Developmental Psychology

Buss, Kristin A.; Jaffee, Sara; Wadsworth, Martha E.; Kliewer, Wendy

doi: 10.1037/dev0000596pmid: 30148389

This Special Section showcases cutting-edge, theory-driven research, which elucidates how multiple physiologic stress-response systems and neural networks that support social behavior operate together to affect psychological processes across from infancy to adolescence. The 8 papers included in the Special Section represent cutting-edge efforts to understand how multiple physiological systems jointly influence behavior. They raise new questions, highlight issues that remain unresolved, and suggest additional directions for research. It is our hope that they will stimulate theory building and new, integrative studies that will advance knowledge about the coordinated effects of neural, endocrine, and autonomic systems on social, emotional, and cognitive development.

Quas, Jodi A.; Castro, Amy; Bryce, Crystal I.; Granger, Douglas A.

doi: 10.1037/dev0000532pmid: 30148390

In contrast to a large body of work concerning the effects of physiological stress reactivity on children’s socioemotional functioning, far less attention has been devoted to understanding the effects of such reactivity on cognitive, including mnemonic, functioning. How well children learn and remember information under stress has implications for a range of educational, clinical, and legal outcomes. We evaluated 8–14 year olds’ (N = 94, 50 female) memory for negative, neutral, and positive images. Youth had seen the images a week previously as a part of a laboratory stress task. At encoding and retrieval, and in between, youth provided saliva samples that were later assayed for cortisol, salivary α amylase (sAA), testosterone, and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). Overall, higher cortisol reactivity to the lab task predicted enhanced memory for emotional but not neutral images. However, cortisol further interacted with pubertal hormones (testosterone and DHEA) to predict memory. Among girls with lower pubertal hormone levels, greater cortisol reactivity was associated with enhanced memory for negative information, whereas among boys with higher pubertal hormone levels, cortisol reactivity was associated with enhanced memory for positive information. sAA, was unrelated to memory. Overall, our findings reveal that individual differences in hormone levels associated with pubertal development have implications for our understanding of how stress-responsive biological systems directly and interactively influence cognitive outcomes.

Colasante, Tyler; Zuffianò, Antonio; Haley, David W.; Malti, Tina

doi: 10.1037/dev0000500pmid: 30148391

Despite the well-established protective functions of guilt across childhood, its underlying physiological mechanisms have received little attention. We used latent difference scores (LDS) to model changes in children’s (N = 267; 4- and 8-year-olds, 51% girls) skin conductance (SC) and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) while they imagined themselves committing antisocial acts. We then tested if their later reports of guilt, caregiver-reported aggressive behavior, and age were associated with these physiological changes. For 8-year-olds, changes in RSA leading up to and during transgressions were uniquely associated with the intensity of guilt feelings after transgressions. Eight-year-olds with higher guilt were rated lower in aggression, although children’s physiology and aggression were not directly related. We discuss how fluctuations in physiology while transgressing may prepare children to mount adaptive guilt responses afterward and—more broadly—implications for understanding the mechanisms behind guilt and related behavior in early and middle childhood.

Fanti, Kostas A.; Kyranides, Melina N.; Petridou, Maria; Demetriou, Chara A.; Georgiou, Giorgos

doi: 10.1037/dev0000505pmid: 30148392

Evidence from physiological studies has been integral in many causal theories of behavioral and emotional problems. However, this evidence is hampered by the heterogeneity characterizing these problems. The current study adds to prior work by identifying neuro-physiological markers associated with heterogeneity in conduct problems (CP), callous-unemotional (CU) traits, and anxiety. Participants were classified into the following groups: (a) low risk, (b) anxious (predominately high anxiety), (c) primary (scored high on CP and CU traits but low on anxiety), and (d) secondary (high anxiety, CU traits, and CP). Developmental differences were also examined by including two different samples assessed during young adulthood (Study 1: n = 88; Mage = 19.92; 50% female) and childhood (Study 2: n = 72; Mage = 5.78, SD = 1.33; 39 males). Participants in both studies were recruited from community samples (Study 1: n = 2,306; Mage = 16, SD = .89; Study 2: n = 850; Mage = 5.01, SD = .95). Physiological responses (heart rate, skin conductance, startle modulation) were recorded while children and adults watched negative affective and neutral scenes. Medial prefrontal activation (oxygenated hemoglobin) was also measured in young adults. Findings suggested that individuals in the secondary and anxious psychopathy groups showed higher physiological arousal and startle reactivity to violent, fearful, and anger stimuli compared to individuals in the primary psychopathy group. In contrast, primary and secondary psychopathy groups showed similar physiological reactions to sad stimuli assessed during childhood. Also, young adults in the primary and secondary subtypes showed lower medial prefrontal cortex activation to violent stimuli compared to the anxious group. These findings provide evidence for the value of a multidomain approach for identifying neurophysiological mechanisms that can inform prevention and treatment efforts.

