Poster #68 - Physiological Correlates of Context-Inappropriate Anger in Threatening and Positive Contexts: Implications for Emotion Knowledge

• In Event: Poster Session 04

Abstract

Some children show anger responses that do not match the emotional context (context-inappropriate (CI) anger), which can promote externalizing behavior and negative social experiences (Locke et al., 2015). Appropriate affect expression may depend on emotion knowledge (EK). Children who display CI anger have lower EK (Locke & Lang, 2016; Locke et al., 2015). Physiological arousal is related to affect expression and experience; optimal arousal supports social engagement and cognitive processes that should promote EK development. Both hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity and vagal regulation of cardiac activity (respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA)) shape arousal. We examined whether these two physiological systems may explain EK deficits in the context of CI anger.
Children who show CI anger may misread the context due to low or high arousal. Children who display CI anger in positive contexts may experience low arousal (Locke et al., 2009; Locke et al., 2017), whereas children displaying CI anger in threatening contexts may have high arousal. Although expressing anger in positive contexts may be intuitively maladaptive, expressing anger in threatening contexts (where typical response would be fear) can provoke others and increase harm.
We tested associations among CI anger, physiological arousal, and EK, and included two hypotheses: H1. Children displaying CI anger(Positive) will have lower arousal (indicated by cortisol) than other children, whereas children showing CI anger(Threatening) will have higher arousal than other children. H2. Associations between CI anger and EK will be moderated by cortisol and RSA.
Method
We assessed four year-olds attending Head Start (n=134) for CI anger (facial anger during standardized emotion-eliciting slides and movie clips; Lang et al., 1997). Basal cortisol was collected across three days, three times/day (post-awakening, 11am, late afternoon). Reactive cortisol was sampled four times during interactive tasks (entry/pretest, resting baseline, post-task, recovery). EKG was collected during tasks to assess resting baseline and reactive RSA. We assessed situational EK using Denham’s Puppet Task (1986).
Results
H1: Boys showing CI anger(Positive) had less of an increase in cortisol to tasks, while children showing CI anger(Threatening) had greater increases (see Table 1).
H2: Associations between CI anger and EK were moderated by arousal (see Table 2). Among children showing CI anger(Positive), lower baseline cortisol associated with lower EK (b=9.74, p=.0499). In contrast, among children who did not show CI anger(Positive), baseline cortisol and EK were not associated (b=-3.32, p=.28). Among children showing CI anger(Threatening), lower baseline cortisol was marginally associated with lower EK (b=7.80, p=.09). In contrast, among children who did not show CI anger(Threatening), baseline cortisol and EK were not associated (b=-3.22, p=.31). Among children showing CI anger(Positive), higher baseline RSA associated with lower EK (b=-28.9, p=.03). Among children not showing CI anger(Positive), baseline RSA was not associated with EK (b=.55, p=.91).
Discussion
Children who show CI anger may have arousal patterns that limit their ability to process emotion. Future studies should examine factors affected by arousal (e.g., engagement, attention) that impact EK in children who show CI anger, in order to identify strategies to support EK development in children with these arousal patterns.

Authors

• Robin L Locke-Arkerson, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
  Presenting Author

• Alison Leslie Miller, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

• Ronald Seifer, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill