Associations between middle childhood executive control aspects and adolescent substance use and externalizing and internalizing problems.

This study examines the degree to which two middle childhood executive control aspects, working memory and combined inhibitory control/flexible shifting, predict adolescent substance use and externalizing and internalizing problems. Participants were 301 children (ages 3-6 years; 48.2% male) recruited from a Midwestern city in the United States and followed into adolescence (ages 14-18 years). Working memory had a statistically significant unadjusted association with externalizing problems (r = -.30, p = .003) in a confirmatory factor analysis. Neither factor significantly predicted any of the adolescent outcomes in a structural equation model that adjusted for each EC aspect, sociodemographic covariates, and middle childhood externalizing and internalizing problems. Stronger prediction of EC aspects might not emerge until they become more fully differentiated later in development.

Exploring the Interaction Between Preschool Executive Control and Caregiver Emotion Socialization in Predicting Adolescent Weight Trajectories.

There is a critical need for research examining how neural vulnerabilities associated with obesity, including lower executive control, interact with family factors to impact weight trajectories across adolescence. Utilizing a longitudinal design, the present study investigated caregivers' emotion socialization practices as a moderator of the association between preschool executive control and adolescent body mass index (BMI) trajectories. Participants were 229 youth (Mage = 5.24, SD = 0.03; 47.2% assigned female at birth; 73.8% White, 3.9% Black, 0.4% Asian American, 21.8% multiracial; 12.7% Hispanic) enrolled in a longitudinal study. At preschool-age, participants completed performance-based executive control tasks, and their caregivers reported on their typical emotion-related socialization behaviors (i.e., supportive and nonsupportive responses to children's negative emotions). Participants returned for annual laboratory visits at ages 14 through 17, during which their height and weight were measured to calculate BMI. Although neither preschool executive control nor caregiver emotion-related socialization behaviors were directly associated with BMI growth in adolescence, supportive responses moderated the association between executive control and BMI trajectories. The expected negative association between lower preschool executive control and greater BMI growth was present at below average levels of supportive responses, suggesting that external regulation afforded by supportive responses might reduce risk for adolescent overweight and obesity among children with lower internal self-regulatory resources during preschool. Findings highlight the importance of efforts to bolster executive control early in development and targeted interventions to promote effective caregiver emotion socialization (i.e., more supportive responses) for youth with lower internal self-regulatory abilities to mitigate risk for overweight and obesity and promote health across childhood and adolescence.

Contextualizing the Neural Vulnerabilities Model of Obesity.

In recent years, investigators have focused on neural vulnerability factors that increase the risk of unhealthy weight gain, which has provided a useful organizing structure for obesity neuroscience research. However, this framework, and much of the research it has informed, has given limited attention to contextual factors that may interact with key vulnerabilities to impact eating behaviors and weight gain. To fill this gap, we propose a Contextualized Neural Vulnerabilities Model of Obesity, extending the existing theory to more intentionally incorporate contextual factors that are hypothesized to interact with neural vulnerabilities in shaping eating behaviors and weight trajectories. We begin by providing an overview of the Neural Vulnerabilities Model of Obesity, and briefly review supporting evidence. Next, we suggest opportunities to add contextual considerations to the model, including incorporating environmental and developmental context, emphasizing how contextual factors may interact with neural vulnerabilities to impact eating and weight. We then synthesize earlier models and new extensions to describe a Contextualized Neural Vulnerabilities Model of Obesity with three interacting components-food reward sensitivity, top-down regulation, and environmental factors-all within a developmental framework that highlights adolescence as a key period. Finally, we propose critical research questions arising from the framework, as well as opportunities to inform novel interventions.

A Comparison of Task-Based and Questionnaire Assessments of Executive Control Aspects in Relation to Adolescent Marijuana Initiation.

