Physiological and neurocognitive correlates of adaptive behavior in preschool among children in Head Start

Autonomic nervous system activity of preschool-age children who stutter

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to investigate potential differences in autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity to emotional stimuli between preschool-age children who do (CWS) and do not stutter (CWNS).

METHODS

Participants were 20 preschool-age CWS (15 male) and 21 preschool-age CWNS (11 male). Participants were exposed to two emotion-inducing video clips (negative and positive) with neutral clips used to establish pre-and post-arousal baselines, and followed by age-appropriate speaking tasks. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA)-often used as an index of parasympathetic activity-and skin conductance level (SCL)-often used as an index of sympathetic activity-were measured while participants listened to/watched the audio-video clip presentation and performed a speaking task.

RESULTS

CWS, compared to CWNS, displayed lower amplitude RSA at baseline and higher SCL during a speaking task following the positive, compared to the negative, condition. During speaking, only CWS had a significant positive relation between RSA and SCL.

CONCLUSION

Present findings suggest that preschool-age CWS, when compared to their normally fluent peers, have a physiological state that is characterized by a greater vulnerability to emotional reactivity (i.e., lower RSA indexing less parasympathetic tone) and a greater mobilization of resources in support of emotional reactivity (i.e., higher SCL indexing more sympathetic activity) during positive conditions. Thus, while reducing stuttering to a pure physiological process is unwarranted, the present findings suggest that the autonomic nervous system is involved.

EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES

The reader will be able to: (a) summarize current empirical evidence on the role of emotion in childhood stuttering; (b) describe physiological indexes of sympathetic and parasympathetic activity; (c) summarize how preschool-age children who stutter differ from preschool-age children who do not stutter in autonomic activity; (d) discuss possible implications of current findings in relation to the development of childhood stuttering.

A randomized controlled pilot trial of classroom-based mindfulness meditation compared to an active control condition in sixth-grade children

The current study is a pilot trial to examine the effects of a nonelective, classroom-based, teacher-implemented, mindfulness meditation intervention on standard clinical measures of mental health and affect in middle school children. A total of 101 healthy sixth-grade students (55 boys, 46 girls) were randomized to either an Asian history course with daily mindfulness meditation practice (intervention group) or an African history course with a matched experiential activity (active control group). Self-reported measures included the Youth Self Report (YSR), a modified Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Measure -Revised. Both groups decreased significantly on clinical syndrome subscales and affect but did not differ in the extent of their improvements. Meditators were significantly less likely to develop suicidal ideation or thoughts of self-harm than controls. These results suggest that mindfulness training may yield both unique and non-specific benefits that are shared by other novel activities.

A transactional analysis of the relation between maternal sensitivity and child vagal regulation

A transactional model examining the longitudinal association between vagal regulation (as indexed by vagal withdrawal) and maternal sensitivity from age 2.5 to age 5.5 was assessed. The sample included 356 children (171 male, 185 female) and their mothers who participated in a laboratory visit at age 2.5, 4.5, and 5.5. Cardiac vagal tone was obtained during a baseline task and during emotional frustration tasks. Maternal sensitivity was assessed via direct observation during a pretend play and cleanup task. To test for transactional associations, a path model estimating stability paths for vagal withdrawal and maternal sensitivity was compared with a full reciprocal model that included all cross-lagged pathways. A chi-square difference test was used to evaluate whether the cross-lagged model explained the data above and beyond the stability model. The vagal withdrawal cross-lagged model was found to fit significantly better than the stability model and revealed that maternal sensitivity at 2.5 years was associated positively with vagal withdrawal at 4.5 years, and vagal withdrawal at 4.5 years was associated positively with maternal sensitivity at 5.5 years. These results suggest that early sensitive responding by mothers was associated with increases in vagal withdrawal, which in turn was associated with higher levels of sensitive parenting.

What's mom got to do with it? Contributions of maternal executive function and caregiving to the development of executive function across early childhood

Executive functions (EFs; e.g. working memory, inhibitory control) are mediated by the prefrontal cortex and associated with optimal cognitive and socio-emotional development. This study provides the first concurrent analysis of the relative contributions of maternal EF and caregiving to child EF. A group of children and their mothers (n = 62) completed age-appropriate interaction (10, 24, 36 months) and EF tasks (child: 24, 36, and 48 months). Regression analyses revealed that by 36 months of age, maternal EF and negative caregiving behaviors accounted for unique variance in child EF, above and beyond maternal education and child verbal ability. These findings were confirmed when using an early child EF composite-our most reliable measure of EF - and a similar pattern was found when controlling for stability in child EF. Furthermore, there was evidence that maternal EF had significant indirect effects on changes in child EF through maternal caregiving. At 24 months, EF was associated with maternal EF, but not negative caregiving behaviors. Taken together, these findings suggest that links between negative caregiving and child EF are increasingly manifested during early childhood. Although maternal EF and negative caregiving are related, they provide unique information about the development of child EF. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPKXFbbrkps.

