exam 4 lecture notes Flashcards
antisocial Bx
- behaviour aimed at harming others
- emerges around 18 months, increases in toddlers
- as language skills improve, physical aggression decreases
- – but verbal aggression increases
temperament and personality
- often difficult from a very early age
- impulsivity, attention deficits, callousness as a child become aggression and antisocial Bx as adolescent
social cognition
- reactive aggression
- proactive aggression
attribute hostile motives to others
- reactive aggression- emotion-driven; hostile
- proactive aggression- unemotional; fulfilling a need/desire
variability in antisocial Bx
- biological factors
temperament, hormone levels, neurological deficits in attention and self regulation (vagal tone)
socialization
- punitive parenting
- ineffective discipline
- parental conflict
- SES
- peer influence
punitive parenting
- harsh, physical punishments
- abusive punishments
ineffective discipline
- inconsistent discipline
- lack of monitoring
parental conflict
- exposure to verbal and physical abuses
SES
- lower SES increased risk
- neighborhood factors
Peer influence
- aggressive children seek aggressive peers
- gangs
prevention science
the application of a scientific methodology that seeks to prevent or moderate major human dysfunctions before they occur
- STDs, substance abuse, violence, HIV/AIDS
ecobiodevelopmental framework
- main effect of stressful experiences early in life on increased risk for health-threatening behaviours
- mediated by the effects of early stressful experiences on physiological responses that mediate the long-term health consequences
- thus mitigating the impact of stress on implicated physiological systems can prevent effects of stress on long-term outcomes
automatic nervous system
- parasympathetic: rest and digest; calming
- sympathetic: fight-flight-freeze; arousal
HPA
hypothalamic pituitary adrenocortical axis
taxonomy of stress response
- positive
- tolerable
- toxic
- positive: brief and mild to moderate in magnitude; responsive adult facilitates recovery to baseline levels
- tolerable: non-normative; greater magnitude to threat/adversity; buffering caregiving reduces risk of excessive, long-term activation and increase sense of control
- toxic: frequent or prolonged activation in the absence of buffering, supportive caregiving
toxic stress disrupts
brain development
toxic stress
- abundance of
cortisol receptors in PFC, amygdala, hippocampus
- elevated cortisol “toxic” to the developing brain
- atrophy of PFC and hippocampus
- hypertrophy of amygdala
preventing toxic stress
- three pronged approach
- simultaneous investment in evidence-based care and basic research to create better interventions
- basic science to elucidate causal mechanisms, informing design and evaluation of targeted interventions for identified subgroups
- continuous experimentation, learning from failures, greater effect sizes
preventing toxic stress
three-pronged approach
- increase public awareness of
the lifelong consequences of adversity.
- creates sense of urgency, builds broader-support when causes are well-documented
- synergy results in new knowledge and insights that improve care
family inequalty
heckman
- family environments are crucial for optimal child development - for both social and cognitive adjustment
- more educated women are working- also report investing more of their time in their child’s development
- less educated also working more- but not increasing time spent with kids
- thus, children born into lower SES homes receive less stimulation and resources
importance of early intervention
- many cognitive abilities develop in critical periods - different critical periods for different skills, but most occur earlier in life
- early remediation is most effective - later remediation may result in gains, but less effective and more costly
- early interventions provide a foundation of skills that foster learning
- leads to self- reinforcing motivation
- early mastery of basic skills makes later learning more efficient
early intervention is lower in
cost than later intervention
- gains sustained when followed by high quality learning experiences
- results in larger economic returns than later interventions
focus of early interventions
WHO
WHAT
HOW
WHO- children who do not receive substantial investment in early years
- identify cases by parenting quality not occupation or household income
WHAT- programs that target the early years yield the highest returns
- impacting the lives of parents leads to a permanent change in home environment that supports healthier development
- focus on building self-control, character, motivation - “non-cognitive skills”
HOW- build a base of productive skills and traits for disadvantaged children
- important to respect the sanctity of early family life and cultural diversity
focus of early
-KEY
quality of parenting is the best measure of disadvantage for children
- better predictor than income
Abecedarian project
- mothers whose children participated in the program achieved higher educational and employment status than mothers whose children were not in the program
head start parent benefits
- parents more likely to finish college degree if children admitted to head start by age 3
- parents of children enrolled at age e4 more likely to be less educated
evoked brain activity to visual stimulus enhanced by
attention
larger effect of ___ in the ___
visual attention in the deaf
partnership with head start
- all children living at or below the poverty line
- families randomly assigned to intervention or control group
- ## all children enrolled at 3-5 years old
hybrid intervention
= parents and children making connections- highlighting attention
