Multimodal examination of emotion processing systems associated with negative affectivity across early childhood

High Temperamental Negative Affectivity in early childhood has been found to predict later emotion dysregulation. While much work has been conducted to separately probe bio-behavioral systems associated with Negative Affectivity, very little work has examined the relations among multiple systems across age. In this study, we use multi-modal methods to index neurobiological systems associated with Negative Affectivity in 53 4-7-year-old children. Prefrontal activation during emotion regulation was measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy over the lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) while children played a game designed to elicit frustration in Social (Happy and Angry faces) and Nonsocial contexts. Gaze behaviors while free-viewing Happy and Angry faces were also measured. Finally, Negative Affectivity was indexed using a score composite based on factor analysis of parent-reported temperament. Using mixed-effects linear models, we found an age-dependent association between Negative Affectivity and both PFC activation during frustration and fixation duration on the mouth area of Happy faces, such that older children high in Negative Affectivity spent less time looking at the mouths of Happy faces and had lower PFC activation in response to frustration (ps<0.034). These results provide further insight to how Negative Affectivity may be associated with changes in affective neurobiological systems across early childhood.     

Child and family predictors of insomnia from early childhood to adolescence

BackgroundInsomnia is prevalent among children and adolescents and is associated with a wide range of negative outcomes. Knowledge about its determinants is therefore important, but due to the lack of longitudinal studies, such knowledge is limited. The aim of the present inquiry is to identify child and family predictors of future pediatric insomnia within a psycho-bio-behavioral framework.MethodsA representative community sample (n = 1,037) was followed biennially from 4 to 14 years of age (2007–2017). Insomnia was defined based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) criteria and was diagnosed by a semistructured clinical interview of children (from age eight years of age) and parents (all ages). Predictors included parent ratings of child emotional reactivity, family functioning, and marital conflict; self-reports of personality; and teacher-rated emotion regulation skills.ResultsRandom intercept cross-lagged analyses revealed that within-person increases (ie, relative to the child's typical levels across childhood) in emotional reactivity and decreases in emotion regulation skills predicted insomnia diagnosis two years later from ages 4 to 14 after adjusting for previous insomnia and all unmeasured time-invariant factors. Previous insomnia was the strongest predictor of later insomnia, whereas family functioning and marital conflict did not predict insomnia.ConclusionsIncreases in emotional reactivity and decreases in emotion regulation skills predicted insomnia above and beyond all unmeasured time-invariant factors and could be targets for interventions. Previous insomnia predicted later insomnia, thereby underscoring the importance of detecting, preventing, and treating insomnia at an early age.     

不同剂量羟考酮对无痛人流术后宫缩痛和情绪量值的影响

目的观察三种不同剂量羟考酮对患者人工流产术后宫缩痛和情绪量值的影响。方法选择行无痛人工流产术患者400例,年龄17～38岁,BMI 18.5～23.9kg/m2,ASAⅠ或Ⅱ级。采用随机数字表法分为四组:羟考酮0.06mg/kg组(O1组)、羟考酮0.08mg/kg组(O2组)、羟考酮0.1mg/kg组(O3组)、芬太尼组(F组),每组100例。O1、O2、O3组分别静脉注射羟考酮0.06、0.08、0.1mg/kg,F组静脉注射芬太尼1μg/kg。四组丙泊酚诱导剂量2.5mg/kg,患者术中出现体动反应时追加丙泊酚0.4mg/kg。记录患者丙泊酚用量、手术时间、苏醒时间;记录患者麻醉诱导前(T0)、睫毛反射消失时(T1)、术中宫腔操作时(T2)、术毕苏醒时(T3)的HR、MAP和RR;采用数字评分法(NRS)评价患者苏醒后即刻、10、30、60min的宫缩痛程度;记录患者术后满意度评分;采用正性负性情绪量表(PANAS)分别于术前和术后1h评定患者情绪;记录患者补救镇痛;记录恶心、呕吐、头晕、呼吸抑制、皮肤瘙痒、尿潴留、出汗等不良反应情况。结果 O2组、O3组和F组丙泊酚用量明显少于O1组(P0.05),苏醒时间明显短于O1组(P0.05)。O1组、O2组和O3组不同时点宫缩痛NRS评分明显低于F组(P0.05),术后满意度评分明显高于F组(P0.05)。四组术后1h正性情绪量值明显高于术前(P0.05),负性情绪量值明显低于术前(P0.05),O1组、O2组和O3组术后1h正性情绪量值明显高于F组(P0.05),补救镇痛例数明显少于F组(P0.05)。四组术后头晕、恶心、呕吐等不良反应差异无统计学意义,四组均未发生呼吸抑制、皮肤瘙痒、苏醒期躁动、尿潴留、出汗等不良反应。结论 0.08mg/kg羟考酮配伍丙泊酚用于无痛人工流产术,麻醉效果确切,镇痛完善,患者满意度高,并且能提高正性情绪量值。     

Electrophysiological evidence of altered facial expressions recognition in Alzheimer’s disease: A comprehensive ERP study

ObjectivesThe present study aims to evaluate the amplitude and latency of event-related potentials (ERPs) P100, N170, VPP and N230 in individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) compared to healthy elderly controls, using a passive viewing task of emotional facial expressions.MethodsTwenty-four individuals with mild to moderate AD and 23 demographically matched healthy elderly controls were included in the study. ERP P100, N170, VPP and N230 amplitude and latency values were compared between groups.ResultsThe categorization of emotional facial expressions was intact; yet, increased P100 amplitude and latency, decreased N170 amplitude, and increased VPP amplitude were observed in AD compared to controls. Increased N230 amplitude and latency were observed in response to angry expressions, while neutral expressions elicited decreased amplitude and latency.ConclusionsIncreased P100 amplitude and latency may reflect reduced amygdala volume and disruptions in the visual system, while decreased N170 and increased VPP amplitudes may reflect impaired perceptual processing, mitigated by a greater involvement of prefrontal areas for task performance in AD.SignificanceThis study is the first to report a complex pattern of ERPs to emotional facial expressions in individuals with AD.     

