The simultaneous assessment of and relations between children's sympathetic and parasympathetic psychophysiology and their reactive and proactive aggression

Autonomic nervous system reactivity to emotion and childhood trajectories of relational and physical aggression

This study investigated the role of autonomic nervous system (ANS) coordination in response to emotion in girls' and boys' development of relational (e.g., ignoring, excluding) and physical (e.g., hitting, kicking) aggression. Caregivers reported on children's relational and physical aggression at ages 6, 7, 8, and 10 years (N = 232, 50.4% girls, 46.6% Latinx). Sympathetic nervous system (assessed via pre-ejection period) and parasympathetic nervous system (assessed via respiratory sinus arrhythmia) reactivity were measured in response to video clips depicting fear, happiness, and sadness at age 7. Growth curve models indicated that ANS reactivity to sadness, but not to fear or happiness, was related to trajectories of relational aggression. In contrast, ANS reactivity to all three emotions was associated with trajectories of physical aggression. Effects differed across genders, indicating that distinct patterns of ANS reactivity to emotion may be involved in girls' and boys' development of aggression. Overall, these findings contribute to a growing literature documenting the role of ANS reactivity to emotion in aggressive behavior. Moreover, this study considers ANS reactivity to specific emotions, as related to both relational and physical aggression, and as differentially expressed among girls versus boys.

Susceptibility to peer influence in adolescents: Associations between psychophysiology and behavior

The current study investigated in-the-moment links between adolescents' autonomic nervous system activity and susceptibility to three types of peer influence (indirect, direct, continuing) on two types of behavior (antisocial, prosocial). The sample included 144 racially ethnically diverse adolescents (46% male, 53% female, 1% other; M age  = 16.02 years). We assessed susceptibility to peer influence behaviorally using the Public Goods Game (PGG) while measuring adolescents' mean heart rate (MHR) and pre-ejection period (PEP). Three key findings emerged from bivariate dual latent change score modeling: (1) adolescents whose MHR increased more as they transitioned from playing the PGG alone (pre-influence) to playing while simply observed by peers (indirect influence) displayed more prosocial behavior; (2) adolescents whose PEP activity increased more (greater PEP activity = shorter PEP latency) as they transitioned from indirect influence to being encouraged by peers to engage in antisocial behavior (direct influence) engaged in more antisocial behavior; and (3) adolescents whose PEP activity decreased less as they transitioned from direct influence on prosocial behavior to playing the PGG alone again (continuing influence) displayed more continuing prosocial behavior (marginal effect). The discussion focuses on the role of psychophysiology in understanding adolescents' susceptibility to peer influence.

Differential Treatment Response of Proactive and Reactive Partner Abusive Men: Results from a Laboratory Proximal Change Experiment

Objective: The current study reexamines data from Babcock et al. (2011) proximal change experiment to discern the differential utility of two communication skills-based interventions for proactive and reactive partner violence offenders. Method: Partner violent men were randomly assigned to the Editing Out the Negative skill, the Accepting Influence skill, or to a placebo/timeout and reengaged in a conflict discussion with their partners. Proactivity was tested as a moderator of immediate intervention outcomes. The ability to learn the communication skills, changes in self-reported affect, observed aggression, and psychophysiological responding were examined as a function of proactivity of violence. Results: Highly proactive men had some difficulty learning the Accepting Influence skill and they responded poorly to this intervention. They responded positively to the Editing Out the Negative technique, with less aggression, more positive affect, and lower heart rates. Low proactive (i.e., reactive) men tended to feel less aggressive, more positive, and less physiologically aroused after completing the Accepting Influence technique. Conclusions: This study lends support for tailoring batterer interventions specific to perpetrator characteristics.

Maternal invalidation and child RSA reactivity to frustration interact to predict teacher-reported aggression among at-risk preschoolers

BACKGROUND

Aggression is a transdiagnostic indicator of risk and represents one of the most common reasons children are referred for mental health treatment. Theory and research highlight the impact of maternal invalidation on child aggression and suggest that its influence may vary based on differences in child physiological reactivity. Moreover, the interaction between these risk factors may be particularly pronounced among children of mothers with emotion regulation (ER) difficulties. The current study examined the independent and interactive effects of maternal invalidation and child physiological reactivity to frustration on teacher-reported aggression in an at-risk sample of preschool children.

