Stability and change in maternal parenting profiles across infancy and toddlerhood.

During infancy and toddlerhood, parents show large individual differences in the extent to which they are able to tailor their parenting behaviors to their children's swiftly changing developmental needs. The first aim of our study was, therefore, to distinguish parenting profiles at three time points during infancy and toddlerhood (i.e., 5, 10, and 36 months) based on mothers' supportive presence, structure and limit-setting, and quality of instruction, as well as to examine the stability of profile structure and profile membership across time. The second aim was to examine how profile membership and profile transitions at each time point are associated with relevant parental, contextual, and child-specific factors. Data from 244 Dutch mother-child dyads were collected at three waves: when children were approximately 5 months (n = 203), 10 months (n = 181), and 3 years of age (n = 178). We found three types of parenting profiles at each wave: a competent profile, a sufficient profile, and a maladaptive profile. Only the competent parenting profile was found to have a stable structure across all three waves. In general, profile membership was least stable for the maladaptive profile. Results also showed that maternal agreeableness and a higher educational level increased the likelihood to exhibit a more competent parenting profile. Our findings advance our understanding of how parenting profiles might change due to children's swiftly changing needs and inform efforts to tailor parenting interventions to individual parents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The direct and indirect effects of parenting behaviors and functional brain network efficiency on self-regulation from infancy to early childhood: A longitudinal mediation model.

There is growing interest in the hypothesis that early parenting behaviors impact children's self-regulation by affecting children's developing brain networks. Yet, most prior research on the development of self-regulation has focused on either environmental or neurobiological factors. The aim of the current study was to expand the literature by examining direct and indirect effects of variations in parenting behaviors (support and stimulation) and efficiency of functional brain networks (small-worldness) on individual differences in child self-regulation, using a three-wave longitudinal model in a sample of 109 infants and their mothers. Results revealed that parental support predicted child self-regulation at 5 months, 10 months, and 3 years of age. This effect was not mediated by infants' small-worldness within the alpha and theta rhythm. Parental stimulation predicted higher levels of infants' alpha small-worldness, whereas parental support predicted lower levels of infants' theta small-worldness. Thus, parents may need to stimulate their infants to explore the environment autonomously in order to come to more efficient functional brain networks. The findings of the current study highlight potential influences of both extrinsic environmental factors and intrinsic neurobiological factors in relation to child self-regulation, emphasizing the role of parental support as a form of external regulation during infancy, when the brain is not yet sufficiently developed to perform self-regulation itself.

Self-regulation and frontal EEG alpha activity during infancy and early childhood: A multilevel meta-analysis.

Integrating behavioral and neurophysiological measures has created new and advanced ways to understand the development of self-regulation. Electroencephalography (EEG) has been used to examine how self-regulatory processes are related to frontal alpha power during infancy and early childhood. However, findings across previous studies have been inconsistent. To address this issue, the current meta-analysis synthesized all prior literature examining associations between individual differences in self-regulation and frontal EEG alpha power (baseline and/or task). In total, 23 studies consisting of 1275 participants between 1 month and 6 years of age were included, which yielded 149 effect sizes. Findings of the three-level meta-analytic model demonstrated a non-significant overall association between self-regulation and frontal alpha power. Yet, significant moderating effects were found for self-regulation construct (emotion regulation, effortful control, executive function), self-regulation measurement (behavioral task, computer assessment, lab observation, questionnaire), and children's mean age. Self-regulation was only significantly correlated with frontal alpha power when studies focused on the executive functioning construct. Moreover, the use of behavioral tasks or questionnaires and a higher mean age of the children resulted in small but significant effect size estimates. Higher frontal alpha power values were related to higher order top-down mechanisms of self-regulation, indicating that these mechanisms might become stronger when the frontal cortex is sufficiently developed. The findings of the current meta-analysis highlight the importance of longitudinal analyses and multimethod approaches in future work to reach a more comprehensive understanding of the role of frontal EEG alpha activity in the etiology of individual differences in early self-regulation. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: The first meta-analysis of individual differences in self-regulation and frontal EEG alpha power during infancy and early childhood demonstrated a non-significant overall association. Moderation analyses revealed that variations in frontal alpha power were significantly associated with executive function, but not with effortful control and emotion regulation. Frontal alpha power was related to variations in self-regulation when measured by behavioral tasks and questionnaires, but not via computer assessments and lab observations. The association between individual differences in self-regulation and frontal alpha power becomes significantly stronger with age.

CBM-I Training and Its Effect on Interpretations of Intent, Facial Expressions, Attention and Aggressive Behavior.

There is abundant evidence suggesting that attention and interpretation biases are powerful precursors of aggression. However, little is known how these biases may interact with one another in the development and maintenance of aggression. Using cognitive bias modification of interpretation (CBM-I), the present study examined whether training more pro-social or hostile intent attributions would affect attention bias, interpretation bias of facial expressions, aggression and mood. University students (17-48 years) were assigned to either a positive training (n = 40), negative training (n = 40), or control training (n = 40). Results showed that the positive training successfully changed measures of intent attributions in a pro-social direction compared to the control training. The negative training changed measures of intent attributions in a hostile direction but not more so than the control training. We found no generalization of the training effects to relevant other outcomes. Possible explanations underlying these findings are discussed.

The role of parental self-regulation and household chaos in parent-toddler interactions: A time-series study.

Various studies have reported that parental self-regulation is inversely related to negative parenting practices, especially in relatively calm households. These studies have focused on general tendencies of parents over longer periods of time. In the current time-series study, we extended previous work by focusing on the moment-to-moment processes in parent-child interactions that may explain associations between parental self-regulation, household chaos, and negative parenting practices. In a sample of 62 parent-toddler dyads (83.87% mothers), we tested whether observed contingent negative responses to child noncompliance (i.e., reactive negative parenting) could be predicted by the interaction between parental self-regulation and household chaos. Additionally, we examined whether two indicators of parental self-regulation, self-reported effortful control and task-based executive functioning, had similar associations with reactive negative parenting. Reactive negative parenting was assessed during clean up and was calculated as parents' propensity to show negative parenting practices immediately after their child showed noncompliance. We found that lower parental self-regulation predicted more reactive negative parenting practices in moderately chaotic households. Associations were similar regardless of whether self-regulation was operationalized as effortful control or executive functioning. The findings demonstrate that less regulated parents may benefit from a home situation that is tidy, calm, and characterized by routine in order to remain neutral in situations in which their toddler is noncompliant. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Inhibitory Control Across the Preschool Years: Developmental Changes and Associations with Parenting.

The normative developmental course of inhibitory control between 2.5 and 6.5 years, and associations with maternal and paternal sensitivity and intrusiveness were tested. The sample consisted of 383 children (52.5% boys). During four annual waves, mothers and fathers reported on their children's inhibitory control using the Children's Behavior Questionnaire. During the first wave, mothers' and fathers' sensitivity and intrusiveness were observed and coded with the Emotional Availability Scales. Inhibitory control exhibited partial scalar invariance over time, and increased in a decelerating rate. For both mothers and fathers, higher levels of sensitivity were associated with a higher initial level of children's inhibitory control, whereas higher levels of intrusiveness predicted a slower increase in children's inhibitory control.

The YOUth study: Rationale, design, and study procedures.

Behavioral development in children shows large inter-individual variation, and is driven by the interplay between biological, psychological, and environmental processes. However, there is still little insight into how these processes interact. The YOUth cohort specifically focuses on two core characteristics of behavioral development: social competence and self-regulation. Social competence refers to the ability to engage in meaningful interactions with others, whereas self-regulation is the ability to control one's emotions, behavior, and impulses, to balance between reactivity and control of the reaction, and to adjust to the prevailing environment. YOUth is an accelerated population-based longitudinal cohort study with repeated measurements, centering on two groups: YOUth Baby & Child and YOUth Child & Adolescent. YOUth Baby & Child aims to include 3,000 pregnant women, their partners and children, wheras YOUth Child & Adolescent aims to include 2,000 children aged between 8 and 10 years old and their parents. All participants will be followed for at least 6 years, and potentially longer. In this paper we describe in detail the design of this study, the population included, the determinants, intermediate neurocognitive measures and outcomes included in the study. Furthermore, we describe in detail the procedures of inclusion, informed consent, and study participation.

