Self-regulatory processes in early personality development ...€¦ · a corpus of research underscoring the impor- role that various dimensions of personality or tance for social

Development and Psychopathology, 14 (2002), 477–498Copyright 2002 Cambridge University PressPrinted in the United States of AmericaDOI: 10.1017.S095457940200305X

Self-regulatory processes in early personalitydevelopment: A multilevel approach tothe study of childhood social withdrawaland aggression

SUSAN D. CALKINSaAND NATHAN A. FOXb

aUniversity of North Carolina at Greensboro; and bUniversity of Maryland

AbstractSelf-regulatory processes are believed to be critical to early personality and behavioral adjustment. Such processescan be observed on multiple levels, including the physiological, attentional, emotional, cognitive, and interpersonaldomains of functioning. Data from several longitudinal studies suggest links between early temperamentaltendencies such as behavioral inhibition and frustration tolerance, and regulatory developments at the levels ofphysiological, attentional, and emotional regulation. Deficits in these particular levels of self-regulation may underliechildhood social withdrawal and aggression. Significant gaps remain in our knowledge of the pathways to disorderedbehavior and the role that self-regulation plays in such pathways. Suggestions are made for the ways in which futurelongitudinal studies might address these gaps.

During the last several years, the discipline of & Stansbury, 1997; Rubin, Coplan, Fox, &Calkins, 1995). Important in this work is thedevelopmental psychopathology has produced

a corpus of research underscoring the impor- role that various dimensions of personality ortemperament play in the unfolding of multipletance for social development and behavioral

adjustment of individual differences in per- possible pathways to adaptive or maladaptiveadjustment. A theoretical perspective that issonality (Calkins & Dedmon, 2000; Calkins,

Fox, & Marshall, 1996; Eisenberg, Fabes, well suited to guiding the empirical investiga-tion of such pathways may be found in theBernweig, Karbon, Poulin, & Hanish, 1993;

Eisenberg, Fabes, Guthrie, Murphy, Maszk, field of developmental psychopathology.A developmental psychopathology per-Holmgren, & Suh, 1996; Eisenberg, Fabes,

Nyman, Bernzweig, & Pinuelas 1994; Eisen- spective suggests that there are multiple con-tributors to maladaptive and adaptive out-berg, Murphy, Maszk, Smith, & Karbon,

1995; Fox, Schmidt, Calkins, Rubin, & comes, that these contributors may interact invarious ways within different individuals, andCoplan, 1996; Gunnar, Tout, deHaan, Pierce,that the consequences for development aremultiple pathways to disordered behavior and/

This research was supported by National Institute ofor multiple variants of outcome from individ-Health grants to Susan D. Calkins (MH 55584 and MHual causative factors (Cicchetti, 1984, 1993;58144 ) and Nathan A. Fox (HD17899). Thanks to Laura

Lomax and Susan Dedmon for input on this manuscript. Cicchetti & Rogosch, 1996; Sroufe & Rutter,Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Su- 1984). Cicchetti and Rogosch (1996) and

san D. Calkins, Department of Psychology, P.O. Box Richters (1997) described these perspectives26164, University of North Carolina at Greensboro,

as multifinality and equifinality. MultifinalityGreensboro, NC 27402–6164, or Nathan A. Fox, Depart-refers to the possibility of multiple or hetero-ment of Human Development, University of Maryland,

College Park, MD 20742. geneous outcomes as a result of similar puta-

477

S. D. Calkins and N. A. Fox478

tive etiological factors. Thus, early neglect In such an approach, for example, the individ-ual, interactions between individuals, relation-may result in a number of different maladap-

tive outcomes, or it may, in some instances, ships among individuals, group processes, andthe influence of the society or culture wouldhave no obvious harmful effect. Equifinality

refers to the possibility that similar outcomes be considered among the multiple levels thatmay affect the developmental outcome. Thesemay be the result of multiple and nonoverlap-

ping developmental trajectories. So, for exam- levels may be analyzed as discrete factors andas reciprocally interacting forces affecting oneple, aggressive behavior in childhood may be

a consequence of a temperamental disposition another across development (Hinde, 1992).Another approach is to consider the multipletoward such behavior or a function of expo-

sure to negative and coercive parenting. Such levels that might exist within these broad fac-tors. Thus, for example, relationships may bea perspective emphasizes the importance of

conducting longitudinal investigations of the viewed as being hierarchically organizedacross development with face to face interac-multiple forces that may both influence, and

be influenced by, early contextual, familial, or tions building into attachments and attach-ments building into social interactional skills.individual difference factors. This perspective

also stimulates an interest in resilience, or Similarly, the individual may be regarded asa self-regulating system that consists of multi-the role of protective factors, and an examina-

tion of those features of either the child or ple, increasingly differentiated levels and canbe studied by examining simultaneously thethe environment that may alter the devel-

opmental pathway such that adjustment, rather physiological, emotional, behavioral, and so-cial processes that contribute to adaptive regu-than maladjustment, is possible (Luthar,

