Citation

Miller JG, Chocol C, Nuselovici JN, Utendale WT, Simard M, Hastings PD. Biol. Psychol. 2013; 92(2): 417-425.

Affiliation

Center for Mind & Brain, Department of Psychology, University of California Davis, Davis, CA. Electronic address: jgemiller@ucdavis.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.biopsycho.2012.12.005

PMID

23274169

Abstract

This study examined the moderating effects of child temperament on the association between maternal socialization and 4-6 year-old children's dynamic respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) change in response to anger-themed emotional materials (N=180). We used latent growth curve modeling to explore adaptive patterns of dynamic RSA change in response to anger. Greater change in RSA during anger induction, characterized by more initial RSA suppression and a subsequent return to baseline, was related to children's better regulation of aggression. For anger-themed materials, low levels of authoritarian parenting predicted more RSA suppression and recovery for more anger-prone children, whereas more authoritative parenting predicted more RSA suppression and recovery for less anger-prone children. These findings suggest that children's adaptive patterns of dynamic RSA change can be characterized by latent growth curve modeling, and that these patterns may be differentially shaped by parent socialization experiences as a function of child temperament. .

Language: en