METHOD

Participants included 77 mothers (Mage = 33.17 years, s.d. = 4.83; 35% racial/ethnic minority) and their children (Mage = 42.48 months; s.d. = 3.78; 56% female; 47% racial/ethnic minority). Groups of mothers with and without clinician-rated ER difficulties reported on maternal invalidation, and child respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was assessed continuously during a frustration task as an indicator of physiological reactivity. Teachers or daycare providers reported on child aggression.

RESULTS

Results demonstrated positive associations between maternal ER difficulties and both maternal invalidation and child RSA reactivity to frustration. As expected, the interaction between maternal invalidation and child RSA reactivity was significant, such that higher maternal invalidation and greater child RSA reactivity to frustration predicted more aggression in a daycare or preschool setting. Importantly, this effect was demonstrated while controlling for demographic covariates and baseline RSA.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings are in line with diathesis-stress and biosocial models of risk and point to multiple targets for prevention and early intervention.

Vagal flexibility to negative emotions moderates the relations between environmental risk and adjustment problems in childhood

Neurobiological and social-contextual influences shape children's adjustment, yet limited biopsychosocial studies have integrated temporal features when modeling physiological regulation of emotion. This study explored whether a common underlying pattern of non-linear change in respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) across emotional scenarios characterized 4-6 year-old children's parasympathetic reactivity (N = 180). Additionally, we tested whether dynamic RSA reactivity was an index of neurobiological susceptibility or a diathesis in the association between socioeconomic status, authoritarian parenting, and the development of externalizing problems (EP) and internalizing problems over two years. There was a shared RSA pattern across all emotions, characterized by more initial RSA suppression and a subsequent return toward baseline, which we call vagal flexibility (VF). VF interacted with parenting to predict EP. More authoritarian parenting predicted increased EP two years later only when VF was low; conversely, when VF was very high, authoritarian mothers reported that their children had fewer EP. Altogether, children's patterns of dynamic RSA change to negative emotions can be characterized by a higher order factor, and the nature by which VF contributes to EP depends on maternal socialization practices, with low VF augmenting and high VF buffering children against the effects of authoritarian parenting.

Mindful Coping Power Effects on Children's Autonomic Nervous System Functioning and Long-Term Behavioral Outcomes

Mindful Coping Power (MCP) was developed to enhance the effects of the Coping Power (CP) preventive intervention on children's reactive aggression by integrating mindfulness training into CP. In prior pre-post analyses in a randomized trial of 102 children, MCP improved children's self-reported anger modulation, self-regulation, and embodied awareness relative to CP but had fewer comparative effects on parent- and teacher-reported observable behavioral outcomes, including reactive aggression. It was hypothesized that MCP-produced improvements in children's internal awareness and self-regulation, if maintained or strengthened over time with ongoing mindfulness practice, would yield improvements in children's observable prosocial and reactive aggressive behavior at later time points. To appraise this hypothesis, the current study examined teacher-reported child behavioral outcomes at a one-year follow-up. In the current subsample of 80 children with one-year follow-up data, MCP produced a significant improvement in children's social skills and a statistical trend for a reduction in reactive aggression compared with CP. Further, MCP produced improvements in children's autonomic nervous system functioning compared with CP from pre- to post-intervention, with a significant effect on children's skin conductance reactivity during an arousal task. Mediation analyses found that MCP-produced improvements in inhibitory control at post-intervention mediated program effects on reactive aggression at the one-year follow-up. Within-person analyses with the full sample (MCP and CP) found that improvements in respiratory sinus arrhythmia reactivity were associated with improvements in reactive aggression at the one-year follow-up. Together, these findings indicate that MCP is an important new preventive tool to improve embodied awareness, self-regulation, stress physiology, and observable long-term behavioral outcomes in at-risk youth. Further, children's inhibitory control and autonomic nervous system functioning emerged as key targets for preventive intervention.

Non-angry aggressive arousal and angriffsberietschaft: A narrative review of the phenomenology and physiology of proactive/offensive aggression motivation and escalation in people and other animals

Human aggression typologies largely correspond with those for other animals. While there may be no non-human equivalent of angry reactive aggression, we propose that human proactive aggression is similar to offense in other animals' dominance contests for territory or social status. Like predation/hunting, but unlike defense, offense and proactive aggression are positively reinforcing, involving dopamine release in accumbens. The drive these motivational states provide must suffice to overcome fear associated with initiating risky fights. We term the neural activity motivating proactive aggression "non-angry aggressive arousal", but use "angriffsberietschaft" for offense motivation in other animals to acknowledge possible differences. Temporal variation in angriffsberietschaft partitions fights into bouts; engendering reduced anti-predator vigilance, redirected aggression and motivational over-ride. Increased aggressive arousal drives threat-to-attack transitions, as in verbal-to-physical escalation and beyond that, into hyper-aggression. Proactive aggression and offense involve related neural activity states. Cingulate, insular and prefrontal cortices energize/modulate aggression through a subcortical core containing subnuclei for each aggression type. These proposals will deepen understanding of aggression across taxa, guiding prevention/intervention for human violence.

