Physiological reactions of preschoolers to fear‐inducing film clips: Effects of temperamental fearfulness and quality of the parent–child relationship

Abstract

This study investigates young children's fright reactions induced by television. The central question concerns the degree to which the impact can be predicted by temperamental fearfulness and the quality of the parent-child relationship. Using a procedure for recording simultaneously skin conductance (SCL) and heart rate variability (RMSSD), 78 3- and 4-year-olds were shown two brief TV film episodes (one fear-inducing and one emotionally neutral). The children responded to fear-inducing film stimuli with an increase in SCL-reactivity and a decrease in RMSSD-reactivity. Furthermore, temperamentally more fearful children showed most electrodermal reactivity when their relationship with the parent was less harmonious. More fearful children were more susceptible to the quality of the relationship with their parent, which provides support for the differential susceptibility hypothesis.

Electrodermal reactivity during the Trier Social Stress Test for children: Interaction between the serotonin transporter polymorphism and children's attachment representation

“…The increase in electrodermal activity that we found in 7-year-olds is comparable to Developmental Psychobiology these findings. The usefulness of electrodermal reactivity during stress-or fear-inducing tasks has been shown in other studies as well (e.g., El-Sheikh, 2007;Gilissen, Koolstra, Van IJzendoorn, Bakermans-Kranenburg, & Van der Veer, 2007). Furthermore, this study supports the idea that attachment is a relevant factor in explaining individual differences.…”

Cardiac data increase association between self-report and both expert ratings of task load and task performance in flight simulator tasks: An exploratory study

“…During states of stress and tension, people tend to have more muscular activity (Nilsen et al, 2007), which often is seen as "fidgeting," on an accelerometer (motion detector). Heart rate is responsive to changes in metabolic need created by physical exercise (Samsel and Schumacker, 1991) as well as by anticipation of load, while heart rate variability may be more closely related to psychological stress (Friedman and Thayer, 1998;Gilissen et al, 2007;Pauls and Stemmler, 2003;Yoshizawa et al, 2004). We also assessed respiration rate to control for its independent effect on HRV (Berntson et al, 1997).…”

Individual Differences in Behavioral, Physiological, and Genetic Sensitivities to Contexts: Implications for Development and Adaptation

“…This is an important new direction for research, as the coupling of two types of reactivity may vary across different contexts. A few recent studies have shown that the quality of the parent-child relationship moderated the effect of temperament on SCL reactivity to fear-inducing films, such that fearful children with low-quality parenting showed high reactivity, while fearful children with high-quality parenting showed low reactivity [91,92] .…”