Individual differences in visual attention and self-regulation: A multimethod longitudinal study from infancy to toddlerhood.

Given the importance of self-regulation for a broad range of developmental outcomes, identifying reliable precursors of self-regulation early in development is important for early prevention of developmental problems. The aim of this study was to examine whether three visual attention measures (fixation duration, variation in fixation duration, and disengagement) in infancy (9.10-11.43 months of age) predicted effortful control and compliance in toddlerhood (26.71-31.80 months). The sample consisted of 74 children (50% boys). In infancy, two eye-tracking tasks were conducted: a visual search task to assess fixation duration and variation in fixation duration (n = 58) and the gap-overlap task to assess disengagement (n = 49). In toddlerhood, children's effortful control (n = 65) and compliance (n = 65) were assessed by parent reports and observed during a delay of gratification task and a cleanup session together with the parents, respectively. Using full information maximum likelihood to account for missing data, multiple regression analyses revealed that, when all three measures of visual attention were taken into account, longer fixations and less variation in fixation duration in infancy predicted better effortful control. Disengagement did not predict effortful control. Compliance in toddlerhood was not predicted by any of the visual attention measures. These findings may indicate that visual attentional measures in infancy predict relatively independent forms of self-regulation in toddlerhood. Future studies are necessary to elucidate the mechanisms that underlie the association between (variation in) fixation duration in infancy and effortful control in toddlerhood.

Evaluation of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire-Dysregulation Profile (SDQ-DP).

The Dysregulation Profile (DP) has emerged as a measure of concurrent affective, behavioral and cognitive dysregulation, associated with severe psychopathology, and poor adjustment. While originally developed with the Child Behavior Checklist, more recently the DP has also been defined on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), mostly with a 5-item, but also a 15-item, SDQ-DP measure. This study evaluated the SDQ-DP by examining its factor structure, measurement invariance, and construct validity. Different SDQ-DP operationalizations were compared. In a United States longitudinal community sample (N = 768), a bifactor model consisting of a general Dysregulation factor and three specific factors of Emotional Symptoms, Conduct Problems, and Hyperactivity-Inattention fitted best, across three different developmental periods (early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence) and across three different reporters (parents, teachers, and youth). Measurement invariance across reporter, gender, and developmental period was demonstrated. These findings indicate that the SDQ-DP, like the CBCL-DP, reflects a broad syndrome of dysregulation that exists in addition to specific syndromes of emotional symptoms, conduct problems, and hyperactivity-inattention. SDQ-DP bifactor scores were strongly related with scores on the 5- and 15-item SDQ-DP measures and similarly concurrently associated with two markers of self-regulation, ego-resiliency and effortful control, and longitudinally with antisocial behavior and disciplinary measures. As reliability, validity, and stability was weaker for the SDQ-DP 5-item measure, use of all 15 items is recommended. Advantages of using a bifactor approach are discussed as well as the potential of the SDQ-DP as an easy screening measure of children at risk for developing serious psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record

The Relation Between Trait Anger and Impulse Control in Forensic Psychiatric Patients: An EEG Study.

Inhibitory control is considered to be one of the key factors in explaining individual differences in trait anger and reactive aggression. Yet, only a few studies have assessed electroencephalographic (EEG) activity with respect to response inhibition in high trait anger individuals. The main goal of this study was therefore to investigate whether individual differences in trait anger in forensic psychiatric patients are associated with individual differences in anger-primed inhibitory control using behavioral and electrophysiological measures of response inhibition. Thirty-eight forensic psychiatric patients who had a medium to high risk of recidivism of violent and/or non-violent behaviors performed an affective Go/NoGo task while EEG was recorded. On the behavioral level, we found higher scores on trait anger to be accompanied by lower accuracy on NoGo trials, especially when anger was primed. With respect to the physiological data we found, as expected, a significant inverse relation between trait anger and the error related negativity amplitudes. Contrary to expectation, trait anger was not related to the stimulus-locked event related potentials (i.e., N2/P3). The results of this study support the notion that in a forensic population trait anger is inversely related to impulse control, particularly in hostile contexts. Moreover, our data suggest that higher scores on trait anger are associated with deficits in automatic error-processing which may contribute the continuation of impulsive angry behaviors despite their negative consequences.