Cicchetti, & Becker, 2000; Masten, Best, & latory behavior (Posner & Rothbart, 2000).Recent empirical work suggests that the self-Garmezy, 1990; Rutter, 1987). A develop-

mental psychopathology perspective advo- regulatory system is implicated in personality,social, and cognitive development (Bron-cates an organizational view of development;

thus, multiple factors are considered in the stein & Suess, 2000; Calkins & Dedmon,2000; Fox et al., 1996; Rothbart & Jones,context of one another, rather than in isolation

(Cicchetti & Rogosch, 1996; Cicchetti & 1998). Indeed, Posner and Rothbart argued re-cently that understanding the self-regulatorySchneider–Rosen, 1984). Finally, a develop-

mental psychopathology theoretical approach system is critically important to our under-standing of development and psychopathol-is compatible with an empirical approach that

focuses on extreme groups or types of indi- ogy (Posner & Rothbart, 2000).In our work, we seek to understand theviduals in order to specify developmental pro-

files (Bergman & Magnusson, 1997; Kagan, multiple levels of self-regulation that emergeand develop over the course of infancy and1997a).

In applying the developmental psychopath- childhood and how those levels affect person-ality development and behavioral adjustment.ology perspective to the study of early person-

ality, researchers have sought to identify the Indeed, most recent approaches to the studyof individual differences in personality duringmultiple dimensions of child functioning and

environmental influences that may be impli- infancy and early childhood have conceptual-ized these differences in terms of variabilitycated in the acquisition of the skills and abili-

ties necessary for successful social interaction in temperamental reactivity and self-regula-tion (Calkins & Johnson, 1998; Fox, Hender-and behavioral adaptation. However, multiple

factor approaches to the study of personality son, & Marshall, in press; Gunnar, Porter,Wolf, Rigatuso, & Larson, 1995; Posnerdevelopment and behavioral adjustment have

taken different forms. One approach has been & Rothbart, 2000; Rothbart & Derryberry,1981; Stifter & Braungart, 1995). Variationsto classify into discrete, yet broad, levels the

multiple forces that may act on an individu- among children can be observed in the la-tency, intensity, frequency, and duration ofal’s development (Hinde, 1992; Rubin, 1998).

Self-regulatory processes 479

emotional and behavioral reactions and in the role of the self-regulatory system in personal-ity development and early child functioning.attentional and behavioral strategies used to

manage such reactions (Rothbart & Derry-berry, 1981). In addition, behavioral manifes-

Self-Regulatory Developments in Infancytations of emotion, experience, attention, and

and Early Childhoodemotion or behavior management have under-lying physiological substrates (Calkins & In defining self-regulation, Rothbart and

colleagues (Rothbart & Derryberry, 1981;Dedmon, 2000; Calkins et al., 1996; Fox,1989; Stifter & Fox, 1990). Rothbart & Posner, 1985) focused on a gen-

eral definition that encompasses multiple lev-During infancy and early childhood, chil-dren gradually acquire the self-regulation els of the analysis of regulation. In this

approach, self-regulation is defined as theskills and strategies necessary to cope with avariety of developmental challenges (Cic- child’s ability to modulate behavior according

to the cognitive, emotional, and social de-chetti, Ganiban, & Barnett, 1991; Kopp, 1982,1989; Tronick, 1989). In infancy, the child’s mands of a particular situation (Posner &

Rothbart, 2000) or, even more simply, as pro-success at regulation depends heavily on theparent’s awareness, flexibility, and responsi- cesses by which one system controls the reac-

tivity of another system (Derryberry & Reed,vity to emotional expression and the child’sneed for intervention. During toddlerhood, the 1996). The initial responses of the infant are

characterized by reactions to sensory stimuliability to use self-regulating behaviors be-comes critical as the child gains indepen- of different qualities and intensities. This re-

activity is thought to be present at birth anddence, control, and an identity separate fromthat of the caregiver. It is important that re- to reflect a relatively stable characteristic of

the infant (Rothbart, Derryberry, & Hershey,cent research on the self-regulation of emo-tion demonstrates quite convincingly that the 2000). Regulatory processes begin to develop

prenatally and evolve into a more sophisti-display of affect and affect regulation arepowerful mediators of interpersonal relation- cated and self-initiated process over the

course of the toddler, preschool, and schoolships and socioemotional adjustment duringthe first few years of life (Calkins, 1994; Cal- years (Posner & Rothbart, 2000; Rothbart &

