Relationships Between Disengagement of Attention and Distress Expression in Young Children: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

• In Event: Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: PS 10 Topic - Social, Emotional, Personality

Abstract

Introduction: Emotion regulation reflects one’s ability to monitor, evaluate, and modify emotions to attain a goal (Thompson, 1994). Independent assessment of emotion expression and emotion regulation behaviors has been deemed one of the key methodological directions for the proper study of emotion regulation as a construct (Cole et al., 2004). The first three years of life is an important time to study emotion regulation, as there is a shift between heavy reliance on co-regulation with their caregiver in infancy to more independent self-regulation (e.g., using strategies such as disengagement of attention) as they develop (Kopp, 1982; Sameroff, 2010).

Aim: The goal of the current study was to systematically review and meta-analyze the literature on relationships between distress expression behaviors (e.g., cry, facial expression) and disengagement of attention (e.g., engaging with a toy or object, averting gaze) across the first three years of life.

Methods: This analysis is part of a larger review that was pre-registered with PROSPERO (CRD42020157505) and was conducted in accordance with PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. 12,443 unique abstracts were identified through Medline, Embase, and PsycINFO. 278 studies were selected for full-review. Studies were included if they provided data from infants and toddlers in a distress paradigm (separated by first, second, or third year), had distinct behavioral measures of distress expression and disengagement of attention, and assessed the concurrent association between distress expression and disengagement of attention. Twenty-one studies were included and each study was assessed for risk of bias.

Results: Three separate meta-analyses were conducted, stratified by age (first year, second year, third year). Meta-regressions were also conducted to assess the moderating role of study quality and type of distress task (fear vs. frustration). The weighted mean correlations over the first three years of life were -.28 (Year 1), -.45 (Year 2), and -.30 (Year 3). Heterogeneity of effects within the meta-analyses was also substantial for all age groups. Meta-regression revealed that in Year 2, the type of distress task moderated the association between disengagement of attention and distress expression, such that in fear tasks the negative association was stronger than in frustration tasks (Fear: r = -.73; Frustration: r = -.37).

Discussion: The literature suggests moderate to large negative associations between disengagement of attention and distress expression in the first three years of life. The strongest associations emerged for the second year of life (i.e., beginning of toddlerhood) and are particularly strong when toddlers are undergoing a fearful stressor. Limitations include a focus on concurrent (vs. predictive) relationships and a lack of naturalistic high distress paradigms in the literature.

Authors

• Hannah Gabrielle Gennis, York University
  Presenting Author

• Oana Bucsea, York University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Shaylea Badovinac, York University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Stefano Costa
  Non-Presenting Author

• C. Meghan McMurtry, University of Guelph
  Non-Presenting Author

• David Flora, York University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Rebecca Rita Pillai Riddell, York University
  Non-Presenting Author