Exploring the effects of a wearable biocueing app (Sense-IT) as an addition to aggression regulation therapy in forensic psychiatric outpatients

Objective

Preventing and reducing violence is of high importance for both individuals and society. However, the overall efficacy of current treatment interventions aimed at reducing aggressive behavior is limited. New technological-based interventions may enhance treatment outcomes, for instance by facilitating out-of-session practice and providing just-in-time support. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the effects of the Sense-IT biocueing app as an addition to aggression regulation therapy (ART) on interoceptive awareness, emotion regulation, and aggressive behavior among forensic outpatients.

Methods

A combination of methods was used. Quantitatively, a pretest-posttest design was applied to explore group changes in aggression, emotion regulation, and anger bodily sensations associated with the combination of biocueing intervention and ART. Measures were assessed at pretest, after 4 weeks posttest, and after one-month follow-up. During the 4 weeks, a single-case experimental ABA design was applied for each participant. Biocueing was added in the intervention phase. During all phases anger, aggressive thoughts, aggressive behavior, behavioral control, and physical tension were assessed twice a day, and heart rate was measured continuously. Qualitative information regarding interoceptive awareness, coping, and aggression was collected at posttest. 25 forensic outpatients participated.

Results

A significant decrease in self-reported aggression was found between pre- and posttest. Furthermore, three-quarters of participants reported increased interoceptive awareness associated with the biocueing intervention. However, the repeated ambulatory measurements of the single-case experimental designs (SCEDs) did not indicate a clear effect favoring the addition of biocueing. On group level, no significant effects were found. On the individual level, effects favoring the intervention were only found for two participants. Overall, effect sizes were small.

Conclusion

Biocueing seems a helpful addition to increase interoceptive awareness among forensic outpatients. However, not all patients benefit from the current intervention and, more specifically, from its behavioral support component aimed at enhancing emotion regulation. Future studies should therefore focus on increasing usability, tailoring the intervention to individual needs, and on integration into therapy. Individual characteristics associated with effective support by a biocueing intervention should be further investigated, as the use of personalized and technological-based treatment interventions is expected to increase in the coming years.

Autonomic Arousal, Ethical Guilt, and Externalizing Behavior in Childhood: A Clinical Extension and Replication

Lower autonomic arousal is associated with higher externalizing behavior in childhood but the mechanisms explaining this link are still debated. One possibility is that lower autonomic arousal makes it difficult for children to anticipate or express social emotions, such as ethical guilt rooted in concern for others, thereby increasing their likelihood of externalizing behavior. However, evidence for this social-emotional hypothesis has been limited to community samples. The present study included ethnically diverse samples of 150 typically developing children (M_age = 8.01 years; 50% girls) and 62 children referred for clinically elevated externalizing behavior (M_age = 9.16 years; 16% girls; N = 212). Caregivers reported children's externalizing behavior. Children's respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was measured as an indicator of parasympathetic activity in response to hypothetical vignettes depicting externalizing behavior. Children's ethical guilt was coded from semi-structured interviews following each vignette. Greater RSA increases (indicating a low-arousal, rest-and-digest response) were associated with lower ethical guilt. Lower ethical guilt was associated with higher externalizing behavior. A significant indirect effect showed that RSA increases were associated with higher externalizing behavior through relative lapses in ethical guilt. Results were consistent across and within the community and clinical samples. Theoretical and practical implications for clinically elevated externalizing behavior are discussed.

Reactive vs proactive aggression: A differential psychobiological profile? Conclusions derived from a systematic review

INTRODUCTION

Scholars have established subcategories of aggressive behavior in order to better understand this construct. Specifically, a classification based on motivational underpinnings makes it possible to differentiate between reactive and proactive aggression. Whereas reactive aggression is characterized by emotional lability, which means it is prone to impulsive reactions after provocation, proactive aggression is driven by low emotionality and high levels of instrumentality to obtain benefits. Some authors have conceived these two types as having a dichotomous nature, but others argue against this conceptualization, considering a complementary model more suitable. Hence, neuroscientific research might help to clarify discussions about their nature because biological markers do not present the same biases as psychological instruments.