Jones, 1998). Thus, for example, infants maykins & Fox, 1992; Cicchetti et al., 1991;Malatesta, Culver, Tesman, & Shephard, differ initially in their threshold to respond to

visual or auditory stimuli of a certain intensity1989; Rothbart, 1989; Thompson, 1994).In this paper, we describe how a multilevel (e.g., Calkins, Fox, & Marshall, 1996). Over

the course of development, the child’s in-theoretical approach that specifies a multi-method empirical approach, including the creasing capacity to regulate motor and affec-

tive behavior, first as a result of a supportiveobservation of behavior and assessment ofphysiological correlates to behavior, informs caregiving context and later as a function of

voluntary and effortful control, moderatesour understanding of the development of self-regulation and its role in the development of these initial reactive responses. Much of the

development of self-regulation is a result ofearly adjustment problems. Specifically, weargue that a multiple level approach to the increasing control over attentional processes,

as well as enhanced inhibitory control overstudy of self-regulation may explain both thedevelopment of childhood social withdrawal motor behavior (Fox, Henderson, Rubin, Cal-

kins, & Schmidt, 2001; Kochanska, Coy, &and aggression and the individual pathways tothese disorders that have been observed. We Murray, 2001; Ruff & Rothbart, 1996). Dur-

ing the second and third years of life, childrenhighlight areas of our own research thatprovide support for such a view, discuss the begin to gain control over impulses and ac-

tions that are mostly activated by the situa-difficulties inherent in such an approach, andidentify the future directions that research tion. During the preschool years, children be-

come aware of the factors that affect theirmust take to further our understanding of the


attention, such as motivation and noise which is achieved during early infancy andunderlies mastery of state regulation and(Miller & Zalenski, 1990). It is important that

each of these skills will support the emer- control of sleep–wake cycles, eventuallybecomes integrated into the processes of at-gence of the kind of independent and adaptive

behavioral functioning that is necessary for tention engagement and disengagement(Porges, 1996; Richards, 1985, 1987). More-the child to make a successful transition to the

school and peer environment. It is important over, attentional control becomes integratedinto emotional and behavioral regulation (Bel-to note, however, that these normative devel-

opments do not preclude the possibility that sky, Friedman, & Hsieh, 2001; Rothbart,Posner, & Boylan, 1990; Sethi, Mischel,both reactivity and regulation may be influ-

enced by environmental events and alter the Aber, Shoda, & Rodriquez, 2000). In ourview, these early developing levels of regula-trajectory of a child’s development (Cic-

chetti & Rogosch, 1996). tion—physiological, attentional, and care-giver-supported emotional regulation—play aA key construct in Rothbart’s theory of

temperament is effortful control, defined as critical role in very early personality and so-cial behavior, and these early emerging be-the ability to inhibit responses to stimuli in

the immediate environment while pursuing a haviors will be reciprocally involved in thedevelopment of more complex levels of regu-cognitively represented goal (Rothbart &

Posner, 1985). As a temperamental dimen- lation, such as those involved in behavioralcontrol, interpersonal processes, and metacog-sion, effortful control refers to a special class

of self-regulatory processes that develop with nitions (Cole, Michel, & Teti, 1994; Stifter,Spinrad, & Braungart–Rieker, 1999).the maturation of attentional mechanisms,

particularly the anterior attention system(Posner & Rothbart, 1992). Although it is be-

Self-regulation at the physiological levellieved that effortful control begins to emergeat the end of the first year of life, its develop- Traditionally, the purpose of psychophysio-

logical measures in developmental researchment continues at least through the preschoolyears. Thus, the system of regulation that was to provide a window on processes that

were difficult to observe in other ways. Re-emerges over time becomes more differenti-ated, more voluntary, and more systematically search on learning with preverbal infants, for

example, was one type of work that was tradi-deployed. Nevertheless, this system is rela-tively slow to develop and its development, tionally conducted with psychophysiological

measures. Current approaches to develop-although influenced by temperamental reac-tivity, is likely a function of other factors as mental psychophysiological work emphasize

that certain underlying physiological pro-well.Inherent in Posner and Rothbart’s theory is cesses and functioning may play an important

role in the etiology of early regulatory behav-the view that neurobiological systems under-lie the developments in behavioral regulation iors (Fox, 1994; Fox & Card, 1999), and they

are believed to underlie functioning in many(Posner & Rothbart, 2000). Thus, one way toconceptualize the self-regulatory system is to domains of infant and child behavior

(Bronstein & Suess, 2000; Fox, 1994; Porges,describe it as adaptive control that may be ob-served at the level of physiological, atten- 1996). Three primary types of measures are

used to study relations between physiologytional, emotional, behavioral, cognitive, andinterpersonal, or social processes. Control and self-regulatory behavior to a variety of

elicitors: measures of heart rate (HR), brainat these various levels emerges, at least inprimitive form, across the prenatal, infancy, electrical activity, and adrenocortical activity.

Excellent reviews of the use of these threetoddler, and early childhood periods of devel-opment. Importantly, though, the mastery of measures in both the adult and child literature

can to be found in Fox, Schmidt, and Hender-earlier regulatory tasks becomes an importantcomponent of later competencies. Thus, for son (2000), Porges (1991), Gunnar (1989),

and Stansbury and Gunnar (1994).example, the control of physiological arousal,


One physiological measure that was re- tween the notion of lateralized brain systemsinvolved in basic underlying motivational be-cently utilized in the study of infant emotional

regulation and social development is the on- haviors and those brain systems involved incognitive processes such as verbal mediation,going electroencephalogram (EEG). The EEG

is low-level electrical activity recorded off the analytical abilities, monitoring, and inhibitionof prepotent responses, all of which may bescalp. First noticed by Berger (1929), the

EEG has been routinely recorded in adults directly tied to emerging regions of the frontalcortex. Thus, for example, the orbitofrontalduring cognitive tasks and situations designed

to elicit different emotions. With the advent cortex appears to be important in decisionmaking processes involving emotion, regionsof powerful and fast computers, it became

possible to both collect large amounts of EEG of the anterior cingulate are implicated in er-ror detection and attention, and the dorso-data, sample the signal quickly, and perform

a spectral analysis of the signal, decomposing lateral frontal cortex appears critical for work-ing memory (Davidson, 2000). These compe-it into energy at different frequency bands.