How well socially wary preschoolers fare over time depends on their parasympathetic regulation and socialization

Parasympathetic regulation and maternal overprotective parenting were examined in 101 children as moderators of links between preschool (M = 3.53 years) social wariness and childhood (M = 9.07 years) internalizing and anxiety problems, social skills, and scholastic performance. Across these three domains of functioning, more socially wary children were likely to manifest worse adjustment when they had low respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) or highly overprotective mothers. Conversely, maternal overprotection appeared to confer benefits for preschoolers with low wariness and low RSA. These findings point to the importance of both internal self-regulatory capacities and external support for autonomy and competence to understand and assist socially wary children and their families.

Cumulative effects of early poverty on cortisol in young children: moderation by autonomic nervous system activity

The relation of the cumulative experience of poverty in infancy and early childhood to child cortisol at age 48 months was examined in a prospective longitudinal sample of children and families (N=1292) in predominantly low-income and rural communities in two distinct regions of the United States. Families were seen in the home for data collection and cumulative experience of poverty was indexed by parent reported income-to-need ratio and household chaos measures collected between child ages 2 months and 48 months. For the analysis presented here, three saliva samples were also collected over an approximate 90 min interval at child age 48 months and were assayed for cortisol. ECG data were also collected during a resting period and during the administration of a mildly challenging battery of cognitive tasks. Mixed model analysis indicated that child cortisol at 48 months decreased significantly over the sampling time period and that cumulative time in poverty (number of years income-to-need less than or equal to 1) and cumulative household chaos were significantly related to a flatter trajectory for cortisol change and to an overall higher level of cortisol, respectively. Findings also indicated that respiratory sinus arrhythmia derived from the ECG data moderated the association between household chaos and child cortisol and that increase in respiratory sinus arrhythmia during the cognitive task was associated with an overall lower level of cortisol at 48 months.

Physiological arousal in autism and fragile X syndrome: group comparisons and links with pragmatic language

This study tested the hypothesis that pragmatic (i.e., social) language impairment is linked to arousal dysregulation in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and fragile X syndrome (FXS). Forty boys with ASD, 39 with FXS, and 27 with typical development (TD), aged 4-15 years, participated. Boys with FXS were hyperaroused compared to boys with TD but did not differ from boys with ASD. Dampened vagal tone predicted pragmatic impairment in ASD, and associations emerged between cardiac activity and receptive/expressive vocabulary across groups. Findings support autonomic dysfunction as a mechanism underlying pragmatic impairment in ASD and suggest that biophysiological profiles are shared in ASD and FXS, which has implications for understanding the role of fragile X mental retardation-1 (FMR1, the FXS gene) in the pathophysiology of ASD.

Associations between respiratory sinus arrhythmia reactivity and internalizing and externalizing symptoms are emotion specific

Internalizing and externalizing disorders are often, though inconsistently in studies of young children, associated with low baseline levels of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). RSA is thus considered to reflect the capacity for flexible and regulated affective reactivity and a general propensity for psychopathology. However, studies assessing RSA reactivity to emotional challenges tend to report more consistent associations with internalizing than with externalizing disorders, although it is unclear whether this is a function of the type of emotion challenges used. In the present study, we examined whether baseline RSA was associated with internalizing and/or externalizing severity in a sample of 273 young children (ages 5-6) with elevated symptoms of psychopathology. Following motivation-based models of emotion, we also tested whether RSA reactivity during withdrawal-based (fear, sadness) and approach-based (happiness, anger) emotion inductions was differentially associated with internalizing and externalizing symptoms, respectively. Baseline RSA was not associated with externalizing or internalizing symptom severity. However, RSA reactivity to specific emotional challenges was associated differentially with each symptom domain. As expected, internalizing symptom severity was associated with greater RSA withdrawal (increased arousal) during fearful and sad film segments. Conversely, externalizing symptom severity was related to blunted RSA withdrawal during a happy film segment. The use of theoretically derived stimuli may be important in characterizing the nature of the deficits in emotion processing that differentiate the internalizing and externalizing domains of psychopathology.

A longitudinal intergenerational analysis of executive functions during early childhood

Despite the importance of executive function (EF) in both clinical and educational contexts, the aetiology of individual differences in early childhood EF remains poorly understood. This study provides the first longitudinal intergenerational analysis of mother-child EF associations during early childhood. A group of children and their mothers (n = 62) completed age-appropriate EF tasks. Mother and child EFs were modestly correlated by 24 months of age, and this association was stable through 48 months. Importantly, maternal-child EF associations were still robust after controlling for verbal ability (potential indicator of verbal/crystallized intelligence) and maternal education (correlate of socio-economic status and verbal intelligence). Potential implications of these findings as well as underlying mechanisms of the maternal-child EF association (gene-environment interplay) are discussed.