Prior research has linked deficits in executive control (EC) to marijuana use in adolescents but has relied either primarily on adolescent self-report of EC or tasked-based EC, and focused on limited aspects of EC, usually inhibitory control. We examined unique associations of three established aspects of EC (inhibitory control, working memory, and flexible shifting) assessed with both performance on laboratory tasks and self-report in relation to marijuana initiation. Participants were 260 youth (ages 14-18 years) from a small Midwestern city in the United States enrolled in the adolescent phase (beginning in 2017) of an ongoing study of EC development recruited originally between 2006 and 2012 (46% male, 72% European American). The three aspects of executive control were measured in a laboratory setting with well-established performance-based measures and with a psychometrically-sound self-report survey instrument. Youth also provided self-report of marijuana initiation in a phone survey administered during their laboratory visit. Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that flexible shifting as measured by a performance-based task was negatively and uniquely associated with marijuana initiation (AOR = 0.68, 95% CI = 0.48 - 0.91), and self-reported deficits in inhibitory control were positively associated with marijuana initiation (AOR = 1.92, 95% CI = 1.15 - 3.21). Although larger-scale longitudinal research is needed, findings of this study suggest that screening efforts to identify youth at risk of marijuana initiation might rely on more cost-effective self-report assessment of inhibitory control, but further valuable information can come from more resource-intensive but sensitive performance-based assessment of flexible shifting.

Early executive control buffers risk for adolescent psychopathology during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a global impact on youth mental health, and there is a critical need for research examining individual factors that contribute to increased psychopathology during the pandemic. The current study explored whether executive control (EC) abilities in early childhood interact with COVID-related stress to attenuate risk for adolescent psychopathology during the first 6 months of the pandemic. METHODS: Participants were 337 youth (49% female) living in a small midwestern city in the United States. Participants completed EC tasks when they were approximately 4.5 years old as part of a longitudinal study investigating cognitive development. At annual laboratory visits during adolescence and before the pandemic, participants (Mage = 14.57) reported on mental health symptoms. In July and August of 2020, participants (Mage = 16.57) reported on COVID-related stress and depression, anxiety, and trauma symptoms. RESULTS: COVID-related stress was associated with increased internalizing problems after controlling for prepandemic symptom levels. Further, the impact of COVID-related stress on adolescent internalizing problems was moderated by preschool EC, with higher levels of EC buffering the effects of COVID-related stress on adolescent internalizing problems. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the importance of promoting EC early in development, as well as screening for EC deficits and implementing targeted intervention strategies across the lifespan to help reduce the impact of stress on adolescent internalizing problems.

Does preschool executive control mediate the impact of early environmental unpredictability and deprivation on the general factor of psychopathology a decade later?

BACKGROUND: Although deprivation has been consistently shown to increase risk for psychopathology through impaired executive control, the unique effects of other dimensions of early adversity, such as unpredictability, on executive control development are poorly understood. The current study evaluated whether deprivation and/or unpredictability early in life have unique effects on the general factor of psychopathology through impaired preschool executive control. METHODS: Participants included 312 children (51% female) oversampled for greater sociodemographic risk. Preschool executive control was measured using a battery of nine developmentally appropriate executive control tasks. Dimensions of adversity were measured with observational and caregiver assessments, and psychopathology was measured with caregiver and child reports. RESULTS: In separate models, both deprivation and unpredictability had significant indirect effects on the adolescent general factor of psychopathology through impaired preschool executive control. However, when both dimensions of adversity were included simultaneously, early life deprivation, but not unpredictability, was uniquely associated with the general factor of psychopathology in adolescence through impaired preschool executive control. CONCLUSIONS: Preschool executive control appears to be a transdiagnostic mechanism through which deprivation, but not unpredictability, increases risk for the general factor of psychopathology in adolescence. Results elucidate potential transdiagnostic targets for intervention efforts aimed at reducing the development and maintenance of psychopathology across the life span.

Childhood executive control and adolescent substance use initiation: the mediating roles of physical and relational aggression and prosocial behavior.

