Poster #209 - Cultural diversity of physiological and psychological responses in emotion regulation among preschoolers in three cultures

• In Event: 1-115 - Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Section - Social, Emotional, Personality

Integrative Statement

　Developing the ability of emotion regulation is important topic for children, which involves coordination across behavioral, psychological, and neuroendocrine subsystems. Some of cross-cultural studies suggest cultural differences of children’s emotion regulation in negative situations (Grabell et al., 2014; Lewis et al., 1993). However, there is still unclear how children achieve their cultural appropriate emotion regulation and its relationship between psychological factors and physiological reactivity in different challenging situations. In order to identify cultural context of emotion regulation in negative situations, we examined the relationship between cortisol reactivity and psychological factors in three different emotional challenging tasks among young children in US, China, and Japan.
　We conducted one task each day during continual three days in 42 of Japanese, 52 of American, and 60 of Chinese 4-years-old children. The tasks we used were Prize task (Cole, 1986), which was gifted a very disappointed present, as interpersonal challenge, Computer task (Tardif, 2008), which child experienced to lose computer game, as challenging to self-ability, and Envelop task (Olson et al., 1990), which was very boring, as control. We analyzed children’s AUCi 10-50 which is Area Under the Curve with respect to increased from 10 minutes to 50 minutes (Fekedulegn et al., 2007) as cortisol reactivity after conducting tasks. We also collected data of affective perspective taking (Denham,1986), executive functions such as Grass/Snow(Carlson & Moses, 2001)，Hand game(Luria et al., 1964)，and Day/Night (Diamond & Taylor, 1996), and nonverbal IQ (WPPSI-Ⅲ) from children and children’s temperament from their mothers.
　The Results showed that Chinese children’s cortisol reactivity in Computer task was significantly higher than American children (Figure1). Moreover, in Chinese children, cortisol reactivity of Computer task was significantly higher than that of Prize task and of Envelop task. It is suggested that Chinese children have more physiological stress in challenging to self-ability than in interpersonal negative situation. Instead in Japanese children, cortisol reactivity of Computer task is the almost same level as that of Prize task.
　Moreover, results indicated several evidences of cultural diversities of predictors in children’s emotion regulation (Table1). First, in American children, the higher inhibitory control of children’s temperament was the less cortisol reactivity and the higher falling reactivity and soothability of children’s temperament was the higher cortisol reactivity in both Prize task and Computer task. Second, in Chinese children, the higher attention focusing of children’s temperament was the higher cortisol reactivity in both Prize task and Computer task. Those imply that predictors of physiological response in emotion regulation are inhibitory control in US and attention focusing in China. However, in Japanese children, the higher scores of affective perspective taking was the lower cortisol reactivity in all three challenging tasks. This result suggested that the ability of understanding others may be the most important cue of physiological response against negative situations for Japanese children. Our findings indicated the possibility of the cultural difference about the relationship between physiological responses and psychological factors in emotion regulation among young children.

Authors

• Midori Kazama, Odawara junior college
  Non-Presenting Author

• Hidemi Hirabayashi, Tokyo Woman's Christian University
  Presenting Author

• Mayumi Karasawa, Tokyo Woman's Christian University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Twila Tardif, University of Michigan
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sheryl Olson, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
  Non-Presenting Author

• Li Wang, Peking University
  Non-Presenting Author