Cardiac vagal control and children's adaptive functioning: a meta-analysis

Polyvagal theory has influenced research on the role of cardiac vagal control, indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia withdrawal (RSA-W) during challenging states, in children's self-regulation. However, it remains unclear how well RSA-W predicts adaptive functioning (AF) outcomes and whether certain caveats of measuring RSA (e.g., respiration) significantly impact these associations. A meta-analysis of 44 studies (n=4996 children) revealed small effect sizes such that greater levels of RSA-W were related to fewer externalizing, internalizing, and cognitive/academic problems. In contrast, RSA-W was differentially related to children's social problems according to sample type (community vs. clinical/at-risk). The relations between RSA-W and children's AF outcomes were stronger among studies that co-varied baseline RSA and in Caucasian children (no effect was found for respiration). Children from clinical/at-risk samples displayed lower levels of baseline RSA and RSA-W compared to children from community samples. Theoretical/practical implications for the study of cardiac vagal control are discussed.

Race differences in age-trends of autonomic nervous system functioning

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to consider race differences in age-trends of autonomic nervous system functioning, using a national data set with a broad age range.

METHODS

Measures of baseline heart rate variability (HRV) and HRV reactivity were derived from electrocardiograph (ECG) recordings taken at rest and during cognitive stress tasks. Age-trends in HRV and HRV reactivity were compared among 204 African Americans and 833 Whites ages 34 to 83 years (M = 53.7, SD = 11.4), before and after controlling for socioeconomic status (SES).

RESULTS

For HRV-reactivity, age-trends were steeper among African Americans and lower SES participants than Whites and higher SES participants. For baseline HRV, age-trends varied by SES but not race.

DISCUSSION

Results relating to HRV-reactivity (but not baseline HRV) were consistent with hypotheses suggesting that African Americans are exposed to higher levels of stress and experience accelerated declines in health across the life span. The relevance of the findings to research on social stress and health disparities is discussed.

Using an adoption design to separate genetic, prenatal, and temperament influences on toddler executive function

Poor executive functioning has been implicated in children's concurrent and future behavioral difficulties, making work aimed at understanding processes related to the development of early executive function (EF) critical for models of developmental psychopathology. Deficits in EF have been associated with adverse prenatal experiences, genetic influences, and temperament characteristics. However, our ability to disentangle the predictive and independent effects of these influences has been limited by a dearth of genetically informed research designs that also consider prenatal influences. The present study examined EF and language development in a sample of 361 toddlers who were adopted at birth and reared in nonrelative adoptive families. Predictors included genetic influences (as inherited from birth mothers), prenatal risk, and growth in child negative emotionality. Structural equation modeling indicated that the effect of prenatal risk on toddler effortful attention at age 27 months became nonsignificant once genetic influences were considered in the model. In addition, genetic influences had unique effects on toddler effortful attention. Latent growth modeling indicated that increases in toddler negative emotionality from 9 to 27 months were associated with poorer delay of gratification and poorer language development. Similar results were obtained in models incorporating birth father data. Mechanisms of intergenerational transmission of EF deficits are discussed.

Infant attention and early childhood executive function

Individual differences in infant attention are theorized to reflect the speed of information processing and are related to later cognitive abilities (i.e., memory, language, and intelligence). This study provides the first systematic longitudinal analysis of infant attention and early childhood executive function (EF; e.g., working memory, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility). A group of 5-month-olds (n = 201) were classified as short or long lookers. At 24, 36, and 48 months of age, children completed age-appropriate EF tasks. Infant short lookers (i.e., more efficient information processors) exhibited higher EF throughout early childhood as compared to infant long lookers, even after controlling for verbal ability (a potential indicator of intelligence). These findings are discussed in relation to the emergence of executive attention.

Evocative gene-parenting correlations and academic performance at first grade: an exploratory study

Academic performance during the first years of school lays the groundwork for subsequent trajectories of academic success throughout childhood and adolescence. The current study tests a model according to which a gene-parenting correlation in the first 3 years of life is associated with subsequent psychosocial adjustment and then academic performance in the first grade (as indicated by teachers' assessment of academic behavior and two subscales of the Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement, Third Edition). Drawing on multiple waves of data from the Durham Child Health and Development Study, we find that risk alleles for dopamine receptor genes (dopamine receptor D4 for girls, dopamine receptor D2 for boys) are associated with less sensitive parenting. For girls, parenting mediates the link between dopamine receptor D4 and all academic outcomes. There is some indication that parenting also influences girls' withdrawn behavior in the classroom, which in turn influences teachers' assessments of academic performance. For boys, some evidence suggests that parenting is associated with emotion regulation, which is associated with teachers' assessments of academic behavior and both subscales of the Woodcock-Johnson. Replications of this exploratory study are necessary, but these findings provide a first step in understanding how evocative correlations in the home may predict indicators of psychosocial adjustment that in turn influence performance and achievement at school.