Emotion recognition from body movement and gesture in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder is improved by situational cues

BackgroundResearch shows people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have poorer emotion recognition (ER) compared to their typically developing (TD) peers. However, it is not known whether this is the case when stimuli are limited to gesture and posture, and lack facial expressions.MethodFifty-four children with (n = 27) and without (n = 27) ASD, matched on age and gender, completed an ER task, that used dynamic stimuli. Processing style bias, Autistic-like-traits and empathy were also measured. With ER as the outcome variable, a multilevel logistic model was created.ResultsChildren with ASD were found to be significantly less accurate in identifying emotions, compared to the control group. Presence of situational cues aided both groups. Autistic-like-traits and empathy were found to correlate too highly with the diagnosed condition to use in the multilevel model. Processing style did not significantly impact ER ability.ConclusionsThis study supports previous research which finds ER ability in people with ASD to be poorer than that of TD peers and that situational cues can aid ER ability. Importantly, the latter is true for people with ASD. The implication of these findings are programmes that aim to improve ER should consider using cues. Limitations of the study are discussed.     

Prefrontal modulation of frustration-related physiology in preschool children ranging from low to severe irritability

Limbic-prefrontal connectivity during negative emotional challenges underpins a wide range of psychiatric disorders, yet the early development of this system is largely unknown due to difficulties imaging young children. Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) has advanced an understanding of early emotion-related prefrontal activation and psychopathology, but cannot detect activation below the outer cortex. Galvanic skin response (GSR) is a sensitive index of autonomic arousal strongly influenced by numerous limbic structures. We recorded simultaneous lateral prefrontal cortex (lPFC) activation via fNIRS and GSR in 73 3- to 5-year-old children, who ranged from low to severe levels of irritability, during a frustration task. The goal of the study was to test how frustration-related PFC activation modulated psychophysiology in preschool children, and whether associations were moderated by irritability severity. Results showed lPFC activation significantly increased, and GSR levels significantly decreased, as children moved from frustration to rest, such that preschoolers with the highest activation had the steepest recovery. Further, this relation was moderated by irritability such that children with severe irritability showed no association between lPFC activation and GSR. Results suggest functional connections between prefrontal and autonomic nervous systems are in place early in life, with evidence of lPFC down-regulation of frustration-based stress that is altered in early psychopathology. Combining fNIRS and GSR may be a promising novel approach for inferring limbic-PFC processes that drive early emotion regulation and psychopathology.     

Beyond vernacular: Measurement solutions to the lexical fallacy in disgust research

Disgust may play an important role in several mental disorders, in part because disgust seems impervious to corrective information, a feature noted long before it was studied by clinical psychologists. A deeper understanding of disgust could improve not only the treatment of mental disorders, but also other societal problems involving this peculiar emotion. In this paper, we review the measurement of disgust and identify issues that hold back progress in understanding how to treat this emotion. First, self-report measures of disgust, although optimized in terms of reliability, are compromised in terms of validity due to the “lexical fallacy,” that is, the assumption that vernacular usage of emotion terms reveals natural kinds. Improved self-report measures that parse disgust from neighboring states of discomfort and disapproval can address this limitation, but these approaches are absent in clinical psychology. Second, “objective” measures of disgust, although free of vernacular limitations, require greater psychometric scrutiny. In a critical review, we find that most instrument-based measures fail to demonstrate adequate reliability, rendering them unsuitable for the individual differences research crucial to clinical psychology. In light of this assessment, we provide several recommendations for improving the reliability and validity of disgust measurement, including renewed attention to theory.     

Enhancing positive perceptions of aging by savoring life lessons

Objectives: This study examined the effects of savoring valuable life lessons on perceptions of aging and on well-being among older adults.

Method: A total of 303 adults (mean age = 68.12 years) were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: savoring life lessons (n = 95), reflecting on negative aspects of aging (n = 129), or untreated-control condition (n = 79). Participants in the savoring condition wrote about a valuable lesson they had learned in growing older, whereas participants in the negative-aging condition wrote about physical losses they had experienced in aging.

Results: After controlling for baseline happiness, health, gender, and age, participants who savored valuable life lessons reported greater positive perceptions of aging and life satisfaction, compared to participants in the negative-aging and untreated-control conditions. There were no differences across conditions in negative perceptions of aging or in anxiety.

Conclusion: These findings suggest that savoring valuable life lessons could be an effective addition to psychoeducational programs designed to improve perceptions of aging.     

Comparison of multiple methods of assessing parental emotion language discourse and their effects on Preschooler’s emotion understanding

The current study explored the influence of three methods of parental emotion discourse (structured story-telling, reminiscing, and picture book) and their relation to preschoolers’ emotion understanding. Thirty-seven families participated in the study. Analyses showed that the structured story-telling method produced more emotion words, was high in unique emotion words, and was high for both emotion labelling and explanations. All three methods showed some potential to predict preschooler’s emotion understanding. Structured story-telling was best at predicting role-taking, while reminiscing and the picture book both were better at predicting situation knowledge. Additional studies are needed to further explore the influence of different methods of assessing emotion discourse to enhance validity and reliability of research in this field.