Frustration, Cognition, and Psychophysiology in Dysregulated Children: A Research Domain Criteria Approach.

OBJECTIVE: Dysregulated children experience significant impairment in regulating their affect, behavior, and cognitions and are at risk for numerous adverse sequelae. The unclear phenomenology of their symptoms presents a barrier to evidence-based diagnosis and treatment. METHOD: The cognitive, behavioral, and psychophysiological mechanisms of dysregulation were examined in a mixed clinical and community sample of 294 children ages 7-17 using the Research Domain Criteria constructs of cognitive control and frustrative nonreward. RESULTS: Results showed that caregivers of dysregulated children viewed them as having many more problems with everyday executive function than children with moderate or low levels of psychiatric symptoms; however, during standardized assessments of more complex cognitive control tasks, performance of dysregulated children differed only from children with low symptoms on tests of cognitive flexibility. In addition, when frustrated, dysregulated children performed more poorly on the Go/No-Go Task and demonstrated less autonomic flexibility as indexed by low respiratory sinus arrhythmia and pre-ejection period scores. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study suggest that autonomic inflexibility and impaired cognitive function in the context of frustration may be mechanisms underlying childhood dysregulation.

Measurement of Dysregulation in Children and Adolescents.

This article highlights the breadth of measures available for measuring emotion dysregulation, or facets thereof, in children and adolescents, and reviews in detail a subset of these measures. We describe broadband measures and measures that are specific to emotion dysregulation, including observational tools, clinical interviews, and rating scales. Furthermore, we discuss the strengths, weaknesses, and psychometric properties of each approach and specific contexts or populations in which certain methods may be particularly useful. Finally, recommendations for thorough assessment of emotion dysregulation in future studies are provided.

The role of food insecurity in developmental psychopathology.

Food security is a condition achieved when all members of a household have access to adequate food at all times for a healthy, active lifestyle. As of 2014, 14% of households in the United States were food insecure. Previous research has suggested that household food insecurity is associated with numerous adverse medical and psychosocial outcomes across the lifespan. In this narrative review, we examine current research on food insecurity, specifically as it relates to child psychopathology and risk factors thereof: namely, parental mental illness and poor diet and metabolic health. Moreover, we begin to speculate about behavioral and physiological mechanisms by which these conditions may influence one another, and discuss possible interventions through enhanced screening and treatment, parent training, and provision of high quality foods to vulnerable households. Further research is needed to the effects of child and parental mental health on metabolic outcomes in families with food insecurity.