Attachment disorganization moderates the effect of maternal postnatal depressive symptoms on infant autonomic functioning

We examined associations of disorganized attachment and maternal depressive symptoms with infant autonomic functioning in 450 infant-mother dyads enrolled in the Generation R study. Maternal depressive symptoms were measured 2 months postpartum with the Brief Symptom Inventory. At 14 months, we assessed infant attachment with a slightly shortened Strange Situation and measured infant resting heart rate. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was calculated using spectral analysis. Higher levels of maternal postnatal depressive symptoms predicted lower resting RSA in disorganized infants (B = -0.31, SE = 0.15, p = .04, R(2)  = .05) but not in nondisorganized infants (B = 0.05, SE = 0.06, p = .36). This effect was buffered in disorganized infants with a secondary secure attachment classification. Disorganized infants were more vulnerable to the effect of maternal postnatal depressive symptoms on the physiological stress systems.

Blood volume pulse (BVP) derived vagal tone (VT) between 5 and 7 years of age: a methodological investigation of measurement and longitudinal stability

The present study evaluated the possibility of collecting cardiac vagal tone data using a photoplethysmograph, and its stability and continuity in a longitudinal sample of early-school aged children. A method for the optical (i.e., blood volume pulse) estimation of heart rate was established in a pilot study. Then the longitudinal stability and continuity in photoplethysmograph-derived vagal tone was assessed in 114 children (56 girls) at three sessions between 5 and 7 years of age. Results indicate that this method possesses substantial measurement reliability and individual stability, as children report low intra-individual variation over time. Children also report a mean decrease in vagal tone from 5 to 7 years of age, consistent with increased attentional capacity. Overall, this suggests blood volume pulse estimation of vagal tone is both accurate and appropriate for naturalistic developmental research.

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia, shyness, and effortful control in preschool-age children

Resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and shyness were examined as predictors of effortful control (EC) in a sample of 101 preschool-age children. Resting RSA was calculated from respiration and heart rate data collected during a neutral film; shyness was measured using parents', preschool teachers', and classroom observers' reports; and EC was measured using four laboratory tasks in addition to questionnaire measures. Principal components analysis was used to create composite measures of EC and shyness. The relation between RSA and EC was moderated by shyness, such that RSA was positively related to EC only for children high in shyness. This interaction suggests that emotional reactivity affects the degree to which RSA can be considered a correlate of EC. This study also draws attention to the need to consider the measurement context when assessing resting psychophysiology measures; shy individuals may not exhibit true baseline RSA responding in an unfamiliar laboratory setting.

How can the study of physiological reactivity contribute to our understanding of adversity and resilience processes in development?

The focus of this article is to present current progress in understanding the interplay among adversity, physiological sensitivity to context, and adaptive functioning, with an emphasis on implications and future directions for resilience researchers. It includes a review of current literature that demonstrates (a) links between various levels of adversity exposure and variability in physiological reactivity, (b) how the interplay between children's physiological reactivity and different sources of risk and adversity relates to variability in adaptive functioning, and (c) various approaches for capturing a more dynamic nature of physiological reactivity and related processes. Throughout, important conceptual and empirical issues are highlighted.

Behavioral and physiological responses to child-directed speech of children with autism spectrum disorders or typical development

Young boys with autism were compared to typically developing boys on responses to nonsocial and child-directed speech (CDS) stimuli. Behavioral (looking) and physiological (heart rate and respiratory sinus arrhythmia) measures were collected. Boys with autism looked equally as much as chronological age-matched peers at nonsocial stimuli, but less at CDS stimuli. Boys with autism and language age-matched peers differed in patterns of looking at live versus videotaped CDS stimuli. Boys with autism demonstrated faster heart rates than chronological age-matched peers, but did not differ significantly on respiratory sinus arrhythmia. Reduced attention during CDS may restrict language-learning opportunities for children with autism. The heart rate findings suggest that young children with autism have a nonspecific elevated arousal level.

