The expression and regulation of anger in toddlers: relations to maternal behavior and mental representations

Anger is an intense and adaptive approach emotion that undergoes significant development during the toddler years. We assessed the expression of anger and the strategies toddlers use to regulate it in relation to maternal behavior and mental representations. Seventy-four toddlers were observed in three anger-eliciting paradigms: toy removal (TR), still-face (SF), and delayed gratification (DG). Anger expression and three clusters of regulatory behaviors were micro-coded: putative regulatory behaviors, attention manipulation, and play behaviors. Maternal relational style was coded for sensitivity and intrusiveness, and mental representations of the mother-child relationship were assessed for joy and anger. Children expressed the most anger during the TR, less during the SF, and minimally during the DG. Use of putative regulatory behaviors was highest during the SF, whereas during the TR children employed newly acquired skills, such as focused attention and substitutive play, in the service of anger regulation. Anger expression and regulation were differentially related to the negative and positive components in the mother's behavior and representations, and maternal intrusiveness moderated the relations between angry representations and the degree of child anger during the SF. Results are consistent with dynamic models of emotions and accord with perspectives that emphasize the role of sensitive parenting in facilitating emotion regulation.     

Mindfulness predicts less texting while driving among young adults: Examining attention- and emotion-regulation motives as potential mediators

Many young adult drivers read and send text messages while driving despite clear safety risks. Understanding predictors of texting-while-driving may help to indentify relevant targets for interventions to reduce this dangerous behavior. The present study examined whether individual differences in mindfulness are associated with texting-while-driving in a sample of young-adult drivers. Using path analysis, we tested whether this relationship would be mediated by the degree to which individuals use text-messaging as a means of reducing unpleasant emotions (emotion-regulation motives) and the degree to which individuals limit texting in order to focus on present-moment experiences (attention-regulation motives). Individuals lower in mindfulness reported more frequent texting-while-driving and this relationship appeared to be mediated primarily by emotion-regulation motives. Results may help inform the development of mindfulness-based interventions to prevent texting-while-driving.     

A model-based cluster analysis of social experiences in clinically anxious youth: links to emotional functioning

Social difficulties are commonly associated with anxiety disorders in youth, yet are not well specified in the literature. The aim of this study was to identify patterns of social experiences in clinically anxious children and examine the associations with indices of emotional functioning. A model-based cluster analysis was conducted on parent-, teacher-, and child-reports of social experiences with 64 children, ages 7–12 years (M = 8.86 years, SD = 1.59 years; 60.3% boys; 85.7% Caucasian) with a primary diagnosis of separation anxiety disorder, social phobia, and/or generalized anxiety disorder. Follow-up analyses examined cluster differences on indices of emotional functioning. Findings yielded three clusters of social experiences that were unrelated to diagnosis: (1) Unaware Children (elevated scores on parent- and teacher-reports of social difficulties but relatively low scores on child-reports, n = 12), (2) Average Functioning (relatively average scores across all informants, n = 44), and (3) Victimized and Lonely (elevated child-reports of overt and relational victimization and loneliness and relatively low scores on parent- and teacher-reports of social difficulties, n = 8). Youth in the Unaware Children cluster were rated as more emotionally dysregulated by teachers and had a greater number of diagnoses than youth in the Average Functioning group. In contrast, the Victimized and Lonely group self-reported greater frequency of negative affect and reluctance to share emotional experiences than the Average Functioning cluster. Overall, this study demonstrates that social maladjustment in clinically anxious children can manifest in a variety of ways and assessment should include multiple informants and methods.     

Behavioural adaptation and effectiveness of a Forward Collision Warning System depending on a secondary cognitive task

Forward Collision Warning Systems (FCWS) have been designed to enhance road safety by reducing the number of rear-end collisions. Nevertheless, little is known about how drivers adapt their behaviour over time when using this kind of system. In addition, these systems are expected to aid particularly distracted drivers. However, previous research has suggested that the effectiveness of the system could depend on the difficulty level of the secondary task. The objective of this study on driving simulator was twofold. Firstly, it consisted in evaluating the behavioural adaptation to an FCWS as well as analysing the possible consequences of driving without the system after a short period of adaptation. Secondly, it was to evaluate the effectiveness of the system according to two different difficulty levels of a cognitive secondary task. The results showed that drivers adapted their behaviour positively when the system was introduced. Nevertheless, both the effectiveness and the behavioural adaptation in the short term were dependent on the cognitive load induced by the secondary task. These findings suggest that the warning needs some attentional resources to be processed. Finally, no negative or transfer effect was observed following the removal of the system after a short period of adaptation.     

Behavioural adaptation or constraint? The effect of curve proximity on driving behaviour

Horizontal curves are typically associated with increased crash risk when compared with straight roads, but recent analyses have suggested that having more frequent sharp curves decreases the relative crash risk posed by each curve. Here, 90 drivers completed a simulated rural drive with either high proximity (160 m straight tangent between curves) or low proximity (1200 m tangent) curves. Curve proximity had a significant effect on approach speeds, with drivers in the high proximity curve drive showing significantly lower mean and maximum approach speeds before entering the curve. However, they also showed an unexpected tendency to higher speeds while negotiating the curve itself. The current study provides direct empirical evidence that driving behaviour on approach to a given curve is significantly affected by the proximity of other curves, and therefore highlights the need to factor in the characteristics of the road on approach to the curve, as well as the features of the curve itself when assessing risk.     