Berger (1929) had noticed that the energy in tencies (decision making, error detection,working memory) are all involved in adaptivethe EEG decreased when patients were attend-

ing to the environment. This phenomenon, later emotion regulation and are a function of theprefrontal cortex. Emotional control is a con-detailed by Lindsey and Wicke (1974),

is known as alpha desynchronization or sequence of the dynamic interaction of thefrontal regions (Fox, 1994).alpha blocking. Greater desynchronization

(decreased energy in a frequency band) is as- With respect to cardiac measures that maybe used to index regulation, recent researchsociated with increased activation. Research-

ers interested in the pattern of activation be- suggests that HR variability may play a cru-cial role. Porges (1991, 1996) proposed atween the right and left hemispheres compute

ratio scores of the difference in power or en- hierarchical model of self-regulation that as-sumes that complex behavioral regulation isergy between the two hemispheres. These ra-

tio or difference scores present relative differ- dependent on appropriate physiological regu-lation, as measured by high frequency vari-ences in power and a score that reflects the

degree to which one hemisphere or region in ability or vagal tone. Vagal tone, a componentof parasympathetic control, can be measureda hemisphere exhibits greater activation than

a homologous region. There is an extensive as the amplitude of respiratory sinus arrhyth-mia (RSA), as quantified from beat to beatliterature on EEG asymmetry patterns during

verbal versus spatial tasks (Davidson, Chap- heart period data. The vagus is a cranial nervethat runs from the brain stem at the nucleusman, Chapman, & Henriques, 1990; David-

son, Jackson, & Kalin, 2000) and during the ambiguous to various body organs, which in-clude the heart and digestive system, and pro-expression and perception of different emo-

tions (Davidson, 1984; Fox & Davidson, mote dynamic feedback between the braincenters and the organs that regulate homeosta-1986).

Fox speculates that a stable resting pattern sis. This coordinating role has led researchersto describe RSA not only as an index ofof frontal EEG asymmetry may reflect an un-

derlying “trait” disposition for the motiva- neural control of the heart but also as an as-sessment of underlying regulatory abilitiestional states of approach or withdrawal and

that such motivational states may facilitate in mammals (Doussard–Roosevelt, Porges,Scanlon, Alemi, & Scanlon, 1997).adaptive regulatory behavior (Fox, 1994; Fox

et al., 1996; Fox et al., 2001). Thus, lateral- High resting RSA is associated with appro-priate emotional reactivity (Stifter & Fox,ized brain function serves as the foundation,

much like temperamental reactivity. Superim- 1990) and good attentional ability (Richards,1985, 1987; Suess, Porges, & Plude, 1994).posed on this foundation are processes such

as attention, which function to provide com- Several studies have linked high RSA in new-borns with favorable developmental out-petencies to the child for adaptive emotion

regulation. It is important to distinguish becomes, suggesting that it may be an important


physiological component of appropriate en- is controlled externally and depends on theproperties of the stimuli. Selectivity changesgagement with the environment (Hoffheimer,

Wood, Porges, Pearson, & Lawson, 1995; as new skills and knowledge emerge in devel-opment. Ruff and Rothbart (1996) suggest us-Richards & Cameron, 1989). The suppression

of RSA during demanding tasks may reflect ing the individual’s actions as a guide foridentifying whether attention is voluntary orphysiological processes that allow the child to

shift focus from internal homeostatic demands involuntary. They assume that individuals arevoluntarily controlling their attention if theyto demands that require internal processing or

the generation of coping strategies to control can direct, maintain, and shift their focus ac-cording to the directions of another person.affective or behavioral arousal. Thus, the sup-

pression of RSA is thought to be a physiologi- The emergence of voluntary control of at-tention occurring during the infant’s first yearcal strategy that permits sustained attention

and behaviors indicative of active coping that coincides with the development of three re-lated, but anatomically distinct, attentionalare mediated by the parasympathetic nervous

system (Porges, 1991, 1996; Wilson & Gott- systems. The first attentional system of im-portance is the reticular activating system,man, 1996). Recent research indicates that the

suppression of RSA during challenging situa- which ascends from the brain stem to thecortex and is thought to be involved in main-tions is related to better state regulation, greater

self-soothing, and more attentional control in taining and adjusting general alertness. It isbelieved that this system focuses attention oninfancy (DeGangi, DiPietro, Greenspan, &

Porges, 1991; Huffman, Bryan, del Carmen, important aspects of the environment and pre-vents distraction, thus facilitating defensivePederson, Doussard–Roosevelt, & Porges,

