Physiological Profiles During Delay of Gratification: Associations with Emotionality, Self-regulation, and Adjustment Problems

Parents' depressive symptoms and reflective functioning predict parents' proficiency in relational savoring and children's physiological regulation

This study examined parental depression and parental reflective functioning (PRF) as predictors of parental proficiency in relational savoring (RS), the association between RS proficiency and a marker of children's physiological self-regulation, respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), during a stressor, and indirect effects of parental depression and PRF on children's RSA via parents' RS. At Time 1 (T1), parents of 8- to 12-year-old children (N = 139) reported on their depressive symptoms and completed a parenting interview, coded for PRF. After 1.5 years (Time 2; T2), parents savored a positive relational memory that involved their children, which was coded for savoring proficiency. Children's RSA was measured during a stressful task (a series of impossible puzzles). Depressive symptoms (inversely) and PRF (positively) were associated with RS proficiency. Higher parental RS proficiency was associated with children's higher mean levels of RSA during the stressor. Indirect effects models supported that T2 RS proficiency mediated the negative association between parental T1 depressive symptoms and children's T2 RSA, and between T1 PRF and children's T2 RSA. We discuss these findings in terms of implications for parents' emotion regulation, children's emotion regulation, children's mental health, and intervention.

What children do while they wait: The role of self-control strategies in delaying gratification

Self-control plays an essential role in children's emotional and behavioral adjustment. A central behavioral indicator of self-control is the ability to delay gratification. Few studies have focused on understanding the heterogeneity of self-control behaviors that underlie children's ability to delay gratification. Therefore, we examined the role of spontaneous self-control behaviors (fidgeting, vocalizations, and anticipation/attentional focus toward a reward) in relation to 5-year old children's delay ability using Mischel's delay task (N = 144; M_age = 5.4 years, SD = 0.29). Latent mixture modeling was used to derive three distinct classes of self-control behaviors observed during the delay task: (1) Passive (low fidgeting, low vocalizations, but moderate anticipation), (2) Active (moderate fidgeting, moderate vocalizations, but high anticipation), and (3) Disruptive (high fidgeting, high vocalizations, and high anticipation). Children in the Passive class were more likely to delay the full task time compared with children in the Active class (odds ratio = 1.50, 95 % confidence interval = 1.28-1.81). There were no other differences in delay ability by self-control class. Children whose level of fidgeting and vocalizations matched their level of anticipation (i.e., Passive and Disruptive regulators) were able to delay more successfully than children who were mostly driven by anticipation (Active regulators). Some variation in children's delay ability and use of self-control strategies was explained by sociodemographic differences, specifically maternal age. Findings suggest probing processes underlying children's self-control to identify potential targets for intervention.

More than meets the eye: Examining physiological and behavioral regulation during delay of gratification task

Children continually encounter situations where they must regulate impulsive responses to achieve a goal, requiring both self‐control (SC) and delay of gratification. We examined concurrent behavioral SC strategies (fidgeting, vocalizations, anticipation) and physiological regulation (heart rate [HR], respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]) in 126 children (M (SD) = 5.4 (0.29) years) during a standard delay of gratification task. Latent variable models derived latent SC classes and examined the moderating role of HR/RSA on SC and delay ability. Three classes of SC were identified: passive: low fidgeting and vocalizations, moderate anticipation; active: moderate fidgeting, low vocalizations, and high anticipation; and disruptive: moderate fidgeting, high vocalizations, and high anticipation. Children in the active class had the lowest odds of delaying full task time, compared to children in the passive (OR = 0.67, z = −5.25, p < .001) and disruptive classes (OR = 0.76, z = −2.03, p = .04). RSA changes during the task moderated the relationship between SC class and delay ability for children in the active class (aOR = 0.92, z = −3.1, p < .01). Within the group who struggled to delay gratification (active class), a subset exhibiting appropriate autonomic regulation was able to delay. The findings suggest probing congruency of observed behavioral and unobserved physiological regulation.