AIM

The main objective of this study was to carry out a systematic review of studies that assess underlying biological markers (e.g., genes, brain, psychophysiological, and hormonal) of reactive and proactive aggression.

METHODS

To carry out this review, we followed PRISMA quality criteria for reviews, using five digital databases complemented by hand-searching.

RESULTS

The reading of 3993 abstracts led to the final inclusion of 157 papers that met all the inclusion criteria. The studies included allow us to conclude that heritability accounted for approximately 45% of the explained variance in both types of aggression, with 60% shared by both, especially, for overt and physical expression forms, and 10% specific to each type. Regarding allelic risk factors, whereas low functioning variants affecting serotonin transport and monoaminoxidase increased the risk of reactive aggression, high functioning variants were associated with proactive aggression. Furthermore, brain analysis revealed an overlap between the two types of aggression and alterations in the volume of the amygdala and temporal cortex. Moreover, high activation of the medial prefrontal cortex (PFC) facilitated proneness to both types of aggression equally. Whereas stimulation of the right ventrolateral (VLPFC) and dorsolateral (DLPFC) reduced proneness to aggression, inhibition of the left DLPFC increased it. Finally, psychophysiological and hormonal correlates in general did not clearly differentiate between the two types because they were equally related to each type (e.g., low basal cortisol and vagal variability in response to acute stress) CONCLUSIONS: This study reinforces the complementary model of both types of aggression instead of a dichotomous model. Additionally, this review also offers background about several treatments (i.e., pharmacological, non-invasive brain techniques…) to reduce aggression proneness.

Neurobiological Responses towards Stimuli Depicting Aggressive Interactions in Delinquent Young Adults and Controls: No Relation to Reactive and Proactive Aggression

Neurobiological measures underlying aggressive behavior have gained attention due to their potential to inform risk assessment and treatment interventions. Aberrations in responsivity of the autonomic nervous system and electrophysiological responses to arousal-inducing stimuli have been related to emotional dysregulation and aggressive behavior. However, studies have often been performed in community samples, using tasks that induce arousal but not specifically depict aggression. In this study, we examined differences in psychophysiological (i.e., heart rate, respiratory sinus arrhythmia, skin conductance level) and electrophysiological responses (i.e., P3, late positive potential, mu suppression) to aggressive versus neutral scenes in a sample of 118 delinquent young adults and 25 controls (all male, aged 18–27). With respect to group differences, we only found significant higher SCL reactivity during the task in the delinquent group compared to controls, but this was irrespective of condition (aggressive and neutral interactions). Within the delinquent group, we also examined associations between the neurobiological measures and reactive and proactive aggression. No significant associations were found. Therefore, although we found some indication of emotional dysregulation in these delinquent young adults, future studies should further elucidate the neurobiological mechanisms underlying emotional dysregulation in relation to different types of aggression.

Psychometric Properties of the Multidimensional Temperance Scale in Adolescents

Recent research has shown the relevance of measuring the virtue of temperance. The present study tested a multidimensional and second-order structure scale to assess temperance using a sub-scale of the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths for Youth (VIA-Youth). Scale properties were tested using data from a sample of 860 adolescents aged from 12 to 18 years old (M = 14.28 years, SD = 1.65). The sample was randomly split into two subsamples for model cross-validation. Using the first sample, we assessed scale dimensionality, measurement invariance, and discriminant and concurrent validity. A second sample was used for model cross-validation. Confirmatory factorial analysis confirmed the fit of one second-order factor temperance virtue model, with the dimensions of forgiveness, modesty, prudence, and self-control. The results indicate scale measurement equivalence across gender and stage of adolescence (early vs. middle). Latent means difference tests showed significant differences in forgiveness, modesty, and self-regulation by gender, and modesty according to adolescence stage. Moreover, the scale showed discriminant and concurrent validity. These findings indicate that this scale is helpful for assessing temperance in adolescents and suggest the value of temperance as a multidimensional and second-order construct.

