Observed Parental Spontaneous Scaffolding Predicts Neurocognitive Signatures of Child Emotion Regulation

• In Event: Examining Cognitive Reappraisal in Development: The Role of Parents

Abstract

Emotion regulation (ER), a key predictor of positive adjustment throughout the lifespan (e.g. Gross & John, 2003), is forged in development with profound contributions from parents (Cole, Martin, & Dennis, 2004). In particular, parent scaffolding of child cognition and emotion serves to bolster child regulatory abilities beyond what they could achieve alone (Wood, et al., 1976). Through habitual parent-child interactions, scaffolded ER likely becomes internalized and drives foundations of neurocognitive regulatory circuitry. Yet, biobehavioral research is needed to establish predictive links between parent scaffolding behaviors and neurocognitive signatures of adaptive child ER. The present study examined observed parental spontaneous scaffolding of child performance during an emotionally and cognitively challenging block design task (BDT) to predict a neurocognitive signature of ER: the late positive potential (LPP). The LPP is an event-related potential (ERP) that is modulated by reappraisal (Dennis & Hajcak, 2009), a widely-studied ER strategy defined as interpreting a stimulus in a more positive light (e.g. Gross & John, 2003). We hypothesized that children whose parents provide high quality scaffolding, indicating adaptive habitual social support during parent-child interactions, will show greater ER indexed by the LPP. Eighty-one (41 females; Mage = 6.93, SD = 1.10) 5-to-8-year-olds completed a Directed Reappraisal Task (DRT) in which unpleasant pictures were paired with either reappraisal or negative interpretations while EEG was recorded. Neurocognitive ER was assessed by calculating difference scores between mean LPP amplitudes to negative trials minus LPP amplitudes to reappraisal trials. Greater positive difference scores indicated a greater impact of reappraisal on the LPP, the targeted neurocognitive signature of ER. Parents and children then completed the BDT which was subsequently coded (adapted from Carr & Pike, 2012) to quantify scaffolding quality. Contingent shifting was defined as the parents’ adjustment of the level of intervention based on the child’s successes (i.e. correct block placement) and failures (i.e. incorrect block placement). Fixed failure feedback was defined as the parent offering the same or decreasing levels of intervention despite child failures. Greater contingent shifting and less fixed failure feedback indicated higher quality scaffolding. Results showed that greater parental use of contingent shifting [F (5, 80) = 5.50, p < .001, R2 = .27, β = .950; t = 3.645, p < .001], and lower levels of fixed failure feedback [F (5, 80) = 4.81, p = .001, R2 = .24, β = -.425; t = -3.215, p = .002], predicted greater reappraisal-induced reduction of the LPP (Figure 1). These findings suggest that habitual high-quality parent scaffolding supports adaptive ER measured at the neurocognitive level in childhood. Further, results highlight the importance of examining parent-child interactions when evaluating biological processes underlying ER in childhood.

Authors

• Sarah Myruski, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
  Presenting Author

• Tracy A. Dennis, City University of New York Hunter College
  Non-Presenting Author