Although predictive associations between childhood executive control (EC) and adolescent substance use have been established in prior research, the developmental pathways involved in these long-term links have not been well understood. The goal of the current study was to investigate the degree to which aggressive behaviors, including both physical and relational aggression, and prosocial behaviors in elementary school operate as developmental pathways between preschool EC and adolescent substance use, while accounting for participants' age, sex, family history of substance use, and family socioeconomic status. Participants were 329 youth (49% male; 63.6% European American) who were recruited to participate in a study between 2006 and 2012 while youth were in preschool and elementary school and followed into adolescence. The sample was recruited from a small Midwestern city in the United States. EC was assessed with performance-based tasks when children were 5 years 3 months. Youth behaviors with peers were reported by teachers when participants were in elementary school. Self-reports of the substance use initiation (e-cigarettes, cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana) were obtained in adolescence via phone surveys. Mediation analyses revealed a statistically significant indirect effect from preschool EC to adolescent substance use through youth's engagement in relational aggression in elementary school (b = > -0.22 [-0.51; -0.08]; ß = > -0.18). Our results suggest that developmental pathways to adolescent substance use may begin in preschool, setting the stage for susceptibility to engagement in relational aggression, which increases, in turn, youth's likelihood for substance use initiation in adolescence.

Preschool Executive Control, Temperament, and Adolescent Dietary Behaviors.

BACKGROUND: Child temperament styles characterized by increased emotionality or pleasure seeking may increase risk for less healthful eating patterns, while strong executive control (EC) may be protective. The interaction of these characteristics with longitudinal outcomes has not yet been examined. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to examine the association of preschool temperament and EC, as well as their interaction with adolescent eating. METHODS: Preschoolers (N = 313) were recruited into a longitudinal study, with behavioral measurement of EC at age 5.25 years, temperament assessed multiple times across preschool, and eating outcomes assessed in adolescence (mean age = 15.34 years). RESULTS: Separate latent moderated structural equation models demonstrated that weaker EC was associated with eating less healthful foods, including high sugar foods, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), and convenience foods (p < .05). In the moderation models, negative affectivity temperament was correlated with eating less healthful foods, high sugar foods, and SSBs (p < .05). Children lower in surgency/extraversion temperament were more likely to drink SSBs. There was an interaction between temperament and EC, such that children high in negative affectivity with weaker EC were particularly more likely to consume less healthful foods, high sugar foods, and SSBs (p < .05). There was no interaction of surgency with EC and food consumption. CONCLUSIONS: Child characteristics measured early in development were associated with later adolescent eating behaviors. Adequate EC could be necessary to counteract the drive toward eating associated with temperaments high in negative affectivity.

A preschool temperament style called Negative Affectivity, characterized by high levels of reactivity and negative emotion, predicted eating patterns a decade later. These children were more likely to eat less healthful foods and drink sugary drinks as adolescents. Strong executive function skills were important for redirecting toward healthful eating in children with Negative Affectivity.

Empirical support for a dual process model of the p-factor: Interaction effects between preschool executive control and preschool negative emotionality on general psychopathology.

Recent work indicates that a general factor, often referred to as the p-factor, underlies nearly all forms of psychopathology. Although the criterion validity and utility of this general factor have been well supported, questions remain about the substantive meaning of the p-factor. The purpose of the present longitudinal study was to empirically test the hypothesis that the p-factor reflects dysregulation arising from a combination of high dispositional negative emotionality and low executive control. The current study examined preschool executive control, measured using a battery of 9 developmentally appropriate executive control tasks, as a moderator of the association between preschool negative emotionality and both concurrent and subsequent levels of general psychopathology in preschool and elementary school using a community sample (N = 497). Latent moderated structural equation models demonstrated that preschool executive control significantly moderated the associations between preschool negative emotionality and general psychopathology both in preschool and approximately 5 years later in elementary school. These results suggest that the general factor of psychopathology may reflect dysregulation arising from a tendency to experience high negative affect, without sufficient executive control to effectively down-regulate that affect. This work has important implications for identifying transdiagnostic targets for prevention and intervention efforts, as well as furthering understanding of the substantive meaning and construct validity of the general factor of psychopathology. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The roles of sleep and executive function in adolescent nighttime eating.

Nighttime eating has been associated with obesity, inflammation, and poor nutritional intake, yet correlates of this behavior are understudied in pediatric populations and among adolescents in particular. The current study examines modifiable factors related to nighttime eating, including sleep parameters and regulatory abilities-as well as the interplay between these constructs-in adolescents. A total of 223 adolescents (Mage = 15.32 years, 52.9 % female, 15.7 % classified as overweight, 21.1 % had obesity) wore ActiGraph devices to measure sleep and were instructed to complete three 24-h dietary recall measures over a two-week period. Participants also completed self-report measures of executive function. Greater variability in sleep duration was consistently associated with higher average calorie, sugar, and fat consumption after 8, 9, and 10 PM. The main effect of global executive function on all nighttime eating measures was nonsignificant, and executive function did not moderate relationships between sleep parameters and nighttime eating measures. Since adolescents' eating habits may set the stage for lifelong dietary practices, efforts to ensure consistent sleep duration may reduce risk for nighttime eating in this nutritionally vulnerable population.

