Poster #16 - Shyness and Cognitive Performance in Preschoolers: Role of Physiological Reactivity

• In Event: 1-005 - Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Section - Biological Processes: Neuroscience and Genetics

Integrative Statement

Shyness is a temperamental characteristic marked by behavioral inhibition towards novelty and uncertainty in social contexts (Kagan, Reznick, & Snidman, 1987). While some research suggests that shy children are at risk for poor academic achievement (Coplan, Wichmann, & Lagace-Seguin, 2001; Crozier & Hostettler, 2003; Egeland, Kalkoske) and cognitive outcomes (e.g., working memory, receptive vocabulary; Reynolds & Evans, 2009; Spere & Evans, 2009; Spere, Theall-Honey, & Schmidt, 2004), these relations are not completely understood. It is possible that there are moderators in the link between shyness and cognitive processes in children.

One important factor may be children’s ability to regulate in response to environmental stressors. Cardiac vagal withdrawal (CVW), measured as the change from resting baseline respiratory sinus arrythmia (RSA) to on-task RSA, is one measure of physiological reactivity that is associated with differences in cognitive performance, and may explain some of the inconsistencies in the shyness and cognition literature.

We examined whether CVW moderated the association between shyness and cognitive performance in a sample of preschoolers (n = 63, Mage = 4.44 years, SD = .75). Shyness was maternally reported, CVW was calculated by subtracting on-task RSA (during a social stressor using a stranger approach task) from RSA at resting baseline, and cognition was operationalized as a composite score of children’s performance on a standardized measure of inhibitory control, receptive vocabulary, and executive function and attention administered via iPad using the National Institute of Health’s Toolbox, Cognitive Battery for 3-6 year old preschoolers.

We utilized a linear regression where the predictors were shyness and CVW, and dependent measure was children’s cognition performance. In the first model, baseline RSA and age in years were entered as covariates; in the second model shyness was entered; in the third model CVW was entered; in the fourth model a term capturing the interaction between shyness and CVW was entered.
The full model was statistically significant [F(5, 57) = 2.57, p = .04, R2 = .18], and the results revealed a significant interaction between shyness and CVW in predicting children’s cognitive composite score (B = -1.64; p = .003; Figure 1). We probed this interaction using simple slope analysis at high (1 SD above the mean) and low (1 SD below the mean) values of CVW. In children with high physiological reactivity (high CVW), shyness was negatively associated with cognitive performance (B = -1.75, p = .03). Conversely, in children with low physiological reactivity, shyness was unrelated to cognitive performance (B = 1.15, p > .05).

These results suggest not all shy children experience deficits in cognitive performance. It appears that individual differences in shy children’s ability to physiological regulate in potentially stressful situations may explain some of the differences in their cognitive performance. Exploring factors that influence shy children’s performance on cognitive measures prior to school entry can facilitate early, targeted interventions during a developmentally critical period, potentially improving shy children’s academic trajectories.

Authors

• Raha Hassan, McMaster University
  Presenting Author

• Louis Schmidt, McMaster University
  Non-Presenting Author