Other road users’ adaptations to increase safety in response to older drivers’ behaviour

Changes in physical and cognitive abilities not only challenge the driving ability of older adults, in some situations age-related changes in driving behaviour require other road users to adapt their behaviour to maintain a safe traffic situation. In this study, we aimed to map age-related differences in driving behaviour and assess the impact on other road users. A group younger and a group older adults drove four different routes containing challenging situations (e.g., merging into motorway traffic) in a driving simulator while measures of driving behaviour were collected. Other road users’ deceleration responses to the driver’s behaviour were also collected as a measure of behavioural adaptation. Our results showed similar driving performance between young and older drivers when task complexity was low, but reduced performance in older drivers when tasks requirements increased. Lower driving speed and longer waiting times that were observed in older drivers can be interpreted as compensatory behaviour aimed at creating more time to lower task requirements. Crucially, in a non-time critical situation this compensatory behaviour was found to be successful, however in a time-critical situation (merging onto a motorway) this strategy had negative side effects because other road users had to decelerate in order to keep a safe distance. Our results show the importance of anticipation and adaptation by other road users for the success of older driver’s strategies and traffic safety.     

不同抑郁症状青少年调节不同强度情绪时策略选择的差异

最新研究发现,情绪强度会影响健康个体的情绪调节策略选择。然而,至今尚未有研究考察情绪强度对不同抑郁症状青少年策略选择的影响。对此,本研究通过流调中心用抑郁量表划分出无抑郁、阈下抑郁和抑郁症青少年,进而考察其在面对高-低强度积极-消极日常情绪事件时选择认知重评和认知沉浸的差异。结果发现：当面对高强度积极情绪、低强度积极情绪和低强度消极情绪时,三组被试的策略选择均无显著差异;当面对高强度消极情绪时,无抑郁青少年比阈下抑郁和抑郁症青少年更多选择认知重评而更少选择认知沉浸,但阈下抑郁和抑郁症青少年之间无显著差异。结果表明：不同抑郁症状青少年在面对不同强度和效价情绪时的情绪调节策略选择存在差异,表现为高强度消极情绪下抑郁症状越多的青少年越少选择认知重评而越多选择认知沉浸。这一发现有助于识别和干预青少年的抑郁症状。     

补偿他人还是保护自己?内疚与羞耻情绪对合作行为的影响差异

作为两种常见且易被混淆的自我意识情绪, 诸多研究者对内疚和羞耻的产生前因及影响后效进行研究, 尤其是近年来的研究逐渐关注两者对合作行为的影响。我们通过对已有研究进行梳理发现, 内疚和羞耻对合作行为的影响及其机制存在差异, 内疚的影响更为稳定及具有普适性, 羞耻的影响具有复杂性和多样性, 更容易受到其他因素的影响。内疚和羞耻对合作行为的不同影响可从动机机制和调节机制两方面进行解释。首先, 动机机制包括内疚对他人的补偿、修复动机以及羞耻对自我的保护、修复动机。内疚对他人的补偿、修复动机主要体现在维护社会互动中的公平; 弥补对他人造成的伤害, 降低自己和他人的痛苦; 修复人际关系, 重新获得他人或自己的接纳与认同。羞耻对自我的保护、修复动机主要体现在释放消极的情绪状态; 维护积极的自我形象和声誉, 修复自我; 保护自我, 防止后续伤害及不良后果。总体而言, 内疚者关注过失行为及后果, 侧重于对受害他人的补偿或对与他人关系的修复, 而羞耻者关注整体自我的受损, 侧重于对自我的保护和对自己社会形象的修复, 基于此, 我们在前人研究的基础上构建了内疚与羞耻影响合作行为的动机机制对比模型图。其次, 调节机制涉及到个体因素和情境因素的调节作用, 其中个体因素包括认知因素、社会价值取向、自我控制能力、情绪特质和情绪状态, 情境因素包括暴露情境和掩蔽情境、实验情境和日常情境、相关情境和不相关情境。具体而言, 内疚对合作行为的影响的较少受情境的限制, 而羞耻受情境因素限制较多, 在暴露情境、相关情境中更能促进合作行为的产生, 而在掩蔽情境、不相关情境中, 羞耻较难影响个体的合作抉择, 且无论是实验室情境还是日常情境, 内疚似乎都比羞耻更易影响合作。最后, 鉴于内疚与羞耻的诱发和测量方法的有效性仍需检验, 两种情绪对合作行为影响的过程机制和生理机制仍不明晰, 个体因素影响的研究尚不充足以及跨文化研究较为缺乏, 未来研究可以从内疚和羞耻诱发与测量方法的有效性, 情绪作用发生的内在过程和生理机制, 情绪影响的个体和文化差异这几方面进行扩展和深挖。