Lucas-Thompson, Rachel G.; McKernan, Charlotte J.; Henry, Kimberly L.

doi: 10.1037/dev0000530pmid: 30148393

Neurobiological processes are highlighted in animal and theoretical models of the development of depression, but there is mixed empirical evidence about associations between stress physiology and depressive symptoms. Adolescence has been highlighted as a period during which coordination across physiological stress response systems may be particularly important. However, most studies have focused on depressive symptoms and physiological reactivity in isolated systems. The goal of this study was to examine associations of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and autonomic nervous system (ANS; i.e., sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system [SNS and PNS, respectively]) reactivity with depressive systems, as well as the interrelatedness of reactivity across systems. Participants were adolescents (n = 153, 10–17 years) from diverse backgrounds, recruited from the community. Adolescents experienced a stressor, during which cortisol (HPA axis), skin conductance level (SCL; SNS), and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA; PNS) were measured; youth also reported depressive symptoms. Some youth (n = 60) reported depressive symptoms again 1 year later as part of another study. Results from latent growth analysis embedded in a structural equation model (SEM) indicated that concurrent depressive symptoms were predicted by an interaction between cortisol reactivity and baseline RSA levels, with fewer symptoms for adolescents who had lower baseline RSA and greater cortisol reactivity. Controlling for concurrent depressive symptoms, prolonged cortisol recovery (above and beyond cortisol or ANS reactivity), was related to prospective depressive symptoms. Results support and extend theoretical arguments about the role of dysregulated stress physiology in the development of depressive symptoms, and the importance of multisystem approaches to understanding the role of stress physiology in risk and resilience.

Abaied, Jamie L.; Stanger, Sarah B.; Wagner, Caitlin; Sanders, Wesley; Dyer, W. Justin; Padilla-Walker, Laura

doi: 10.1037/dev0000507pmid: 30148394

A burgeoning literature supports the role of autonomic nervous system (ANS) functioning as an index of physiologic sensitivity to the environment, but extant research is limited in its focus on single branches of the ANS, childhood samples, and solely negative environmental factors. This study seeks to address these limitations by exploring whether reactivity in the parasympathetic (PNS) and sympathetic (SNS) nervous systems jointly moderate the prospective contributions of both positive (maternal involvement) and negative (maternal psychological control) aspects of the family environment to developmentally relevant outcomes in adolescence (depressive symptoms and emotion regulation). At Wave 1, adolescents (n = 352, 52% female, M age = 15.27, SD = 1.04; 65% White) and their parents completed a problem-solving discussion task, during which adolescent ANS activation was continuously monitored, and reports of maternal involvement, maternal psychological control, adolescent depressive symptoms, and adolescent emotion regulation were obtained. Adolescent depressive symptoms and emotion regulation were assessed again 1 year later (Wave 2). Results indicated that PNS and SNS reactivity jointly moderated the prospective contributions of maternal involvement and maternal psychological control to depressive symptoms and emotion regulation. Specifically, adolescents who exhibited reciprocal SNS activation appeared to be most sensitive to both positive and negative parenting environments. Adolescents exhibiting coinhibition or coactivation profiles of autonomic reactivity were comparatively unreactive to parenting. This study corroborates the notion that consideration of multiple physiological systems is critical to our understanding of biological processes in the development of emotional functioning in adolescence.

Giuliano, Ryan J.; Karns, Christina M.; Roos, Leslie E.; Bell, Theodore A.; Petersen, Seth; Skowron, Elizabeth A.; Neville, Helen J.; Pakulak, Eric

doi: 10.1037/dev0000499pmid: 30148395

Multiple theoretical frameworks posit that interactions between the autonomic nervous system and higher-order neural networks are crucial for cognitive regulation. However, few studies have simultaneously examined autonomic physiology and brain activity during cognitive tasks. Such research is promising for understanding how early adversity impacts neurocognitive development in children, given that stress experienced early in life impacts both autonomic function and regulatory behaviors. We recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) as a neural measure of auditory selective attention, and cardiovascular measures of high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) and preejection period (PEP), in 105 3–5-year-old children with varying degrees of socioeconomic risk. First, we replicated a previous study from our lab: Increased socioeconomic risk was associated with larger ERP amplitudes elicited by distracting sounds. Next, we tested whether PEP and HF-HRV (at rest and during the task) were associated with the distractor ERP response, and found that a physiological profile marked by heightened sympathetic nervous system activity, indexed by shorter PEP, was associated with better ERP suppression of distractor sounds in lower SES children. Finally, we found that PEP mediated the relationship between socioeconomic risk and larger ERP responses to distractor sounds. In line with similar reports, these results suggest that for lower SES children, there is a potential biological cost of achieving better cognitive performance, seen here as increased cardiovascular arousal both at rest and in response to task demands.