The effects of a novel hostile interpretation bias modification paradigm on hostile interpretations, mood, and aggressive behavior.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Cognitive theories of aggression propose that biased information processing is causally related to aggression. To test these ideas, the current study investigated the effects of a novel cognitive bias modification paradigm (CBM-I) designed to target interpretations associated with aggressive behavior. METHODS: Participants aged 18-33 years old were randomly assigned to either a single session of positive training (n = 40) aimed at increasing prosocial interpretations or negative training (n = 40) aimed at increasing hostile interpretations. RESULTS: The results revealed that the positive training resulted in an increase in prosocial interpretations while the negative training seemed to have no effect on interpretations. Importantly, in the positive condition, a positive change in interpretations was related to lower anger and verbal aggression scores after the training. In this condition, participants also reported an increase in happiness. In the negative training no such effects were found. However, the better participants performed on the negative training, the more their interpretations were changed in a negative direction and the more aggression they showed on the behavioral aggression task. LIMITATIONS: Participants were healthy university students. Therefore, results should be confirmed within a clinical population. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide support for the idea that this novel CBM-I paradigm can be used to modify interpretations, and suggests that these interpretations are related to mood and aggressive behavior.

The impact of angry rumination on anger-primed cognitive control.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Recent research suggests that angry rumination augments aggressive behavior by depleting self-control resources. Yet, few studies have been conducted to empirically support this proposal. In the present study, we therefore sought to investigate the effects of angry rumination, relative to distraction, on self-reported anger and a behavioral indicator of self-control. METHODS: Seventy-two participants recalled and imagined an anger-inducing autobiographical memory and were instructed to engage in either angry rumination (n = 37) or distraction (n = 35). Following these emotion regulation instructions, participants performed an affective Go/NoGo task in order to assess behavioral self-control along with several questionnaires to assess anger related constructs. RESULTS: As expected, results revealed that angry rumination augmented anger, whereas anger decreased in the distraction condition. Contrary to predictions, we found no differences between both groups in performance on the affective Go/NoGo task. LIMITATIONS: A potential limitation is we instructed our participants on how to regulate their emotions rather than letting angry rumination occur spontaneously. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that whereas angry rumination results in heightened anger, it does not seem to result in lower self-control as measured with a behavioral task that requires cognitive control. More research is needed to test the boundary conditions regarding the role of self-control in understanding rumination-induced aggression.

Curvilinear shapes and the snake detection hypothesis: An ERP study.

Consistent with the snake detection hypothesis, previous ERP studies have established a larger early posterior negativity (EPN) in response to pictures depicting snakes than to pictures depicting other creatures. Here, we examined to what extent the curvilinear shape of the snake's body drives the larger EPN. To this end, we employed pictures of threatening and nonthreatening species with or without typical curvature. Participants watched a random rapid serial visual presentation of snake, worm, spider, and beetle pictures. The EPN was scored as the mean activity (225-300 ms after picture onset) at occipital and parieto-occipital electrodes. Across electrodes, the EPN was significantly larger for snake pictures than for spider, worm, and beetle pictures, and for spider and worm pictures than for beetle pictures. The results suggest that curvilinear body shapes may partly drive the enhanced EPN. However, the unique cortical response to snakes is not fully explained by this mechanism, and is most probably also determined by other threat-relevant cues.

Trait anger in relation to neural and behavioral correlates of response inhibition and error-processing.