Executive control throughout elementary school: Factor structure and associations with early childhood executive control.

This study examined the factor structure of executive control throughout elementary school, as well as associations between executive control abilities in preschool and elementary school. Data were drawn from a longitudinal study of executive control development in a community sample of children (N = 294; 53% female, 47% male) oversampled for low family income (25.4% below poverty line; Mincome = $46,638; SD = $33,256). The sample was representative of the Midwestern city in which the study was conducted in terms of race (71.4% White, 24.5% multiracial, 3.7% Black, and .3% Asian American) and ethnicity (14% Hispanic). Children completed a battery of ten performance-based tasks assessing executive control abilities in grades 1 (Mage = 7.08 years), 2 (Mage = 8.04 years), 3 (Mage = 9.02 years), and 4 (Mage = 9.98 years). Confirmatory factor analysis supported a two-factor structure at each grade with factors representing working memory and inhibitory control/flexible shifting. Measurement invariance testing revealed partial scalar (indicator intercepts) invariance for working memory and partial metric (indicator loadings) and partial scalar invariance for inhibitory control/flexible shifting. Preschool executive control (age 4.5 years), represented by a unitary latent factor, significantly predicted working memory (ßs = .79, .72, .81, .66) and inhibitory control/flexible shifting (ßs = .69, .64, .63, .62) factors in grades 1 through 4. Follow-up analyses indicated that the findings were not attributable to general cognitive ability. Findings support greater separability of executive control components in elementary school versus preschool, and considerable continuity of executive control from preschool through elementary school. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Efficacy of a combined food-response inhibition and attention training for weight loss.

This Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences article reviews trials that evaluated an obesity treatment that combines response-inhibition training with high-calorie foods and training designed to reduce attention for high-calorie foods. Two randomized controlled trials suggest that food-response inhibition and attention training produced significant body-fat loss, along with a reduction in valuation of, and reward-region response to, high-calorie foods. However, these effects did not emerge in a third trial, potentially because this trial used more heterogeneous food images, which reduced inhibition learning and attentional learning. Collectively, results suggest that food-response inhibition and attention training can devalue high-calorie foods and result in weight loss, but only if a homogeneous set of high-calorie and low-calorie food images is used.

Longitudinal associations between executive control and body mass index across childhood.

BACKGROUND: Childhood obesity remains a prevalent public health concern. Executive control, a set of higher-order cognitive abilities for directing attention and behaviour, has been identified as a malleable factor potentially related to weight outcomes in youth. However, the directionality of this relationship remains unclear. OBJECTIVES: This study examined reciprocal associations between three executive control components-inhibitory control, working memory and flexible shifting-and BMI (body mass index) percentile during childhood. METHODS: At four points throughout elementary school, a community sample (N = 294) completed executive control tasks and had their height and weight objectively measured. Controlling for sex and socioeconomic risk status, random intercept cross-lagged panel models were tested. RESULTS: Better inhibitory control performance predicted lower subsequent BMI at each timepoint, and better working memory and flexible shifting performance in grade three both predicted lower subsequent BMI in grade 4. However, BMI did not predict subsequent executive control performance at any timepoint. CONCLUSIONS: Executive control abilities, including automatic response modulation, being able to hold and manipulate mental information, and being able to make flexible mental transitions, may be protective against weight problems, particularly in middle childhood when these abilities have had more time to mature and children begin to gain more independence.

Much Ado About Missingness: A Demonstration of Full Information Maximum Likelihood Estimation to Address Missingness in Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Data.

