Project Details
Description
This project evaluates the hypothesis that individual differences in
infants' adrenocortical and behavioral reactivity to stress will
adversely impact on their subsequent capacity for emotion regulation in
frustration-producing and wariness-producing situations. Infants who
are characterized as highly reactive to stress in early infancy are
expected to have difficulty in emotion regulation at older ages. It is
clear that infant emotion regulation also is influenced by differences
in maternal behavior and in various family risk factors including
marital discord, life stress, family hassles, and social support. Thus,
the primary aim of this project is to examine the relation between early
differences in infant stress reactivity and in maternal behavior and
family risk and subsequent emotion regulation/dysregulation. The
project will involve a longitudinal study at 6, 15, and 24 months of
age. Cortisol and behavioral stress responses to stress will be
examined at 6 and 15 months of age. Maternal responsivity and
sensitivity to infant distress will be observed in reaction to a variety
of different stressors at these two ages. The capacity for emotion
regulation to frustration and wariness will be evaluated at 15 and 24
months of age. Martial discord and other family risk variables will be
assessed at all three ages. These data will allow us to examine the
role of early differences in infant reactivity and in maternal behavior
and family risk on subsequent emotion regulation. Finally, cortisol
response to the stress of the emotion regulation situations will be
measured at 15 and 24 months of age. These data will allow us to assess
the relation between early cortisol response to inoculation and
subsequent cortisol response to emotional stress. An early difficulty
in emotion regulation is likely to have profound consequences for later
social relationships and might lead to future psychosocial problems.
The results from this study will bear on the origins of individual
differences in emotion regulation in infancy, and therefore will have
some theoretical and practical importance for our understanding of early
socioemotional development and functioning. The results will further
our knowledge of the early antecedents of different patterns of emotion
regulation/dysregulation that become apparent in early childhood.
Status | Finished |
---|---|
Effective start/end date | 9/1/98 → 5/31/02 |
Funding
- National Institute of Mental Health: $177,099.00
ASJC
- Psychology(all)
- Social Psychology
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