1998); fewer behavior problems and more ap- behavior (Derryberry & Rothbart, 1997). Thesecond attentional system that matures duringpropriate emotion regulation in preschool

(Calkins, 1997; Porges, Doussard–Roosevelt, the end of the first year of life is the posteriorattentional system. Neurologically, this sys-Portales & Greenspan, 1996), and sustained

attention in school-age children (Suess et al., tem is distributed across the brain’s superiorcolliculus, the pulvinar nucleus of the thala-1994). The extension of these research find-

ings is that, although the ability to suppress mus, and the parietal lobe within the cortex.The operations of this system allow attentionRSA may be related to complex responses in-

volving the regulation of attention and behav- to move from one location to another throughthe engagement and disengagement of atten-ior, a deficiency in this ability may be related

to early behavior problems, particularly prob- tion. In addition, this system allows for theadjustment of the breadth of attention tolems characterized by a lack of behavioral and

emotional control (Porges, 1996; Wilson & closely focus on details or give a broader,more general picture of the informationGottman, 1996).(Posner & Rothbart, 1992). The third system,which develops later than the other attentional

Regulation at the attentional levelsystems, is the anterior attentional system,which is proposed to be the most importantThe capacity for attentional self-regulation

begins to emerge and mature toward the end to the development of effortful control. Thissystem is located within the frontal cortex andof the first year. However, the development

of attention continues throughout the pre- is viewed as an executive system that regu-lates sensory information (Rothbart, Derry-school and school years (Rothbart, 1989).

Individual differences in the ability to volun- berry, & Posner, 1994). Furthermore, Posnerand Rothbart (1992) suggest that this systemtarily sustain focus, shift attention, initiate ac-

tions, and inhibit actions are believed to be underlies the conscious, willful control ofbehavior through which the individual canearly behavioral reflections of an emerging

system of effortful control (Adahi & Rothbart, regulate more reactive motivational functions.Although aspects of effortful control can be1994).

Although newborn attention is selective, it seen at the end of the first year, this system


is relatively late to develop, the most rapid self-comforting, help seeking, and distractionmay assist the child in managing early frustra-maturation occurring during toddlerhood

(Derryberry & Rothbart, 1997). It should be tion and fear responses. Approach behaviorsand gaze aversion may assist in the modula-noted that there is debate as to the fundamen-

tal competencies underlying the development tion of joy and pleasure. These kinds of be-havioral strategies begin to develop early inof executive function skills (Zelazo & Rez-

nick, 1991; Zelazo, Reznick, & Pinon, 1995). the first year of life and affect the both thecontinued development of regulation and sub-A number of researchers suggested that in-

creases in working memory (another “frontal” sequent social skills and behavior.Recent research on the regulation of typesfunction) may account for the development of

these skills (Zelazo et al., 1995), whereas of negative affect suggests processes throughwhich this regulation affects behavioral con-others argued for the importance of an inhibi-

tory component toward understanding execu- trol later in development. Stifter and Braun-gart (1995) examined changes in the types oftive control (e.g., Diamond, 1991).

By the end of the first year of life, infants regulatory behaviors that infants use to man-age emotional reactivity and observed thatare capable of controlling their visual atten-

tion in such a way that reactivity to exoge- there were relations between these behaviorsand changes in negative affect. Stifter alsonous stimuli is influenced. Reactivity is initi-

ated when the infant looks toward an object. found that emotional regulation in response tofrustration in infancy was related to compli-However, several successive changes may

take place that affect reactivity. First, reactiv- ance in toddlerhood (Stifter et al., 1999).Grolnick and colleagues (Grolnick, Bridges,ity is augmented when the infant looks in-

tensely at the object. Second, it is maintained & Connell, 1996) described the relations be-tween emotion regulation strategies and dis-when the infant continues to look at the object

and is reduced when the infant averts his or tress among a sample of 2-year-olds observedin a delay of gratification paradigm and a sep-her gaze. Third, it is terminated when the in-

fant looks away from the object (Rothbart & aration situation. They observed that the strat-egy of visual reorienting during these tasksDerryberry, 1981). The development of the

three attentional systems provides the young was the most commonly used form of emo-tion regulation and the one that was most pre-child with the neurophysiology necessary to

regulate reactivity. However, not all children dictive of decreases in distress. Eisenberg andcolleagues (1993, 1994, 1995) found relationswill be able to engage in these behaviors suc-

cessfully to control reactivity. There are clear among emotionality, emotion regulation, andpeer competence in early childhood. Rothbartindividual differences in the ability to utilize

attention to successfully control emotion and and colleagues (Rothbart et al., 1990) ob-served that at least one specific emotion regu-behavior. For example, Rothbart (1981, 1986)

found dramatic increases in positive affect lation behavior, that of attentional control, isrelated to decreases in negative emotionalityand decreases in distress from 3 to 6 months

during episodes of focused attention. More- in infancy. Buss and Goldsmith (1998) andDiener and colleagues (Diener, Manglesdorf,over, negative affectivity is believed to inter-

fere with the child’s ability to explore and McHale, & Frosch, in press) also observedthat a number of different behaviors that in-learn about the environment (Ruff & Roth-

bart, 1996). fants display when observed in frustrating orconstraining situations appear to reduce nega-tive affect. Taken together, these studies dem-

