Does saying what’s wrong replace nonverbal anger in preschool age children?

• In Event: Poster Session 11
  In Poster Session: PS 11 Topic - Social, Emotional, Personality

Abstract

Kopp (1989) extended her framework for the emergence of self-regulation to emotion regulation, indicating that growth of emotion regulation in early childhood is due in part to the growth in language abilities. While links between early language development and later self-regulation have been recognized (Vallotton & Ayoub, 2011; Roben et al., 2013), the question of how language contributes to emotion regulation remains unanswered. Socioemotional learning programs postulate that “using your words” replaces the need to express anger (Bierman et al., 2008). One study reported an age-related shift from calm to angry bids for maternal attention between 24 and 36 months, with a further increase in calm bids by 48 months (Cole et al., 2011). This suggests that words may replace the need to express anger, but this developmental process remains to be documented. We hypothesize that increases in young children’s verbalizing about the demand to wait for a delayed reward is associated with a decline in their nonverbal anger expressions from ages 36 months, 48 months, to 5 years. Moreover, because private speech may also contribute to self-regulation of emotion (Cole et al., 2010), we predict an inverse relation between self-directed speech about the problem of waiting and the frequency and intensity of anger expressions.
To test these predictions, we will use longitudinal data from 120 mother-child dyads who participated in a frustrating wait task (Cole et al., 2003) when children (46% girls; 93.3% White) were at ages 36 months, 48 months, and 5 years. During the 8-minute wait task, children had one boring toy and were told to wait to open a gift until their mothers completed questionnaires. The task was video recorded and children’s verbalizations were transcribed second-by-second; we are currently coding transcripts for speech content (mother- and self-directed utterances about the problem of waiting, understanding the rules of the wait, or task-unrelated; Table 1) as present (0) or absent (1). Previously, a separate team completed coding nonverbal anger intensity (0 = none to 3 = strong) on the same second-by-second basis. All coding achieved good inter-rater reliability (κ’s from .78 to .93).
The just completed speech coding of the 48-month transcripts indicates the majority (52%) of mother-directed speech is about the problem of waiting, providing evidence that children still find waiting for a delayed reward challenging at this age (Figure 1). Unrelated speech comprised the largest percentage (74%) of self-directed speech, possibly reflecting overt speech while distracting oneself in play. By November, transcripts for ages 36 months and 5 years will be coded. We will then test predicted age-related changes in the association between speech content and nonverbal emotion. Future work can investigate the aspects of language development—specific language abilities and parenting practices—that contribute to children’s use of words to express frustration. The findings can eventually have a broader impact on socioemotional and language interventions.

Authors

• Yeunjoo Kim, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
  Presenting Author

• Arnav Prashant Bhakta, Phillips Academy Andover
  Non-Presenting Author

• Gabrielle Sky Cardwell, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
  Non-Presenting Author

• Margaret A. Fields-Olivieri, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  Non-Presenting Author

• Pamela M Cole, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
  Non-Presenting Author