Improving Executive Function and its Neurobiological Mechanisms through a Mindfulness-Based Intervention: Advances within the Field of Developmental Neuroscience

Poor executive function (EF) has been associated with a host of short- and long-term problems across the lifespan, including elevated rates of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, drug abuse, and antisocial behavior. Mindfulness-based interventions that focus on increasing awareness of one's thoughts, emotions, and actions have been shown to improve specific aspects of EF, including attention, cognitive control, and emotion regulation. In this article, we apply a developmental neuroscience perspective to review research relevant to one specific mindfulness-based intervention, Integrative Body-Mind Training (IBMT). Randomized controlled trials of IBMT indicate improvements in specific EF components, and uniquely highlight the role of neural circuitry specific to the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the autonomic nervous system (ANS) as two brain-based mechanisms that underlie IBMT-related improvements. The relevance of improving specific dimensions of EF through short-term IBMT to prevent a cascade of risk behaviors for children and adolescents is described and future research directions are proposed.

Evidence-based intervention for young children born premature: preliminary evidence for associated changes in physiological regulation

The current study examined whether changes in maternal behaviors following an evidence-based treatment-Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)-was associated with improvements in cardiac vagal regulation in young children born premature. Participants included 28 young children (mean age = 37.79 months) that were born premature and presented with elevated externalizing behavior problems. To assess cardiac vagal regulation, resting measures of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and RSA change (withdrawal or suppression) to a clean-up task were derived pre and post-treatment. Results indicated that an increase in behaviors mothers are taught to use during treatment (i.e., do skills-praise, reflection, and behavioral descriptions) was associated with an improvement in children's post-treatment RSA suppression levels. The current study illustrates the important role of caregiver behavior in promoting physiological regulation in children born premature.

Early Childhood Predictors of Post-Kindergarten Executive Function: Behavior, Parent-Report, and Psychophysiology

RESEARCH FINDINGS: This study examined whether children's executive functions before kindergarten would predict variance in executive functions after kindergarten. We obtained behavioral (working memory task performance), parental-reported (temperament-based inhibitory control), and psychophysiological (working memory-related changes in heart rate and brain electrical activity) measures of executive functions from a group of preschool-aged children. After children finished kindergarten, approximately 2 years later, parents were asked to complete an assessment of children's executive function skills. A regression analysis revealed that pre-kindergarten behavioral, parental-reported, and psychophysiological measures accounted for variance in post-kindergarten executive functions. Specifically, working memory task performance, temperament-based inhibitory control, and working memory-related changes in brain electrical activity accounted for unique variance in post-kindergarten executive functions. These data provide a unique contribution to the executive function literature: No other study has examined whether behavioral, psychophysiological, and parental-reported executive function measures can account for unique variance in future executive function. PRACTICE OR POLICY: These findings are discussed in relation to children's transition to school and executive function training programs.

Differentiating Processes of Control and Understanding in the Early Development of Emotion and Cognition

In this study we examined the hypothesis that preschoolers' performance on emotion and cognitive tasks is organized into discrete processes of control and understanding within the domains of emotion and cognition. Additionally, we examined the relations among component processes using mother report, behavioral observation, and physiological measures of emotion control. Participants were 263 children (42% non-White) and their mothers. Results indicated that the three approaches of measuring emotion control were unrelated. Regardless of the measurement method, a four-factor solution differentiating emotion control and understanding and cognitive control and understanding fit the data better than did either of two 2-factor models, one based on domains of emotion and cognition across processes, and one based on processes of control and understanding across domains. Results of this research replicate those of Leerkes et al. (2008) in describing a differentiated underlying structure of emotion and cognition processes in early childhood while also extending these conclusions across samples and across measurement approaches for assessing emotion control.

Autonomic regulation in fragile X syndrome

Autonomic reactivity was studied in individuals with fragile X syndrome (FXS), a genetic disorder partially characterized by abnormal social behavior. Relative to age-matched controls, the FXS group had faster baseline heart rate and lower amplitude respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). In contrast to the typically developing controls, there was a decrease in RSA with age within the FXS group. Moreover, within the FXS group heart rate did not slow with age. The FXS group also responded with an atypical increase in RSA to the social challenge, while the control group reduced RSA. In a subset of the FXS group, the autonomic profile did not change following 2 months and 1 year of lithium treatment. The observed indices of atypical autonomic regulation, consistent with the Polyvagal Theory, may contribute to the deficits in social behavior and social communication observed in FXS.

