Presenter: Brigette Amidon
Faculty Mentor: Leslie Roos
Presentation Type: Poster 2
Primary Research Area: Social Science
Major: Psychology
In the present study, we examined preschool aged boys’ minute-to-minute physiological adjustments and emotional behaviors elicited in response to a stressful task, as a predictive measure of child externalizing behavior problems. A sample of (N=27) four to six year old boys, varying in levels of externalizing behavior problems, participated in a matching task, while parasympathetic physiology and expression of emotions were observed and recorded as measures of self-regulation. Externalizing behavior problems were assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) (Achenbach, 1991). In addition, regulation of parasympathetic physiology was assessed using constructed measures of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) during a resting baseline and during the stressful task, while emotion regulation was examined using observer-coded measures of child emotions (shame, embarrassment, anger, frustration, withdrawal, anxiety, self-determination, and pride) and affect (positive, negative). It is hypothesized that children reported as having greater externalizing behavior problems would have difficulty self-regulating while performing the stressful task.