Examining interactions between negative emotionality and effortful control in predicting preadolescent adjustment problems

Negative emotionality and effortful control consistently predict child adjustment, yet few studies explore their interactive effects on adjustment. In concurrent and longitudinal (one-year follow-up) analyses, we examined negative emotionality-by-effortful control interactions in predicting anxiety, depression, and conduct problems in 214 children aged 8-12. Temperament was assessed using behavioral tasks measuring fear, frustration, executive control, and delay ability. An interaction between frustration and executive control predicting conduct problems was observed; higher executive control was related to fewer concurrent conduct problems for those moderate to high in frustration, but did not predict conduct problems for those low in frustration. This interaction did not predict conduct problems one year later. No support was found for negative emotionality-by-effortful control interactions predicting anxiety or depression. Our findings highlight the importance of executive control during preadolescence and provide mixed evidence regarding whether facets of negative emotionality and executive control interact with one another to influence adjustment.

The Mediating Effect of Self-Regulation on the Association Between Growth Mindset About Work and Living a Calling Among Primary and Secondary School Teachers

Purpose

Given that extensive studies have documented the wide-ranging benefits of living a calling, determining whether and how living a calling can be improved is of great importance. Although recent research implies that a growth mindset about work may link to self-regulatory processes and living a calling, little research to date has directly examined the relationships between these variables. Building on Burnette’s SOMA model, this study was designed to examine the premise that a growth mindset about work was a predictor of living a calling and to explore the mediating role of self-regulation in the growth mindset about work—living a calling link.

Methods

This cross-sectional study was conducted among educational professionals in China. Data were collected from 608 primary and secondary school teachers on growth mindsets about work, self-regulation and living a calling. A structural equation model was used to test the hypothesis that self-regulation would mediate the relationship between a growth mindset about work and living a calling.

Results

Consistent with our premise, a growth mindset about work was positively associated with living a calling. Also, a growth mindset about work was significantly associated with self-regulation strategies in terms of goal setting, perseverance, decision making, and learning from mistakes. As hypothesized, a growth mindset about work was related to higher levels of living a calling via goal setting, perseverance, and learning from mistakes.

Conclusion

The findings contribute to the increasing breadth of the growth mindset literature across various contexts and its consequences for one’s living a calling, which expand the nomological web of correlates of growth mindset about work. Furthermore, these findings suggest that fostering a growth mindset about work may facilitate adaptive behaviors and, thereby, serve as a calling intervention.

Parsing profiles of temperamental reactivity and differential routes to delay of gratification: A person-based approach

Informed by a developmental psychopathology perspective, the present study applied a person-based approach to examine whether associations between early sociocontextual experiences (e.g., socioeconomic factors and maternal discipline practices) and preschool-age children's delay of gratification vary across profiles of children's temperamental reactivity. In addition, the study examined the direct and mediating role of children's set shifting in associations with delay of gratification within each profile. The sample consisted of 160 socioeconomically and ethnically diverse mothers and their 5-year-old children drawn from a longitudinal study of mother-child relationships. Latent profile analyses identified three profiles of temperamental reactivity distinguished by sensitivity to reward and punishment and negative affectivity. Multigroup analysis revealed maternal sensitive discipline (observed during a parent-child compliance task) at age 3.5 predicted longer delay of gratification at age 5 in the punishment reactivity/negative affectivity group. Maternal inductive reasoning discipline at age 3.5 predicted longer delay in the low temperamental reactivity group. For children with the reward reactivity/negative affectivity profile, higher family income at age 3.5 predicted longer delay of gratification at age 5, which was mediated by children's set shifting. Findings underscore the utility of person-based approaches for delineating differential developmental routes toward children's delay of gratification.

