The role of temperament in processing emotional cues: Insights from behavior and the brain

• In Event: Conceptual and Methodological Advances in Emotion Regulation Development

Abstract

Individual differences in temperament and brain activity are early indicators of later developing dysregulation. An emerging body of evidence indicates children who are fearful or behaviorally inhibited and also have good inhibitory control are at risk for developing social anxiety. It is unclear whether these good inhibitory control abilities in fearful children are general and observed across emotionally salient and neutral contexts or more specific to emotionally salient contexts. The goal of the present study was to test the specificity of inhibitory control processes as they relate to individual differences in fearfulness.

We hypothesize the relationship between fearfulness and inhibitory control is driven by heightened attention to emotional cues. We tested this hypothesis in 4- to 5-year-old children (N=45) by using a Stroop-like task that uses both emotional stimuli and neutral stimuli. In the emotional Stroop, children are shown a picture of a happy or sad face and asked to respond with the opposite label. For example, children will respond with “sad” when viewing a happy face and vice versa. In the neutral Stroop, children are shown a picture of either the moon and stars or the sun and asked to respond with the opposite label. We expected children high in fearfulness would show better inhibitory control in the emotional Happy-Sad, but not neutral Day-Night, Stroop task because they experience heightened attention to emotional cues.

The results showed that higher levels of fearfulness were associated with better inhibitory control on the Happy-Sad, r = -.39, p < .01, but not Day-Night, r = .09, p > .05, Stroop tasks, as well as the degree to which inhibitory control improved on Happy-Sad relative to Day-Night, r = .49, p < .01. This pattern of results is consistent with our hypothesis that children high in fear exhibit heightened attention to emotional cues.

To gain additional insight into the sources of these individual differences, we are processing eye tracking data acquired during the Stroop tasks. We expect children who are high in fearfulness to dwell longer on cues to valence, such as smiles and frowns. We are also processing resting EEG data. We expect fearful children will exhibit a capacity for good inhibitory control, as measured by lower frontal theta/beta activity, and an avoidant style of emotion regulation, as measured by more right frontal alpha activity. We expect these neural correlates to, in turn, predict Stroop performance.

This research is advancing understanding of the specificity with which a fearful temperament relates to good inhibitory control abilities, as well as the neural mechanisms and online attentional processes that may underlie these relations. This understanding is an important step in creating methods to help fearful children develop healthy regulatory strategies in emotionally salient contexts.

Authors

• Aryn M Vaughan, Washington State University
  Presenting Author

• Sammy Perone, Washington State University