Regulation at the emotional levelonstrate that there are individual differencesin the use of particular emotion regulation be-Emotion regulation refers to efforts on the

part of the individual to manage, modulate, haviors, that some behaviors are more effec-tive than others for reducing negative affect,inhibit and enhance emotions (Cicchetti et al.,

1991; Kopp, 1982, 1989; Thompson, 1994). that the use of particular emotion regulationbehaviors changes over time, and that certainFor example, the use of strategies such as


behaviors affect the development of social contexts. Their interaction in producing eitheradaptive or maladaptive social behavior maycompetence.

Recent research suggests that failure to ac- be a function of the context in which they aremeasured. So, for example, Henderson, Fox,quire the skills needed to manage emotional

responses and emotional arousal may lead to and Rubin (2001) found that socially with-drawn school age children were no differentdifficulties in social interaction (Calkins,

1994; Cicchetti, Ackerman, & Izard, 1995; on measures of executive function than non-withdrawn age mates when they were testedEisenberg et al., 1993, 1994; Rubin et al.,

1995). Fabes and Eisenberg (1992) hypothe- individually. However, when measures of ex-ecutive attention were assessed within a socialsized that reactivity and regulation exert an

effect on social behavior by interacting with situation, these same socially withdrawn chil-dren performed less well compared to theirone another. Such a hypothesis has been pro-

posed to account for both socially withdrawn nonwithdrawn counterparts.In sum, recent research on infant and child-and aggressive behavior with peers (Eisen-

berg et al., 1993, 1994; Fox & Calkins, 1993; hood development suggests that there are im-portant regulatory developments that occur onRubin et al., 1995). For example, Fox and

Calkins (1993) argue that the influence of a multiple levels, these developments are likelyto be hierarchically organized, and basicchild’s characteristic emotional arousal or re-

activity on social behavior will depend on the physiological processes contribute to earlydevelopments in attention and emotionalextent to which the child engages in behaviors

that enable him or her to manage emotional functioning. Individual differences in theseprocesses are likely to be implicated in bothreactivity in a constructive manner. In addi-

tion, children who experience extreme arousal personality and behavioral adjustment duringthe early childhood years, when the self-regu-or emotional reactivity may have difficulty

regulating those experiences, regardless of the lation of emotion and behavior become coreindices of successful adaptation.strategies they may attempt to use.

Eisenberg and colleagues have investigatedthese issues with school-age children (Eisen-

Early Childhood Self-Regulation andberg et al., 1993, 1994; Fabes & Eisenberg,

Its Relation to Social Withdrawal1992) and found that individuals who are

and Aggressionhighly emotional in response to anger-induc-ing events and poor at regulation are likely to Over the last decade, we conducted longitudi-

nal research on the origins of early childhooddisplay aggression in social situations. Eisen-berg hypothesized that this relation is ob- personality and behavior problems. We ap-

plied a multilevel conceptualization and aserved because the experience of intenseanger results in a loss of behavioral control. multimethod empirical approach to try to un-

derstand the etiology of, and pathways to,Strategies such as attentional control (focus-ing on an object other than that which may be childhood social withdrawal and aggression.

Our assessments include physiological mea-arousing), avoidance (turning away from anarousing stimulus), and instrumental coping sures; parent report of temperament and be-

havior problems; and laboratory assessments(working with the situation) may be useful indealing with anger (Eisenberg et al., 1993, of emotion, attention, caregiver behavior, and

child social behavior. Findings that support1994). Children who fail to use such strategiestend to vent their emotions and may become the notion that deficits in self-regulatory func-

tioning at several levels underlie these behav-aggressive. Both the tendency to display mod-ulated affect and the ability to utilize appro- ior problems are presented.priate affect regulation skills enhances thedevelopment of social skills (Rubin et al.,

Inhibition and childhood social withdrawal1995).

It is important to study the relations be- For the last several years, we followed threelongitudinal cohorts of children across the in-tween reactivity and regulation in specific


fancy and childhood period and observing the months, EEG data was collected during abaseline procedure, and at 14 months, infantemergence of behavioral inhibition and its as-

sociations to childhood social withdrawal. Be- behavior was observed in a series of episodesdesigned to elicit inhibited versus uninhibitedhavioral inhibition refers to the child’s initial

response to novel events or unfamiliar adults. behavior.The infants who were selected for the fol-As first described by Kagan and colleagues

(Garcia–Coll, Kagan, & Reznick, 1984; Ka- low-up study were clustered into threegroups: infants high on motor activity andgan & Snidman, 1991), young children who

are behaviorally inhibited display low ap- negative affect and low on positive affect, in-fants high on motor activity and positive af-proach behavior, become, and remain, vigi-

lant for the duration of exposure to the novel fect and low on negative affect, and infantswho are low on all dimensions. The data fromobject; and often seek the proximity of a care-

giver. Social withdrawal refers to the child’s this study reveal that these behavioral tenden-cies are accompanied by specific patterns ofsocial response to unfamiliar peers (Coplan,