The current paper leveraged a large multi-study functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) dataset (N = 363) and a generated missingness paradigm to demonstrate different approaches for handling missing fMRI data under a variety of conditions. The performance of full information maximum likelihood (FIML) estimation, both with and without auxiliary variables, and listwise deletion were compared under different conditions of generated missing data volumes (i.e., 20, 35, and 50%). FIML generally performed better than listwise deletion in replicating results from the full dataset, but differences were small in the absence of auxiliary variables that correlated strongly with fMRI task data. However, when an auxiliary variable created to correlate r = 0.5 with fMRI task data was included, the performance of the FIML model improved, suggesting the potential value of FIML-based approaches for missing fMRI data when a strong auxiliary variable is available. In addition to primary methodological insights, the current study also makes an important contribution to the literature on neural vulnerability factors for obesity. Specifically, results from the full data model show that greater activation in regions implicated in reward processing (caudate and putamen) in response to tastes of milkshake significantly predicted weight gain over the following year. Implications of both methodological and substantive findings are discussed.

Associations Between Preschool Sleep Problems and Observed Dimensions of Elementary Classroom Engagement.

Sleep has clear importance for academic success. However, most research in this area has focused on older children and adolescents and has used narrow measures of academic achievement, overlooking the importance of early sleep problems in shaping children's classroom behaviors that support academic success. Using a community sample (N = 276, 50% female), the current study examined associations between parent-reported preschool sleep problems (M age = 3.84, SD = 0.83) and three dimensions of classroom engagement coded during live classroom observations in the first grade (M age = 6.72, SD = 0.34). The moderating role of family socioeconomic status (SES) was also considered. A multivariate multilevel model found that more preschool sleep problems were associated with less focused engagement (defined as involvement in academic tasks, such as writing or asking questions), but more competing responses (defined as inappropriate or distracting behaviors). Preschool sleep problems were not associated with task management (defined as preparation for academic tasks, such as locating classroom materials). Although family SES did not moderate any of these associations, higher income-to-needs ratios in preschool were associated with more focused engagement and fewer competing responses. Findings highlight the role of early sleep problems in classroom behaviors that facilitate academic success. Targeting sleep problems prior to the school transition may serve as a useful approach to optimizing learning conditions during this key developmental period.

Associations of childhood executive control with adolescent cigarette and E-cigarette use: Tests of moderation by poverty level.

BACKGROUND: Adolescent cigarette smoking has continued to decline, whereas electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use has increased dramatically among youth. Nicotine use in any form, even at low levels, during adolescence can have adverse consequences, particularly for low-income individuals. To elucidate potential early intervention targets, this study examined childhood executive control (EC), a set of cognitive processes for directing attention and behavior, in relation to adolescent cigarette and e-cigarette onset, testing for differential prediction by poverty level. METHOD: Participants were 313 children (51% female, 64% European American) recruited in a small city in the Midwestern United States beginning in 2006 and then followed into adolescence between ages 14 and 16 years. EC was measured in the laboratory with performance-based tasks when children were age 5 years, 3 months. Self-reports of cigarette onset and e-cigarette onset were obtained in adolescence (Mage = 15.65 years). Overall, 24% of the sample was at or below the poverty line. RESULTS: Cigarette onset was higher in the poverty group (17%) than in the non-poverty (8%) group, but e-cigarette onset did not differ by poverty level (36% poverty versus 38% non-poverty). Multiple group structural equation modeling revealed a statistically significant group difference such that EC ability was a significant negative predictor of e-cigarette onset for poverty but not for non-poverty youth. A similar group difference was evident as a trend for cigarette onset. CONCLUSIONS: Because EC has been shown to be modifiable, early interventions to improve EC for children living in poverty might help prevent adolescent e-cigarette onset.

Individual differences in the effects of child sleep problems on early executive functioning.

Sleep is a critical health behavior with important implications for child development. This chapter discusses the effects of sleep problems on early child executive functioning (EF), with an emphasis on individual differences that might moderate this relationship. Specifically, we (1) provide a brief background on sleep and EF in early childhood; (2) review literature on the association between sleep and EF; (3) review literature on individual differences in the effects of sleep problems on EF; (4) offer recommendations for future research on moderators of the sleep-EF association, and (5) briefly describe an ongoing study examining the moderators of the sleep-EF association within a longitudinal study from pregnancy to preschool.

Childhood Cognitive Flexibility and Externalizing and Internalizing Behavior Problems: Examination of Prospective Bidirectional Associations.

