An examination of within-group variability reveals influences of age and SES on personal networks among men and women.

Trajectories of emotion regulation processes were examined in a community sample of 269 children across the ages of 4 to 7 using hierarchical linear modeling. Maternal depressive symptomatology (Symptom Checklist-90) and children's physiological reactivity (respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]) and vagal regulation (ΔRSA) were explored as predictors of individual differences in trajectories of emotion regulation and negativity (mother-reported Emotion Regulation Checklist; A. M. Shields & D. Cicchetti, 1997). In addition, the authors explored whether children's physiological regulation would moderate the effect of maternal depressive symptomatology on children's emotion regulation trajectories. Results indicated that over time, emotion regulation increased whereas negativity decreased, though considerable individual variability in the pattern of change was observed. Greater maternal depressive symptomatology was associated with less steep emotion regulation trajectories. There was a significant Maternal Depressive Symptomatology × Baseline RSA × Age interaction predicting emotion regulation trajectories. Overall, it appears that the development of emotion regulation over time is compromised when mothers report greater depressive symptomatology. There is also evidence that children's capacity for physiological regulation can buffer some of the adverse consequences associated with maternal depressive symptomatology.Keywords emotion regulation and reactivity; maternal depressive symptomatology; respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA)The ability to regulate one's emotions is a critical achievement attained during childhood that has important implications for many dimensions of children's development (Calkins & Howse, 2004;Eisenberg et al., 2001;Sroufe, 1996). Research suggests that deficits in emotion Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Alysia Y. Blandon, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC 27402. E-mail: ayblando@uncg.edu. NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptDev Psychol. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2009 July 1. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript regulation and higher levels of negativity in emotional expression are linked to greater levels of behavior problems, difficulties with peers, and later psychopathology (Calkins, Gill, Johnson, & Smith, 1999;Eisenberg et al., 2001;Keenan, 2000;Shipman, Schneider, & Brown, 2004). Conversely, a greater capacity for emotion regulation has been linked to better academic achievement (Gumora & Arsenio, 2002;Howse, Calkins, Anastopoulos, Keane, & Shelton, 2003) and social skills . Overall, research indicates that the greatest risk for poor psychosocial outcomes occurs when children are highly reactive in emotionally arousing situations, tend to be negative rather than positive in their expressiveness, and have not developed adaptive strategies for managing their emotions (Calkins, Smith, Gill, & Johnson, 1998;Eisenberg, Fabes, Guthrie, & Reiser, 20...

One of the primary tenets of polyvagal theory dictates that parasympathetic influence on heart rate, often estimated by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), shifts rapidly in response to changing environmental demands. The current standard analytic approach of aggregating RSA estimates across time to arrive at one value fails to capture this dynamic property within individuals. By utilizing recent methodological developments that enable precise RSA estimates at smaller time intervals, we demonstrate the utility of computing time-varying RSA for assessing psychophysiological linkage (or synchrony) in husband-wife dyads using time-locked data collected in a naturalistic setting.

A developmental cascade model of early emotional and social competence predicting later peer acceptance was examined in a community sample of 440 children across the ages of 2 to 7. Children's externalizing behavior, emotion regulation, social skills within the classroom and peer acceptance were examined utilizing a multitrait-multimethod approach. A series of longitudinal cross-lag models that controlled for shared rater variance were fit using structural equation modeling. Results indicated there was considerable stability in children's externalizing behavior problems and classroom social skills over time. Contrary to expectations, there were no reciprocal influences between externalizing behavior problems and emotion regulation, though higher levels of emotion regulation were associated with decreases in subsequent levels of externalizing behaviors. Finally, children's early social skills also predicted later peer acceptance. Results underscore the complex associations among emotional and social functioning across early childhood.Conceptual models of child development and adaptive functioning have often approached the understanding of early competency by examining within domain predictors of developmental phenomena or have focused on stability of early emerging skills (Rubin, Bukowski, & Parker 2006;Tremblay, 2003). However, the significance of cross-domain influences (Calkins & Bell, 2010) and bidirectional processes (Masten et al., 2005) has recently garnered attention, particularly within the field of developmental psychopathology, because of the promise that such approaches offer an understanding of how early developmental phenomena influence and are influenced by separate, but perhaps related, processes. This approach is particularly useful in trying to understand complex developmental phenomena, like social competence, psychological functioning, and academic achievement outcomes that are clearly the product of numerous skills and abilities that likely emerge over time and may operate bidirectionally (Burt, Obradovic, Long, & Masten, 2008; Howse, Calkins, Anastopolous, Keane, & Shelton, 2003 NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript psychopathology perspective, advocating an organizational view of development in which multiple factors, or levels of a given factor, are considered in the context of one another, rather than in isolation (Cicchetti & Dawson, 2002;Cicchetti & Rogosch, 1996;Cicchetti & Schneider-Rosen, 1986) is consistent with such "cascade" models of early development. Cascade models of early development also have the potential to meet one of the fundamental tenets of developmental psychopathology, which is to understand pathways to both typical and atypical outcomes.Early social competence and successful peer relationships have long been considered a hallmark of adaptive functioning in early childhood. For example, numerous negative outcomes have been associated with peer rejection, including early conduct problems, later adolescent disorders, school...

Longitudinal growth patterns of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems were examined in a community sample of 441 children across the ages of 2 to 5 using hierarchical linear modeling. Contextual risk was measured using five indicators (socioeconomic status, marital status, number of siblings, parent stress, parent psychopathology), and three levels of child resilience (biological, behavioral, and relational) were also assessed. Results indicate that a general pattern of decline in both types of behavior problems was observed for the entire sample across time, although considerable individual variability in this pattern was observed. Children's externalizing and internalizing behavior at age 5 was predicted by the level of risk at age 2. All three child resilience factors were also predictive of externalizing and internalizing behaviors at age 5. In the prediction of the slope of problem behavior over time, risk status interacted with both temperamental fearlessness and a mutually responsive orientation with the mother to predict the decline in externalizing and internalizing problem behavior. Results underscore the complex interactions of risk and multiple levels of resilience that are implicated in the maintenance of problem behavior over time. They highlight the importance of considering whether expected resilience factors operate similarly across different levels of risk.