Philbrook, Lauren E.; Erath, Stephen A.; Hinnant, J. Benjamin; El-Sheikh, Mona

doi: 10.1037/dev0000501pmid: 30148396

The present study investigates how coordination between stress responsivity of the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) moderates the prospective effects of marital conflict on internalizing and externalizing symptoms across adolescence. Although an important avenue for psychophysiological research concerns how PNS and SNS responses jointly influence adjustment in the context of stress, these processes have rarely been studied in adolescence or longitudinally. Participants were 252 youth (53% female, 66% European American, 34% African American) who participated in laboratory assessments when they were 16, 17, and 18 years old. PNS activity (measured via respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]) and SNS activity (measured via skin conductance level [SCL]) were assessed during a resting baseline and in response to a laboratory-based challenge (star tracing). Parents and adolescents both reported on marital conflict and adolescents reported on their internalizing and externalizing symptoms. At higher levels of marital conflict, coactivation of PNS and SNS activity, characterized by increased RSA and increased SCL from baseline to challenge, predicted elevated internalizing symptoms and an increase in externalizing behavior across adolescence. Coinhibition, or decreased activity across both systems, also predicted an increase in internalizing symptoms over time. At lower levels of marital conflict, internalizing and externalizing symptoms were relatively low. Findings extend primarily cross-sectional work with younger children by demonstrating that coordination between the two branches of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) moderates the longitudinal effects of marital conflict on psychological and behavioral maladjustment among adolescents.

McKernan, Charlotte J.; Lucas-Thompson, Rachel G.

doi: 10.1037/dev0000498pmid: 30148397

Although negative interparental conflict predicts elevated externalizing problems for children, there are individual differences in this association. Theoretically, children’s abilities to coordinate physiological stress across response systems moderate the effects of interparental conflict on developmental outcomes. Past cross-sectional research has demonstrated that poor coordination of sympathetic (SNS) and parasympathetic (PNS) nervous systems puts children at a greater risk for externalizing behaviors in the context of interparental conflict. Our goal was to examine whether this same pattern is evident in adolescents and provide the first longitudinal test of this theoretical pathway. Participants were families with adolescents (10–17 years) from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Parents reported conflict, were observed during a conflict discussion, and reported adolescent externalizing behaviors; parents again reported externalizing behaviors 1 year later. Adolescents experienced a stressor while skin conductance level (SCL; SNS) and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA; PNS) were measured. Similar to past research with children, there were 3-way interactions between negative interparental conflict, SCL reactivity, and RSA reactivity in relation to adolescent externalizing behaviors, concurrently and prospectively. The overall pattern suggested that adolescents who displayed poorly coordinated responding displayed a positive association between interparental conflict and externalizing behaviors, whereas adolescents who showed well-coordinated responding displayed a nonsignificant or negative association. Coinhibition of the SNS and PNS may put adolescents particularly at risk for prospective externalizing behaviors. Autonomic nervous system coordination—particularly activation of the SNS and inhibition of the PNS during stress—may protect adolescents from experiencing adjustment problems in the context of interparental conflict.

Berry, Daniel; Vernon-Feagans, Lynne; Mills-Koonce, W. Roger; Blair, Clancy; ,

doi: 10.1037/dev0000488pmid: 30148398

Otitis media (OM)—or middle-ear inflammation—is the most widely diagnosed childhood illness, with evidence implicating OM in a range of distal problems (e.g., language delays, attention problems). Polyvagal theory (Porges, 1995, 2007) posits that there also are likely important connections between middle-ear functioning and children’s developing parasympathetic nervous systems (PNS). Using prospective longitudinal data from the Family Life Project (n = 748), we tested within- and between-person relations between indicators of OM (middle-ear spectral gradient angle; SGA) and children’s trajectories of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA)—a marker of parasympathetic control of the heart—between the ages of 7 and 35 months. The results suggested that, irrespective of age, children with indications of chronic OM (low cumulative SGA) tended to show atypical RSA reactivity to moderate cognitive challenge, compared with the reactivity patterns of their low-OM-risk peers (mid-to-high cumulative SGA). Specifically, on average, low-OM-risk children showed RSA decreases in the context of challenge in infancy, with the magnitude of the decline weakening and eventually changing direction (i.e., RSA increase) by 35 months. In contrast, those with indicators of chronic OM evinced blunted RSA responses to challenge, irrespective of age. Within-person, temporal bouts of OM-risk were not predictive of within-person changes in RSA reactivity across early childhood.