The interactive effect of marital conflict and stress reactivity on externalizing and internalizing symptoms: the role of laboratory stressors

Growing evidence supports the biological sensitivity to context theory, which posits that physiologically reactive children, as indexed by autonomic nervous system (ANS) reactivity to laboratory stressors, are more susceptible to both negative and positive environmental influences than their low reactive peers. High biological sensitivity is a risk factor for behavioral and health problems in the context of high adversity, whereas in contexts of low adversity it has been found to promote positive adaptation. However, several studies have shown the opposite effect, finding that children who exhibited high ANS reactivity in response to interpersonal stressors were buffered from the deleterious effects of marital conflict, whereas children who showed low ANS reactivity were more vulnerable to high levels of marital conflict. Using an ethnically diverse sample of 260 kindergartners (130 girls, 130 boys), the current study investigated whether the interaction effect of marital conflict and the two branches of ANS reactivity on children's externalizing and internalizing symptoms differs with the nature of the laboratory challenge task used to measure children's stress response. As hypothesized, results indicate that the interaction between ANS reactivity and marital conflict significantly predicted children's behavior problems, but the direction of the effect varied with the nature of the challenge task (i.e., interpersonal or cognitive). This study illustrates the importance of considering the effect of laboratory stimuli when assessing whether children's ANS reactivity moderates the effects of adversity exposure on adaptation.

Measures of RSA Suppression, Attentional Control, and Negative Affect Predict Self-Ratings of Executive Functions

The current study was an attempt to determine the degree to which the suppression of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and attentional control were influential in the ability to engage various executive processes under high and low levels of negative affect. Ninety-four college students completed the Stroop Test while heart rate was being recorded. Estimates of the suppression of RSA were calculated from each participant in response to this test. The participants then completed self-ratings of attentional control, negative affect, and executive functioning. Regression analysis indicated that individual differences in estimates of the suppression of RSA, and ratings of attentional control were associated with the ability to employ executive processes but only when self-ratings of negative affect were low. An increase in negative affect compromised the ability to employ these strategies in the majority of participants. The data also suggest that high attentional control in conjunction with attenuated estimates of RSA suppression may increase the ability to use executive processes as negative affect increases.

Behavioral and physiological responses to child-directed speech as predictors of communication outcomes in children with autism spectrum disorders

PURPOSE

To determine the extent to which behavioral and physiological responses during child-directed speech (CDS) correlate concurrently and predictively with communication skills in young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

METHOD

Twenty-two boys with ASD (initial mean age: 35 months) participated in a longitudinal study. At entry, behavioral (i.e., percentage looking) and physiological (i.e., vagal activity) measures were collected during the presentation of CDS stimuli. A battery of standardized communication measures was administered at entry and readministered 12 months later.

RESULTS

Percentage looking during CDS was strongly correlated with all entry and follow-up communication scores; vagal activity during CDS was moderately to strongly correlated with entry receptive language, follow-up expressive language, and social-communicative adaptive skills. After controlling for entry communication skills, vagal activity during CDS accounted for significant variance in follow-up communication skills, but percentage looking during CDS did not.

CONCLUSIONS

Behavioral and physiological responses to CDS are significantly related to concurrent and later communication skills of children with ASD. Furthermore, higher vagal activity during CDS predicts better communication outcomes 12 months later, after initial communication skills are accounted for. Further research is needed to better understand the physiological mechanisms underlying variable responses to CDS among children with ASD.

Individual differences in growth in executive function across the transition to school predict externalizing and internalizing behaviors and self-perceived academic success at 6 years of age

Building on an existing latent variable analysis of executive function (EF) in children (N=191, 57% boys and 43% girls) making the transition to school (Hughes et al. (2010), Developmental Neuropsychology, vol. 35, pp. 20-36), the current study both documented average developmental improvements from 4 to 6years of age and examined individual differences in EF growth in relation to latent factors for two sets of child outcome measures at 6years: (a) first-grade teachers' ratings of emotional symptoms, hyperactivity, and conduct/peer problems and (b) children's self-perceived academic and social competencies. With effects of concurrent verbal ability and EF controlled, variation in EF slopes across the transition to school predicted variation in latent constructs for (a) all four problem behavior subscales and (b) children's self-reported academic (but not social) competence. These findings underscore the clinical and educational significance of early individual differences in EF and highlight the value of adopting a developmental perspective.

Tracking executive function across the transition to school: a latent variable approach

This longitudinal study of executive function (EF) addressed three questions. These concerned: (i) the validity of EF as a latent construct underpinning performance at ages 4 and 6 on tests of planning, inhibitory control, and working memory; (ii) developmental change in EF across these time-points, which straddled children's transition to school; and (iii) verbal ability and family income as predictors of base-line individual differences and variation in the slopes of EF development. Confirmatory factor analyses of data from a socially diverse sample of 191 children supported the validity of a single EF construct at both time-points; a MIMIC (multiple indicators, multiple causes) model showed equally good fit for boys and girls. Latent growth models demonstrated that verbal mental age and family income predicted EF intercepts, but EF slopes were only related to verbal mental age. Across the transition to school, less able children (but not children from low income families) showed greater gains in EF than their peers.