Cold-Blooded and on Purpose: A Review of the Biology of Proactive Aggression

Proactive aggression (PA) is a planned and unprovoked form of aggression that is most often enacted for personal gain or in anticipation of a reward. Frequently described as "cold-blooded" or goal oriented, PA is thought to be associated with low autonomic arousal. With this view in mind, we performed a scoping review of the biological correlates of PA and identified 74 relevant articles. Physiological findings indicated a robust association between PA and reduced resting heart rate, and to a lesser extent a relationship between PA and decreased heart rate and skin conductance reactivity, perhaps indicating dampened sympathetic function. The twin literature identified PA as a heritable trait, but little evidence implicates specific genes in the pathogenesis of PA. Neuroimaging studies of PA pinpoint impaired amygdala function in the assessment and conditioning of aversive stimuli, which may influence the establishment of behavioral patterns. Nodes of the default mode network were identified as possible neural correlates of PA, suggesting that altered function of this network may be involved in the genesis of PA. Given the overlap of PA with reactive aggression and the overall behavioral complexity of PA, it is clear that multiple endophenotypes of PA exist. This comprehensive review surveys the most salient neurobiologically informed research on PA.

Proactive vs. Reactive Aggression Within Two Modified Versions of the Taylor Aggression Paradigm

The Taylor Aggression Paradigm (TAP) has been widely used to measure reactive aggression following provocation during competitive interactions. Besides being reactive, aggression can be goal-directed (proactive aggression). Our study presents a novel paradigm to investigate proactive aggression during competitive interactions. Sixty-seven healthy participants competed in two modified versions of the TAP against an ostensible opponent while skin conductance responses (SCRs) were recorded. During the proactive TAP (pTAP), only the participant could interfere with the ostensible opponent’s performance by blurring the screen. In the reactive TAP (rTAP), the opponent repeatedly provoked the participant by blurring the screen of the participant, impeding their chance to win. In both versions, the blurriness levels chosen by the participant served as a measure of aggression (unprovoked in the pTAP and provoked in the rTAP). In the pTAP, trial-by-trial mixed model analyses revealed higher aggression with higher self-reported selfishness. SCRs decreased with increasing proactive aggression. An interaction effect between gender and proactive aggression for the SCRs revealed increased SCRs at higher aggression levels in females, but lower SCRs at higher aggression levels in males. In the rTAP, SCRs were not associated with reactive aggression but aggression increased with increasing provocation and especially after losing against the opponent when provoked. While males showed higher aggression levels than females when unprovoked, reactive aggression increased more strongly in females with higher provocation. Mean levels of aggression in both tasks showed a high positive correlation. Our results highlight that, despite being intercorrelated and both motivated by selfishness, proactive and reactive aggression are differentially influenced by gender and physiological arousal. Proactive aggression is related to lower physiological arousal, especially in males, with females showing the opposite association. Reactive aggressive behavior is a result of individual responses to provocation, to which females seem to be more sensitive.

Relations between Reactive and Proactive Aggression and Daily Emotions in Adolescents

The current study examined whether individual differences in reactive and proactive aggression: 1) relate to level of daily emotion, including happiness, sadness, anger, and fear, 2) predict across-day variability in these emotions, and 3) moderate reactivity of these emotions to positive and negative events. Participants were a racially/ethnically diverse sample of 144 adolescents (80 girls, 64 boys; M age = 13.55 years; SD = 1.34). Adolescents self-reported on reactive and proactive aggression in a home visit prior to the collection of daily data. Using daily dairy procedures, adolescents then reported on their daily emotions and positive/negative events over 12 consecutive days. Higher reactive aggression was associated with greater levels of daily anger, more variability in anger across days, and heightened angry reactivity to negative events. Additionally, higher reactive aggression predicted lower levels of daily happiness but greater happy reactivity to positive events. Finally, higher reactive aggression was linked to increased variability in daily fear. In contrast, proactive aggression was largely unrelated to adolescents' daily emotions, with the exception that higher proactive aggression predicted less variability in happiness across days. Results indicate that reactive aggression is characterized by significant emotionality at the daily level, and proactive aggression is characterized by lack of emotionality.

A process model linking physiological arousal and fear recognition to aggression via guilt in middle childhood

Aggression coincides with emotional underarousal in childhood, but we still lack an understanding of how underarousal contributes to aggression. With an ethnically diverse sample of 8-year-olds (N = 150), we tested whether physiological underarousal and lower fear recognition were indirectly associated with heightened aggression through dampened guilt feelings. Caregivers rated children's aggressive behavior. We assessed children's skin conductance (SC) and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) while they imagined transgressing norms and measured their fear recognition with a facial morph task. Children reported guilt or lack thereof after hypothetically transgressing. The interaction of decreasing SC and increasing RSA (i.e., physiological underarousal) and poor fear recognition were indirectly associated with higher aggression through their associations with lower guilt. Emotional underarousal may contribute to aggression by disrupting the normative development of guilt. We discuss strategies to improve social-emotional acuity and reduce aggression in children with blunted physiological arousal and fear recognition.