- weekly parent training
- weekly child attention trainin g
- 8 weeks long
attention training
- learn three focal points: eyes, body and brain
self regulation
- become aware when you’re losing attention
- gain the ability to refocus
- increases ability to attend to one activity
- increase balance
- increase ability to remain quiet and still
- recognize and regulate emotions
- sensory activities and bodily awareness
- —— external awareness and internal awareness
parent training
- provide high levels of positive reinforcement and specific praise
- use language differently to encourage high-quality interactions
- use consistent discipline with clear expectations and natural consequences
- provide frequent opportunities for children to choose, think, solve problems
parent training hypotheses
- training parents in these strategies will change their parenting behaviours and stress levels
- these parenting changes will have a “trickle down” effect on children
- children’s increased emotional regulation and creased stress will lead to improved cognition, language and brain orgnaization
implications policy
costs: approx $800 per child
benefits:
- improved cognitive skillls
- reduced special education needs, repeated grades, likelihood to commit
- increased high school graduation rate; college
- better employment- higher taxes paid
- estimated 9:1 return on investment
acute stress
- increased heart rate
- increased blood pressure
- transfer of energy to muscles
- inhibited ‘long-term’ systems
- immune defenses strengthen cognition and sense enhanced
chronic stress
- hypertension
- muscle fatigue
- insulin-resistance
- impaired tissue repair
- immunosuppression
- impaired plasticity
cortisol
- “glucocorticoid” derives from early observations implicating these hormones in glucose metabolism
- stimulation of gluconegensis
- mobilization of amino acids
- inhibition of glucose uptake in muscle and fat
- stimulation of fat breakdown
cortisol
negative feedback look
- aka shuts itself down when levels are high
- cortisol release down-regulates activation of the hypothalamus and anterior pituitary
social buffering effects
- some individuals succumb to stress, whereas others thrive
- access to social support dampens the stress response
- early social experiences critical for highly effective buffering
social buffering effects q
- early caregiving predicts self-esteem , emotion regulation and competent relationships
- abnormal rearing is related to impair social development
- animal and human studies show that social input can dampen HPA axis reactivity
- oxytocin release is stimulated by social contact
- oxytocin has stress-reducing properties based on animal and human studies
- early social experience is associated with Oxytocin function later in life
- Abnormal rearing is associated with absent social buffering of the HPA axis
- PFC activity is implicated in stress-buffering and negative affect regulation
- early caregiving shapes connections between PFC and HPA-activating areas
early caregiving is critical
- humans have a fundamental need to belong
- distress when connections with others are lacking/damaged
- infants are predisposed to form attachments
- we rely on behaviours that build bonds to survive early in life
infants with secure attachment are more likely to exhibit high levels of:
- emotion regulation
- positive affect4
- self-esteem
- self-reliance at school
- competent peer relationships
- social support later in life
- quality of caregiving in life predicts positive, secure representations of one’s romantic partner (age 26-28)
maltreated children exhibit impairments in social development
- more likely to classify as insecurely attached in infancy and pre-school
- less social effectiveness
- greater aggression
- poor emotional regulation
- higher rates of drug use, depression and self-harm
- however, maltreated children who have a close friend show increasing slopes in self-esteem over time
social input reduces HPA reactivity
- behaviorally inhibited human infants with a secure attachment style show lower cortisol reactivity to stressors
- men display reduced cortisol response to public speaking stress when supported by romantic partner
- women show the same effect only if it includes an additional massage
- individuals high in psychosocial resources (self-esteem) show lower cortisol reactivity to stressors
social input: stimulates oxytocin
- oxytocin increases are associated with mating and pair bonding in a diverse range of species
- human- canine gaze sharing increases oxytocin in both parties; associated with quality of bond
- increases in oxytocin are associated with more sensitive maternal and paternal play behaviour
- mother-daughter phone call after a stressor increases child oxytocin
- expression of trust and generosity towards strangers is associated with increased oxytocin during laboratory economic games
- massage robustly increases oxytocin release is adult humans
oxytocin as a stress-reducer
- central administration of oxytocin inhibits the HPA response in voles and rats
- treating socially-isolated hamsters with oxytocin eliminates stress-induced cortisol increase and facilitates faster wound healing
- intranasal administration of oxytocin dampens HPA response in human males
- breastfeeding women show reduced cortisol response to stress
early caregiving impacts oxytocin
- communal rearing in female mice results in higher oxytocin receptor binding in areas of the brain involved in reward and fear condition
- high maternal licking and grooming in rodents associated with increasing oxytocin receptor binding in the brain
- adult women who have experienced child maltreatment exhibit lower levels of oxytocin