The goal of this study was to examine reciprocal associations between cognitive flexibility and externalizing and internalizing behavior problems longitudinally using data on four occasions from kindergarten through first grade and test for potential gender differences in these associations. The Dimensional Change Card Sort task was used to assess children's cognitive flexibility as a measure of executive function. Participants were 12,462 kindergarteners (49% female) from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K: 2011). Results from multivariate latent curve models with structured residuals revealed that children's cognitive flexibility at the beginning of kindergarten was not associated with their growth in either externalizing (r = -0.01, p = .174), or internalizing (r = -0.03, p = .403) problems between kindergarten and the end of first grade. However, after controlling for individual differences in growth, cognitive flexibility at each assessment directly contributed to subsequent lower levels of internalizing (but not externalizing) behavior problems at the next assessment (b = -0.004, p = 0.013; ß = -0.03), suggesting that children who are more flexible in switching from one activity to another may be less prone to developing internalizing problems. At kindergarten entry boys had lower levels of cognitive flexibility (b = -0.31, p < .001, ß = -.12) and higher levels of externalizing (b = 0.25, p < .001, ß = .23), and internalizing problems(b = 0.04, p = 001, ß = .05) compared to girls, but did not differ from girls in their rates of change in cognitive flexibility and externalizing or internalizing behavior problems.

The effect of sleep deprivation and restriction on mood, emotion, and emotion regulation: three meta-analyses in one.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: New theory and measurement approaches have facilitated nuanced investigation of how sleep loss impacts dimensions of affective functioning. To provide a quantitative summary of this literature, three conceptually related meta-analyses examined the effect of sleep restriction and sleep deprivation on mood, emotion, and emotion regulation across the lifespan (i.e. from early childhood to late adulthood). METHODS: A total of 241 effect sizes from 64 studies were selected for inclusion, and multilevel meta-analytic techniques were used when applicable. RESULTS: There was a moderate, positive effect of sleep loss on negative mood (g = 0.45), which was stronger for studies with younger samples, as well as a large, negative effect of sleep loss on positive mood (g = -0.94). For negative mood only, studies that used total sleep deprivation had larger effect sizes than studies that restricted sleep. After correcting for publication bias, a modest but significant negative effect for sleep loss on emotion (g = -0.11) was found; the valence of emotional stimuli did not change the direction of this effect, and type of sleep manipulation was also not a significant moderator. Finally, sleep restriction had a small, negative effect on adaptive emotion regulation (g = -0.32), but no significant impact on maladaptive emotion regulation (g = 0.14); all studies on adaptive emotion regulation were conducted with youth samples. CONCLUSIONS: Sleep loss compromises optimal affective functioning, though the magnitude of effects varies across components. Findings underscore the importance of sleep for healthy affective outcomes.

Race and ethnic variation in college students' allostatic regulation of racism-related stress.

Racism-related stress is thought to contribute to widespread race/ethnic health inequities via negative emotion and allostatic stress process up-regulation. Although prior studies document race-related stress and health correlations, due to methodological and technical limitations, they have been unable to directly test the stress-reactivity hypothesis in situ. Guided by theories of constructed emotion and allostasis, we developed a protocol using wearable sensors and daily surveys that allowed us to operationalize and time-couple self-reported racism-related experiences, negative emotions, and an independent biosignal of emotional arousal. We used data from 100 diverse young adults at a predominantly White college campus to assess racism-related stress reactivity using electrodermal activity (EDA), a biosignal of sympathetic nervous system activity. We find that racism-related experiences predict both increased negative emotion risk and heightened EDA, consistent with the proposed allostatic model of health and disease. Specific patterns varied across race/ethnic groups. For example, discrimination and rumination were associated with negative emotion for African American students, but only interpersonal discrimination predicted increased arousal via EDA. The pattern of results was more general for Latinx students, for whom interpersonal discrimination, vicarious racism exposure, and rumination significantly modulated arousal. As with Latinx students, African students were particularly responsive to vicarious racism while 1.5 generation Black students were generally not responsive to racism-related experiences. Overall, these findings provide support for allostasis-based theories of mental and physical health via a naturalistic assessment of the emotional and sympathetic nervous system responding to real-life social experiences.