Rubin, Fox, Calkins, & Stewart, 1994). Chil- brain electrical activity. Infants who were se-lected at 4 months because they displayeddren who exhibit social withdrawal when con-

fronted with unfamiliar peers do not engage high amounts of negative affect and motor ac-tivity exhibited greater relative right frontalin social interaction, nor do they initiate or

respond with social behaviors to social bids activation at 9 months. Infants who displayedhigh amounts of positive affect and motor ac-from unfamiliar peers. Our focus in this work

was on the description, etiology, and out- tivity at 4 months exhibited greater relativeleft frontal activation (Calkins et al., 1996).comes of these early behavioral tendencies. In

this research, our measures of physiology in- Infants low on the three dimensions fell in themiddle of the two extreme groups on the mea-clude brain electrical activity, cardiac activity,

and cortisol. Of primary interest, though, is sures of frontal activation. A subsequent fol-low-up of these infants found that the patternthe role that individual differences in the pat-

tern of frontal EEG activation play in the de- of reactivity and their 9-month frontal EEGactivity combined were significant predictorsvelopment of maladaptive social behavior in

the preschool years. Our working hypothesis of social withdrawal at age 4 years. Highlyreactive and negative infants who displayedwas that the pattern of frontal activation re-

flects the child’s underlying motivational dis- right frontal EEG asymmetry at 9 months ofage were more likely to exhibit social with-position to either approach or withdraw from

novelty or social challenge. This hypothesis is drawal at 4 years of age, compared to simi-larly reactive infants exhibiting left frontalbased on a wide variety of data implicating

the two frontal regions as being differentially EEG asymmetry (Henderson et al., 2001).These findings are consistent with findingsinvolved in the tendency to express affects as-

sociated with either approach or withdrawal from the adult literature that demonstrate thatadults with resting right frontal asymmetry(Fox, Calkins, Porges, Rubin, Coplan, Stew-

art, Marshall, & Long, 1995). In a recent are more likely to rate video film clips withnegative affect compared to adults with leftstudy, infants were screened in their homes

at 4 months of age using a battery of visual, frontal asymmetry (Tomarken, Davidson, &Henriques, 1990). Differences in frontalauditory, and olfactory stimuli designed to

elicit negative affect, positive affect, and mo- asymmetry may reflect the fact that the leftand right hemispheres are differentially spe-tor activity (Kagan, 1997b; Kagan & Snid-

man, 1991). This screening procedure was cialized for the expression of emotions associ-ated with either approach or withdrawal (Fox,designed to select infants who would display

inhibited behavior and negative affect at later 1991).To what degree are these early asymmetryages. In the initial study (Calkins et al., 1996)

a sample of 200 infants was seen at 4 months; differences stable, and what behavioral conse-quences are associated with stability? Fox anda subsample of 81 infants was selected for fol-

low-up visits at 9 and 14 months. At 9 colleagues (Fox, Calkins, & Bell, 1994) ex-


amined this issue and concluded that asymme- were more likely to have continuously with-drawn children.try is modestly stable over time and related in

important ways to behavioral outcomes. In the Infant emotional reactivity has importantimplications for the development of regula-follow-up of their selected sample at 24

months of age, they observed that children tory mechanisms that will assist the child in avariety of social settings. The extension ofwho maintained a pattern of right frontal

asymmetry over the first 2 years of life were these findings is that patterns of physiologyand behavior that are identifiable in early in-more likely to be inhibited, compliant, less

impulsive, and high on a measure of frustra- fancy play a role in the development of adap-tive versus maladaptive behavior in earlytion tolerance. In a more extensive follow-up,

Fox and colleagues (2001) report on the de- childhood. This hypothesis was investigatedwhen two cohorts of children from both se-gree of continuity and discontinuity of behav-

ioral inhibition to social withdrawal from lected and unselected longitudinal sampleswere assessed in the laboratory at age 4 (Foxamong a sample of infants selected for tem-

peramental negative reactivity. They find that et al., 1996). At this assessment, both cohortsof children participated in a physiological as-approximately 25% of these infants (already

an extreme groups sample based on their se- sessment and a play assessment with three un-familiar peers, and parents assessed thelection for temperamental reactivity) exhib-

ited continuous behavioral inhibition and so- child’s level of problem behavior (internaliz-ing versus externalizing) using the Childcial withdrawal. The other 75% either showed

no clear pattern or appeared to display moder- Behavior Checklist (CBCL). The data indi-cated that children who displayed a physio-ation in their responses to social challenge.