early caregiving affects buffering
- peer-reared (parent less) monekys do not show reduced cortisol response to stressors when in the presence of a social companion
- children reared in orphanages do not show increase in oxytocin and decreases in cortisol when interacting with caregiver
PFC implicated in buffering and emotion
- juveniles rhesus monkeys who are socially buffered by their mother show increased activity in prefrontal cortex
- participants high in psychosocial resources show greater vIPFC activation and lower amygdala activation during threat regulation task
- – associated with reduced cortisol response
early caregiving shapes PFC interactions with HPA axis
previously institutionalized children exhibit:
- reduced white matter between PFC and amygdala
- larger amygdala
- altered metabolism in PFC
early caregiving shapes PFC interactions with HPA axis
- adults who have grown up with harsh parenting and high levels of conflict show elevated PFC and amygdala activation to angry and fearful faces
adults raised in less risky homes show
elevated PFC activation concurrent with amydala reduction to angry and fearful faces
the vagus (brainstem)
- tenth cranial nerve
- executive controller of the parasympathetic nervous system
- bidirectional connection between the brain and body
- vagal brake
- —– activation of the vagus slows down heart rate
fight or flight
sympathetic nervous system
rest-and-digest
- decreased heart rate
- decreased blood pressure
- reduced use of energy
- activated “long-term” systems
polyvagal theory
- “smart vagus” gives social primates ability to reduce arousal associated with social interaction
- crucial for evolution of large social groups
“smart vagus”
innervates areas of body crucial for social functioning
- larynx
- face/jaw muscles
- inner-ear
- supports emotional and attentional processing
- part of why we “wear” emotions on our faces
vagal tone
- = amount of parasympathetic influence
- resting variability in heart rate (HR)
- more variability = more vagal influence
- calming slows HR and adds variability
- helathy profile= variable and flexible activity
higher vagus activity associated with
- in early development
- greater (often positive) emotional expressiveness
- easy temperament
- secure attachment status
- empathetic responding
- social competence
- better attentional control
- better self regulation
lower vagus
- in adolescent/adults
- hostility
- aggression
- depression
- anxiety
- panic
- functional dyspepsia
RSA
Respiratory sinus arrhythmia
- isolates the influence of the vagus on heart
- vagus increases influence when you exhale- heart rate slows down
- vagus decreases influence when you inhale - heart rate speeds up
- deep/focused breathing increases vagal tone
RSA and temperament
- temperament reflects individual differences in emotional and attentional reactivity and self regulation
- maps fairly directly on to concept of vagal tone
- relationship between RSA and temperament changes over the course of development
RSA and temperament in infants
- high RSA related to greater reactivity in general
- high RSA related to difficult temperament
- more crying when pacifier taken away
- greater pain reactivity
- greater reactivity to feeding tube procedure
- larger cortisol response to heel-stick
difficult temeprament
- more negative reactivity to arm restraint
- more likely tp cry when viewing novel images
more RSA also reflect greater positive reactivity
- more positive reactions during peek-a-boo
- greater positive facial expressivity
- more joy and interest with strangers
high RSA infants more reactive overall
- heart rate influenced more by auditory stimuli
- heart rate influenced more by visuals stimuli
greater attentional capacity and processing speed
- habituation rates similar to older infants
- less distracted by interrupting stimuli
RSA reflects infant capactiy to engage environment
- higher RSA related to higher “approach” ratings
- low RSA observed in inhibited infants (low approach, high fear)
- low RSA observed in infants low on social and affective expressiveness
RSA and temperament in toddlers
- greater RSA reflects greater social competency
- high infants RSA predicts competency at 3 years
- more interactive play during preschool
High RSA related to better attentional capacity
- better performance on sustained attention tasks
- low RSA observed in children with ADHD
RSA and temperament in childhood (5-8)
high RSA reflects better social competence in boys
- more likely to offer help to destressed infant
- more concern for other frightened children
- more reports of sympathy, less likely to disengage
- rated as more sociable by teachers
- rated as more emotionally regulated
restricted range of social competence in girls likely explains lack of relationship with RSA
- girls more competent, sympathetic, regulated
reactivity
changes in RSA in response to environmental demands
increased RSA= slower heart rate
RSA augmentation
decreased RSA= faster heart rate
RSA withdrawal
tone vs reactivity
tone= traits reactivity= states
RSA reactooty
- RSA withrawal at 3 months
- higher soothability
- longer duration orienting
- diminished RSA withdrawal at 8-11 months in infants with regulatory disorders
- reduced RSA withdrawal at 9 months seen in kids acting:
- – more aggressive
- – more depressed
- – more withdrawan
RSA changes in response to challenge as a marker of
healthy regulation
- vagal flexibility facilitates adaaptive metabolic output and engagement
RSA withdrawal in adults observed during
- working memory tasks with visual or auditory stimuli
- visual search tasks
- increasing task difficulty
- psychological distress