Effortful control is considered to be an important factor in explaining individual differences in trait anger. In the current study, we sought to investigate the relation between anger-primed effortful control (i.e., inhibitory control and error-processing) and trait anger using an affective Go/NoGo task. Individuals low (LTA; n=45) and high (HTA; n=49) on trait anger were selected for this study. Behavioral performance (accuracy) and Event-Related Potentials (ERPs; i.e., N2, P3, ERN, Pe) were compared between both groups. Contrary to our predictions, we found no group differences regarding inhibitory control. That is, HTA and LTA individuals made comparable numbers of commission errors on NoGo trials and no significant differences were found on the N2 and P3 amplitudes. With respect to error-processing, we found reduced Pe amplitudes following errors in HTA individuals as compared to LTA individuals, whereas the ERN amplitudes were comparable for both groups. These results indicate that high trait anger individuals show deficits in later stages of error-processing, which may explain the continuation of impulsive behaviors in HTA individuals despite their negative consequences.

Are Child Abusers Sexually Attracted to Submissiveness? Assessment of Sex-Related Cognition With the Implicit Association Test.

Child sexual abuse is associated with social anxiety, low self-esteem, and intimacy deficits. This, in combination with the core belief of a dangerous world, might suggest that child abusers are sexually attracted to submissiveness. The Implicit Association Test (IAT) was used to examine this hypothesis. Results indicated that child abusers have a stronger sexual preference for submissiveness than rapists, although there were no differences between child abusers and non-sexual offenders. Multinomial logistic regression analysis revealed that submissive-sexy associations have incremental value over child-sex associations in differentiating child abusers from other offenders. The predictive value of both implicit associations was explored by correlating IAT scores with measures for recidivism risk, aggression, and interpersonal anxiety. Child abusers with stronger child-sex associations reported higher levels of interpersonal anxiety and hostility. More research on implicit cognition in sex offenders is required for a better understanding of what these and similar implicit measures are exactly measuring and what role implicit cognition may play in sexual offending.

Transmission of Cognitive Bias and Fear From Parents to Children: An Experimental Study.

This study explored the role of parents in the development of a cognitive bias and subsequent fear levels in children. In Experiment 1, nonclinical children ages 8-13 (N = 122) underwent a training during which they worked together with their mothers on an information search task. Mothers received instructions to induce either a positive or negative information search bias in their children. Experiment 2 investigated to what extent mothers own cognitive bias predicted children's information search bias. Mothers of 49 nonclinical children ages 9-12 received no explicit training instructions before working together with their child on an information search task. Experiment 1 demonstrated that mothers had a significant impact on children's cognitive bias and fear. More precisely, children who had received a negative parental training displayed an increase in negative information search bias and fear, whereas children who had received a positive parental training showed an increase in positive information search bias and a decrease in fear. In Experiment 2, it was found that children's information search biases after working together with their mothers were predicted by their mothers' initial cognitive bias scores. These findings can be taken as support for the intergenerational transmission of cognitive biases from mothers to children.

The effects of verbal information and approach-avoidance training on children's fear-related responses.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This study examined the effects of verbal information and approach-avoidance training on fear-related cognitive and behavioural responses about novel animals. METHODS: One hundred and sixty children (7-11 years) were randomly allocated to receive: a) positive verbal information about one novel animal and threat information about a second novel animal (verbal information condition); b) approach-avoidance training in which they repeatedly pushed away (avoid) or pulled closer (approach) pictures of the animals (approach-avoidance training), c) a combined condition in which verbal information was given prior to approach-avoidance training (verbal information + approach-avoidance training) and d) a combined condition in which approach-avoidance training was given prior to verbal information (approach-avoidance training + verbal information). RESULTS: Threat and positive information significantly increased and decreased fear beliefs and avoidance behaviour respectively. Approach-avoidance training was successful in training the desired behavioural responses but had limited effects on fear-related responses. Verbal information and both combined conditions resulted in significantly larger effects than approach-avoidance training. We found no evidence for an additive effect of these pathways. LIMITATIONS: This study used a non-clinical sample and focused on novel animals rather than animals about which children already had experience or established fears. The study also compared positive information/approach with threat information/avoid training, limiting specific conclusions regarding the independent effects of these conditions. CONCLUSIONS: The present study finds little evidence in support of a possible causal role for behavioural response training in the aetiology of childhood fear. However, the provision of verbal information appears to be an important pathway involved in the aetiology of childhood fear.