Self-regulation and the Development of Literacy and Language Achievement from Preschool through Second Grade

Previous research has established that higher levels of behavioral self-regulation are associated with higher levels of language and literacy. In this study, we take a more developmental perspective by considering how trajectories of self-regulation development (early, intermediate, late) predict the way literacy and language skills develop from preschool through second grade. Children (n = 351) were assessed twice per year for up to four years on indicators of decoding, reading comprehension, phonological awareness, and vocabulary. Using non-linear growth curve models, we found that children who demonstrated self-regulation earlier had higher language and literacy skills throughout preschool to second grade. More specifically, earlier self-regulation trajectories were associated with both higher levels and earlier development of both decoding and reading comprehension, but not faster development. Children with early self-regulation trajectories developed phonological awareness earlier than those with late self-regulation trajectories. Finally, children with early self-regulation trajectories had higher levels of vocabulary than children with intermediate trajectories, but did not differ on the rate or timing of vocabulary development. Findings point to the enduring and interconnected nature of self-regulation and children's language and literacy development.

Zooming in on children's behavior during delay of gratification: Disentangling impulsigenic and volitional processes underlying self-regulation

When delaying gratification, both motivational and regulatory processes are likely to be at play; however, the relative contributions of motivational and regulatory influences on delay behavior are unclear. By examining behavioral responses during a delay task, this study sought to examine the motivational (anticipatory behavior) and regulatory mechanisms (executive function and self-control strategies) underlying children's self-regulation. The participants, 65 5- to 9-year-old children (M_age=7.19years, SD=0.89), were video-recorded during a delay procedure and later coded for anticipatory behaviors (e.g., gazing intensely at the tablet) and self-control strategies. Children also completed two executive function (EF) tasks. We found that anticipatory behavior was curvilinearly related to delay time. Children showing either very low or very high levels of anticipatory behavior were not able to wait the entire time. Furthermore, our results indicated that anticipatory behavior interacted with EF to predict delay time. Specifically, anticipatory behavior was negatively related to delay time only if EF abilities were low. Finally, self-control strategies also interacted with EF to predict children's ability to delay. Spontaneous engagement in self-control strategies such as fidgeting and engagement in alternative activities were beneficial for children with low EF but were unrelated to delay time for children with high EF. Results indicate the value of examining motivational and regulatory influences on delay behavior. Lapses in self-regulation may be due to the combination of powerful impulsigenic (i.e., anticipatory behavior) and weak volitional processes (i.e., EF, self-control strategies).

Intergenerational transmission of self-regulation: A multidisciplinary review and integrative conceptual framework

This review examines mechanisms contributing to the intergenerational transmission of self-regulation. To provide an integrated account of how self-regulation is transmitted across generations, we draw from over 75 years of accumulated evidence, spanning case studies to experimental approaches, in literatures covering developmental, social, and clinical psychology, and criminology, physiology, genetics, and human and animal neuroscience (among others). First, we present a taxonomy of what self-regulation is and then examine how it develops--overviews that guide the main foci of the review. Next, studies supporting an association between parent and child self-regulation are reviewed. Subsequently, literature that considers potential social mechanisms of transmission, specifically parenting behavior, interparental (i.e., marital) relationship behaviors, and broader rearing influences (e.g., household chaos) is considered. Finally, evidence that prenatal programming may be the starting point of the intergenerational transmission of self-regulation is covered, along with key findings from the behavioral and molecular genetics literatures. To integrate these literatures, we introduce the self-regulation intergenerational transmission model, a framework that brings together prenatal, social/contextual, and neurobiological mechanisms (spanning endocrine, neural, and genetic levels, including gene-environment interplay and epigenetic processes) to explain the intergenerational transmission of self-regulation. This model also incorporates potential transactional processes between generations (e.g., children's self-regulation and parent-child interaction dynamics that may affect parents' self-regulation) that further influence intergenerational processes. In pointing the way forward, we note key future directions and ways to address limitations in existing work throughout the review and in closing. We also conclude by noting several implications for intervention work.