Is the behavior rating inventory of executive function more strongly associated with measures of impairment or executive function?

The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) is commonly used in the assessment of children and adolescents presenting with a wide range of concerns. It is unclear, however, whether the questionnaire is more closely related to general measures of behavioral disruption and impairment or to specific measures of executive function. In the present study, associations between the Behavioral Regulation Index and Metacognition Index of the BRIEF and cognitive, behavioral, and academic measures were examined in a sample of clinic-referred youth (n = 60) and healthy youth (n = 37) 6-15 years of age. Measures included ratings of inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive symptoms in youth, ratings of how well youth functioned in their everyday environments, youth's scores on measures of reading and math, and youth's scores on measures of inhibition, performance monitoring, and working memory. Although both BRIEF indices were strongly related to parent and teacher ratings of behavioral disruption and impairment, neither was associated with youth's scores on the performance-based tasks of executive function. These findings support the use of the BRIEF as a clinical tool for assessing a broad range of concerns, but raise questions about the relation of the BRIEF to performance-based tasks that are commonly used to assess executive function.

Executive Function Skills of 6 to 8 Year Olds: Brain and Behavioral Evidence and Implications for School Achievement

Academic and social success in school has been linked to children's self-regulation. This study investigated the assessment of the executive function (EF) component of self-regulation using a low-cost, easily administered measure to determine whether scores obtained from the behavioral task would agree with those obtained using a laboratory-based neuropsychological measure of EF skills. The sample included 74 children (37 females; M = 86.2 months) who participated in two assessments of working memory and inhibitory control: Knock-Tap (NEPSY: Korkman, Kirk, and Kemp, 1998), and participation in event-related potential (ERP) testing that included the Directional Stroop Test (Davidson, Cruess, Diamond, O'Craven, & Savoy, 1999). Three main findings emerged. First, children grouped as high versus low performing on the NEPSY Knock-Tap Task were found to performed differently on the more difficult conditions of the DST (the Incongruent and Mixed Conditions), suggesting that the Knock-Tap Task as a low-cost and easy to administer assessment of EF skills may be one way for teachers to identify students with poor inhibitory control skills. Second, children's performance on the DST was strongly related to their ERP responses, adding to evidence that differences in behavioral performance on the DST as a measure of EF skills reflect corresponding differences in brain processing. Finally, differences in brain processing on the DST task also were found when the children were grouped based on Knock-Tap performance. Simple screening procedures can enable teachers to identify children whose distractibility, inattentiveness, or poor attention spans may interfere with classroom learning.

Effortful Control and Adaptive Functioning of Homeless Children: Variable- and Person-focused Analyses

Homeless children show significant developmental delays across major domains of adaptation, yet research on protective processes that may contribute to resilient adaptation in this highly disadvantaged group of children is extremely rare. This study examined the role of effortful control for adaption in 58 homeless children, ages 5-6, during their transition to school. Effortful control skills were assessed using children's performance on four standard executive functioning tasks. Adaptive functioning was assessed by teacher report of academic competence, peer competence, and internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Variable-focused and person-focused results indicate that effortful control may be an important marker of school readiness and resilience. Controlling for child IQ, parenting quality, and socio-demographic risks, effortful control emerged as the most significant predictor of all four salient developmental domains of adaptation as well as of resilient status of homeless children. Implications of these findings are discussed for future research and design of interventions.

Predicting cardiac vagal regulation in early childhood from maternal-child relationship quality during toddlerhood

The aim of this study was to examine the influence of maternal-child relationship quality during toddlerhood on early childhood physiological regulation. A community sample of 447 children (215 males) was recruited at age 2 for participation in the study using the Child Behavior Checklist [Achenbach [1992] Manual for the child behavior checklist/2-3 & 1992 profile. Burlington, VT: University of VT Department of Psychiatry]. Mothers and children were observed across several interactions in the laboratory at age 2 and mothers completed the Parenting Stress Index [Abidin [1995] Manual for the parenting stress index. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources]. Relationship quality was assessed using laboratory measures of hostility, positive guidance, and stress related to the quality of the relationship as reported by mothers. Cardiac vagal regulation at age 2 was assessed across six challenge tasks, three in which the child and mother worked together and three in which the child worked independently, and was indexed by the magnitude of vagal withdrawal (decrease in respiratory sinus arrhythmia, RSA) to challenge. Results indicated that children displayed greater cardiac vagal regulation and heart rate acceleration during collaborative tasks versus independent tasks. In addition, maternal-child relationship quality predicted the degree of vagal regulation in children at age 5, even after controlling for early and concurrent level of behavior problems as well as 2-year cardiac vagal regulation. Children with poorer quality relationships displayed significantly poorer vagal regulation and lower heart rate acceleration (p < .01). These findings are discussed in terms of the implications of environmental factors for the acquisition of fundamental self-regulatory skills.