Testing the snake-detection hypothesis: larger early posterior negativity in humans to pictures of snakes than to pictures of other reptiles, spiders and slugs.

According to the snake detection hypothesis (Isbell, 2006), fear specifically of snakes may have pushed evolutionary changes in the primate visual system allowing pre-attentional visual detection of fearful stimuli. A previous study demonstrated that snake pictures, when compared to spiders or bird pictures, draw more early attention as reflected by larger early posterior negativity (EPN). Here we report two studies that further tested the snake detection hypothesis. In Study 1, we tested whether the enlarged EPN is specific for snakes or also generalizes to other reptiles. Twenty-four healthy, non-phobic women watched the random rapid serial presentation of snake, crocodile, and turtle pictures. The EPN was scored as the mean activity at occipital electrodes (PO3, O1, Oz, PO4, O2) in the 225-300 ms time window after picture onset. The EPN was significantly larger for snake pictures than for pictures of the other reptiles. In Study 2, we tested whether disgust plays a role in the modulation of the EPN and whether preferential processing of snakes also can be found in men. 12 men and 12 women watched snake, spider, and slug pictures. Both men and women exhibited the largest EPN amplitudes to snake pictures, intermediate amplitudes to spider pictures and the smallest amplitudes to slug pictures. Disgust ratings were not associated with EPN amplitudes. The results replicate previous findings and suggest that ancestral priorities modulate the early capture of visual attention.

Cognitive bias in action: evidence for a reciprocal relation between confirmation bias and fear in children.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Some cognitive models propose that information processing biases and fear are reciprocally related. This idea has never been formally tested. Therefore, this study investigated the existence of a vicious circle by which confirmation bias and fear exacerbate each other. METHODS: One-hundred-and-seventy-one school children (8-13 years) were first provided with threatening, ambiguous, or positive information about an unknown animal. Then they completed a computerized information search task during which they could collect additional (negative, positive, or neutral) information about the novel animal. Because fear levels were repeatedly assessed during the task, it was possible to examine the reciprocal relationship between confirmation bias and fear. RESULTS: A reciprocal relation of mutual reinforcement was found between confirmation bias and fear over the course of the experiment: increases in fear predicted subsequent increases in the search for negative information, and increases in the search for negative information further enhanced fear on a later point-in-time. In addition, the initial information given about the animals successfully induced diverging fear levels in the children, and determined their first inclination to search for additional information. LIMITATIONS: As this study employed a community sample of primary school children, future research should test whether these results can be generalized to clinically anxious youth. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide first support for the notion that fearful individuals may become trapped in a vicious circle in which fear and a fear-related confirmation bias mutually strengthen each other, thereby maintaining the anxiety pathology.

Skittish, shielded, and scared: relations among behavioral inhibition, overprotective parenting, and anxiety in native and non-native Dutch preschool children.

This study examined behavioral inhibition and overprotective parenting as correlates and predictors of anxiety disorder symptoms in preschoolers with a multi-cultural background (N=168). Parents of 3- to 6-year-old children completed a set of questionnaires twice, 12 months apart. Parents were also interviewed with the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV at the 12-month point to assess the clinical severity of children's anxiety symptoms. Behavioral inhibition consistently emerged as a significant concurrent correlate of anxiety symptoms and this was particularly true for social anxiety symptoms. Overprotective parenting also emerged as a significant correlate of anxiety, but only in the case of non-social anxiety symptoms and mainly in non-native Dutch children. Prospective analyses revealed that behavioral inhibition was a significant predictor of social anxiety symptoms, while overprotective parenting did not explain significant variance in the development of children's anxiety over time. The support for an interactive effect of behavioral inhibition and overprotective parenting was unconvincing. Finally, it was found that children who exhibited stable high levels of behavioral inhibition throughout the study ran the greatest risk for developing an anxiety disorder.