At-risk depressive symptoms and alcohol use trajectories in adolescence: a person-centred analysis of co-occurrence

Long-term longitudinal studies that examine whether there are distinct trajectories of at-risk depressive symptoms and alcohol use across the high school years (e.g., high co-occurrence) are rare in normative samples of adolescent boys and girls; yet, this assessment is of critical importance for developing effective prevention and intervention strategies. Moreover, the role of self-regulation and novelty-seeking behavior in differentiating among distinct subgroups of adolescents is not clear. To address these gaps, the present study sought to identify subgroups of adolescent boys and girls that indicated at-risk trajectories across the high school years for both depressive symptoms and alcohol use, and examined the role of delay of gratification and novelty seeking at baseline in differentiating among the subgroups. Canadian adolescents (N = 4,412; 49 % female) were surveyed at four time points (grades 9, 10, 11, and 12). Parallel process latent class growth analyses revealed four distinct subgroups for both boys and girls, encompassing high co-occurrence, depressive symptoms only, alcohol use only, and low co-occurrence. Across gender, delay of gratification at baseline differentiated among the four subgroups, with the High Co-Occurrence Group group scoring the lowest and the Low Co-Occurrence Group the highest. Lower novelty-seeking scores at baseline were associated more with being in the Depressive Symptoms Only Group relative to the other groups, particularly the Alcohol Use Only Group for boys. Thus, delay of gratification and novelty seeking may be useful in identifying youth at risk for co-occurring depressive symptoms and alcohol use trajectories, as well as at-risk trajectories for only one of these behaviors.

HPA axis reactivity in early childhood: associations with symptoms and moderation by sex

Sex differences in rates of internalizing disorders have been attributed in part to heightened sensitivity to stress in females. While the sex difference in disorder rates becomes most pronounced in adolescence, developmental research suggests that stress reactivity in girls may be related to elevated internalizing symptoms even in childhood. We therefore examined whether child sex moderated associations between symptoms of psychopathology and cortisol reactivity to a standardized stress task in 409 three-year-old community-dwelling children. Anxious symptoms were associated with elevated cortisol reactivity, but only in girls. Externalizing symptoms were unrelated to baseline cortisol or cortisol reactivity, and no evidence for moderation by child sex was found. Results suggest that cortisol reactivity to stress in early childhood has a sex-specific association with girls' internalizing symptoms.

Profiles of Reactivity in Cocaine-Exposed Children

This study explored the possibility that specific, theoretically consistent profiles of reactivity could be identified in a sample of cocaine-exposed infants and whether these profiles were associated with a range of infant and/or maternal characteristics. Cluster analysis was used to identify distinct groups of infants based on physiological, behavioral and maternal reported measures of reactivity. Five replicable clusters were identified which corresponded to 1) Dysregulated/High Maternal Report Reactors, 2) Low Behavioral Reactors, 3) High Reactors, 4) Optimal Reactors and 5) Dysregulated/Low Maternal Report Reactors. These clusters were associated with differences in prenatal cocaine exposure status, birthweight, maternal depressive symptoms, and maternal negative affect during mother-infant interactions. These results support the presence of distinct reactivity profiles among high risk infants recruited on the basis of prenatal cocaine exposure and demographically similar control group infants not exposed to cocaine.

Children's physiological and emotional reactions to witnessing bullying predict bystander intervention

Study goals were to explore whether children clustered into groups based on reactions to witnessing bullying and to examine whether these reactions predicted bullying intervention. Seventy-nine children (M = 10.80 years) watched bullying videos in the laboratory while their heart rate (HR) was measured, and they self-reported on negative emotion after each video. Bullying intervention was assessed by school peers. Two groups emerged based on reactions to the bullying videos: The Emotional group (43% of children) displayed HR acceleration and reported high negative emotion, whereas the Unemotional group (57% of children) showed HR deceleration and reported low negative emotion. Group membership predicted bullying intervention, with peers reporting that Emotional children were more likely to stop a bully than Unemotional children.