Individual differences in trajectories of emotion regulation processes: the effects of maternal depressive symptomatology and children's physiological regulation

Trajectories of emotion regulation processes were examined in a community sample of 269 children across the ages of 4 to 7 using hierarchical linear modeling. Maternal depressive symptomatology (Symptom Checklist-90) and children's physiological reactivity (respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]) and vagal regulation (Delta RSA) were explored as predictors of individual differences in trajectories of emotion regulation and negativity (mother-reported Emotion Regulation Checklist; A. M. Shields & D. Cicchetti, 1997). In addition, the authors explored whether children's physiological regulation would moderate the effect of maternal depressive symptomatology on children's emotion regulation trajectories. Results indicated that over time, emotion regulation increased whereas negativity decreased, though considerable individual variability in the pattern of change was observed. Greater maternal depressive symptomatology was associated with less steep emotion regulation trajectories. There was a significant Maternal Depressive Symptomatology x Baseline RSA x Age interaction predicting emotion regulation trajectories. Overall, it appears that the development of emotion regulation over time is compromised when mothers report greater depressive symptomatology. There is also evidence that children's capacity for physiological regulation can buffer some of the adverse consequences associated with maternal depressive symptomatology.

Does motor activity during psychophysiological paradigms confound the quantification and interpretation of heart rate and heart rate variability measures in young children?

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), heart period, and motor activity were monitored in preschoolers during a variety of tasks varying in required movement. The data analyses indicate: (1) that when activity increases during tasks, there are synchronous decreases in heart period and RSA; (2) that correlations between changes in RSA and heart period are related to activity only during exercise when there is a major demand for increased metabolic resources; and (3) that the covariation among the variables within each condition is low except during exercise. These findings suggest that the slight increases in motor activity (i.e., hand movements) often required in attention demanding psychophysiological protocols are not related to RSA and heart period responses. However, when tasks necessitate large increases in motor activity (e.g., exercise), the decreases in heart period and RSA are related to the change in motor activity.

Cardiac vagal regulation and early peer status

A sample of 341 5 (1/2) -year-old children participating in an ongoing longitudinal study was the focus of a study on the relation between cardiac vagal regulation and peer status. To assess cardiac vagal regulation, resting measures of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and RSA change (suppression) to 3 cognitively and emotionally challenging tasks were derived. Results indicated that vagal regulation was positively associated with peer status. In addition, mediational analyses revealed that the relation between vagal regulation and peer status was mediated through better social skills for girls and better social skills and fewer behavior problems for boys. These findings are discussed in terms of the role of vagal regulation in the facilitation of children's positive social behavior.

The polyvagal perspective

The polyvagal theory introduced a new perspective relating autonomic function to behavior, that included an appreciation of the autonomic nervous system as a "system," the identification of neural circuits involved in the regulation of autonomic state, and an interpretation of autonomic reactivity as adaptive within the context of the phylogeny of the vertebrate autonomic nervous system. The paper has two objectives: first, to provide an explicit statement of the theory; and second, to introduce the features of a polyvagal perspective. The polyvagal perspective emphasizes how an understanding of neurophysiological mechanisms and phylogenetic shifts in neural regulation leads to different questions, paradigms, explanations, and conclusions regarding autonomic function in biobehavioral processes than peripheral models. Foremost, the polyvagal perspective emphasizes the importance of phylogenetic changes in the neural structures regulating the autonomic nervous system and how these phylogenetic shifts provide insights into the adaptive function and the neural regulation of the two vagal systems.

Temperament and vagal tone in boys with fragile X syndrome

Physiological hyperarousal, an elevated state of physiological arousal and poor modulation, has been postulated to be a significant source of behavior problems in children with fragile X syndrome (FXS). Temperament has been associated with behavior problems and may also reflect biological reactivity. Young boys with FXS display poorly modulated and low levels of vagal tone (Roberts, Dev Psychobiol 2001;39:107-123) and high activity, poor attention, low adaptability, poor persistence, and low intensity when compared with a reference sample of typically developing (Hatton, Dev Med Child Neurol 1991;41:625-632). In this study, we integrated physiological indices of vagal tone with temperament ratings and compared a sample of 29 young boys with FXS to 31 typically developing boys matched on chronological age and ethnicity. Boys with FXS were more active, less adaptable, and less persistent than the comparison group. Boys with FXS also showed lower baseline levels and less suppression of vagal tone in response to changing task demands. A relationship between baseline vagal tone and persistence was shown across both groups. However, group differences in temperament dimensions did not appear to be mediated or moderated by vagal tone.