ADHD and anger/irritable symptoms in children. Results suggest that the correlated risk factors model may best explain the development of comorbidity between symptoms of ADHD and anger/irritability, whereas the developmental precursors model may better explain the development of comorbidity between symptoms of ADHD and argumentative/defiance.

The Role of Parent Psychopathology in Emotion Socialization.

This study examined the relation between parent psychopathology symptoms and emotion socialization practices in a sample of mothers and fathers of preschool-aged children with behavior problems (N = 109, M age = 44.60 months, 50 % male). Each parent completed a self-report rating scale of their psychopathology symptoms and audio-recorded naturalistic interactions with their children, which were coded for reactions to child negative affect. Results supported a spillover hypothesis for mothers. Specifically, mothers who reported greater overall psychopathology symptoms, anxiety symptoms, substance use, and borderline and Cluster A personality symptoms were more likely to exhibit non-supportive reactions. Additionally, mothers who reported greater anxiety and Cluster A personality symptoms were more likely to not respond to child negative affect. Compensatory and crossover hypotheses were also supported. Partners of mothers who reported high levels of anxiety were more likely to use supportive reactions to child negative affect. In contrast, partners of mothers who reported high levels of borderline and Cluster A personality symptoms and overall psychopathology symptoms were more likely to show non-supportive reactions. With the exception of borderline personality symptoms, fathers' psychopathology was unrelated to parental responses to child negative affect. Results highlight the importance of maternal psychopathology in parental emotion socialization practices.

Emotion Socialization Practices in Latina and European American Mothers of Preschoolers with Behavior Problems.

The present study examined mothers' emotion socialization of 3-year-old children with behavior problems, to determine whether emotion socialization practices, as well as the relation between these practices and child functioning, varied across ethnicities. Participants were 134 preschoolers with behavior problems. Mothers were European American (n = 96) and Latina American (n = 38; predominately Puerto Rican). Audiotaped mother-child interactions were coded for emotion socialization behaviors. Latina and European American mothers used similar emotion socialization practices on most dimensions. Latina mothers were more likely to minimize or not respond to their children's negative affect. However, this difference did not appear to have ramifications for children. This study provided evidence for both differences and similarities across ethnicities on emotion socialization practices.

Longitudinal changes in individual symptoms across the preschool years in children with ADHD.

The present study examined trajectories of individual Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) across the preschool years in children with ADHD. It also evaluated whether preschool symptoms vary in their ability to discriminate children who later meet criteria for ADHD from typically developing children. ADHD and ODD symptoms were assessed annually in 75 ethnically diverse children (46 boys) who presented with behavior problems at age 3 and met criteria for ADHD 3 years later, and in 51 typically developing children (26 boys). Children with ADHD generally exhibited stable levels of hyperactivity/impulsivity but increases in several symptoms of inattention. Most ADHD symptoms showed at least fair utility in discriminating children with and without ADHD; however, 3 symptoms of inattention (carelessness, losing things, and forgetfulness) and 1 symptom of hyperactivity/impulsivity (blurting out answers) had relatively poor utility. These symptoms demonstrated only somewhat greater utility at age 4, but by the age of 5 were better able to classify children. Children with ADHD exhibited increases in several ODD symptoms, including symptoms related to negative affect. Although most symptoms of hyperactivity/impulsivity appear to extend well down to age 3, more developmentally appropriate symptoms of inattention may be required to develop more sensitive assessments for 3- and 4-year-old children.

The role of parent psychopathology in the development of preschool children with behavior problems.

The present study examined associations between early parental self-reported psychopathology symptoms and the later behavioral, emotional, and social functioning of preschool children with behavior problems. Mothers and fathers of preschoolers with behavior problems (N = 132; 55 girls, 77 boys) completed parent psychopathology questionnaires when children were 3 years old and completed measures of children's externalizing, internalizing, and social problems annually from age 3 to age 6. The sample included 61% European American, 16% Latino (predominantly Puerto Rican), 10% African American, and 13% multiethnic children. Every dimension of mothers' and fathers' psychopathology symptoms when children were 3 years old was associated with their own reports of children's externalizing and internalizing problems 3 years later. Several dimensions of maternal psychopathology symptoms at age 3 were associated with mother-reported social skills 3 years later. However, the relation between many dimensions of psychopathology symptoms and child outcome appears to be accounted for by co-occurring psychopathology symptoms. Only maternal attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Cluster A symptoms, and paternal ADHD and depression/anxiety symptoms emerged as unique predictors of child functioning. These findings suggest that most types of mothers' and fathers' self-reported psychopathology symptoms may play a role in the prognosis of behavioral, social, and emotional outcomes of preschoolers with behavior problems, but that co-occurring symptoms need to be considered.

A randomized controlled trial of a parent training and emotion socialization program for families of hyperactive preschool-aged children.

The present study evaluated the effectiveness of a parent training and emotion socialization program designed specifically for hyperactive preschoolers. Participants were 31 preschool-aged children whose parents were randomly assigned to a parent training (PT) or waitlist (WL) control group. PT parents took part in a 14-week parenting program that involved teaching parenting strategies for managing hyperactive and disruptive behavior as well as emotion socialization strategies for improving children's emotion regulation. Compared to WL mothers, PT mothers reported significantly less child inattention, hyperactivity, oppositional defiance, and emotional lability; were observed using significantly more positive and less negative parenting; and reported significantly less maternal verbosity and unsupportive emotion socialization practices. Results provide some support for the effectiveness of this parenting program for reducing attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and associated problems in preschool-aged children.

Early fathering as a predictor of later psychosocial functioning among preschool children with behavior problems.

The present study examined the role of early fathering in subsequent trajectories of social emotional and academic functioning of preschool children with behavior problems. Participants were 128 preschool-aged children (73 boys, 55 girls) with behavior problems whose biological fathers took part in a longitudinal study. Children were 3 years of age at the beginning of the study and were assessed annually for 3 years. Early paternal depressive symptoms predicted many aspects of children's outcome 3 years later, including externalizing and internalizing problems, social skills deficits, and lower cognitive and academic functioning, and predicted changes in children's externalizing, internalizing, and social problems across the preschool years. Paternal socioeconomic status (SES) also consistently predicted children's later functioning across these domains. Furthermore, self-reported paternal attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and laxness, as well as observed frequent commands were associated with later externalizing problems in children. Paternal depressive symptoms and laxness mediated the relation between paternal ADHD symptoms and child functioning. Results suggest that aspects of early father functioning play an important role in the psychosocial, cognitive, and academic development of preschool-aged children with behavior problems.