An examination of the EEG data for children logical profile of greater relative right frontalEEG asymmetry and socially withdrawn be-who remained socially withdrawn versus

those who changed revealed that among the havior with peers were more likely to be ratedby mothers as high on internalizing behaviorsformer group, the children continued to ex-

hibit right frontal EEG asymmetry whereas than children who were socially withdrawnwith peers but displayed a pattern of greateramong those whose phenotypic expression of

behavior changed, there was a corresponding relative left frontal asymmetry. In addition,children who displayed a pattern of right fron-change in the pattern of frontal EEG asymme-

try. Fox and colleagues speculated on the role tal EEG asymmetry and who were social withpeers, rather than withdrawn, were moreof the caregiving environment in moderating

change in temperamental reactivity and pro- likely to be rated by mothers as high on exter-nalizing behaviors (Fox et al., 1996) in com-viding the child with the regulatory skills nec-

essary to engage in adaptive social behavior parison to social children, who displayed apattern of left frontal asymmetry. These data(Calkins, 1994; Fox et al., 1994). In recent

work by Rubin and colleagues, there are hints demonstrate that the pattern of frontal EEGasymmetry and the behavioral profile withas to the dimensions of caregiving that may

be important in such continuities and discon- peers was predictive of different patterns ofmaladaptive behaviors as rated by mothers.tinuities. For example, Rubin recently ob-

served that children who remain consistently Patterns of frontal EEG asymmetry appearto reflect early motivational dispositions toinhibited over the course of the toddler period

were temperamentally fearful in infancy, approach versus withdrawal (Fox, 1991, 1994;Fox et al., 1996). In addition and more gener-highly distressed when separated from the

mother, and likely to have oversolicitous ally, the prefrontal cortex and its multiple ar-eas or regions underlies competencies associ-mothers (Rubin, Hastings, Stewart, Hender-

son, & Chen, 1997). Rubin, Cheah, and Fox ated with verbal mediation, analytic abilities,monitoring, and inhibition of prepotent re-(2001) similarly found that for certain con-

texts (free play in particular) mothers exhibit- sponses, all of which may be directly tied toemerging emotion regulation skills (Dawson,ing overintrusive and oversolicitous behaviors


Hessl, & Frey, 1994; Fox et al., 1996). Emo- children in the laboratory in a series of proce-dures (emotion tasks, attention tasks, delay oftional control is thus a consequence of the dy-

namic interaction of the frontal regions (Fox, gratification, and compliance tasks) designedto elicit regulation across multiple levels. Our1994). Again, however, there is good evi-

dence that interactions with caregivers also physiological measures were resting and re-sponse measures of HR and RSA. Previousprovide children with opportunities for ac-

quiring affect regulation skills (Calkins & research with inhibited infants and childrensuggests that regulatory efforts may be partlyJohnson, 1998; Cassidy, 1994; Thompson,

1994). Further, as a number of researchers ob- a consequence of parasympathetic nervoussystem functioning (Porges, 1996; Stifter &served, there is clear evidence that these emo-

tion regulatory skills and abilities have impli- Fox, 1990) as well as frontal brain activity. Inaddition, we examined maternal behaviors incations for the development of appropriate

versus inappropriate social behaviors (Cole, the laboratory in a different set of tasks. Fi-nally, in a second assessment we observed theMichel, & O’Donnell, 1994; Eisenberg et al.,

1995, 1996; Rubin et al., 1995; Schmidt & children in a peer play situation and examinedthe degree to which the aggressive childrenFox, 1998). In their model of temperament,

Rothbart and Posner (1985) views the devel- displayed socially appropriate versus inappro-priate behavior.opment of prefrontal skills involved in regula-

tion as a critical element. There are clear indi- The findings from this study providedpreliminary support for the idea that early de-vidual differences in the maturation of these

skills; moreover, the development of these velopments in self-regulation support earlyadjustment and failures of self-regulation mayskills may be a function of the history of care-

giver–infant interaction. The next phase of re- be implicated in the display of acting-out, orexternalizing, behavior problems. First, wesearch in this area should attempt to identify

how caregiving behaviors and context influ- observed that high risk 2-year-olds did notdisplay the same pattern of vagal suppressionence the development of these executive skills

that are so important for self-regulation. as low risk children when challenged behav-iorally and emotionally. Indeed, across all thechallenging situations with which they were

Anger and childhood aggressionpresented, aggressive children showed onlymodest decreases in RSA from baseline toIn recent research (Calkins & Dedmon, 2000;

Calkins, Gill, & Williford, 1999; Smith, challenge, unlike their control counterparts,who consistently displayed significant de-Lomax, & Calkins, 1998), we also applied

many of the principles of developmental psy- creases. The behavior of the children mappedonto their physiological response as well. Ag-chophysiology and psychopathology to the

study of early emerging externalizing prob- gressive children spent less time attending tothe task and more time fretting or throwinglems. In two longitudinal studies, we investi-

gated the self-regulatory components of early tantrums, and they engaged in fewer putativeregulatory behaviors than did the control chil-social behavior by focusing on children with

early appearing problems managing frustra- dren. These children also had difficulty com-plying with maternal requests and displayedtion and aggressive behavior. In one study, for

example, used two separate administrations of significantly more defiance (Calkins & Ded-mon, 2000).the CBCL for 2- to 3-year-olds (CBCL-2/3)

to recruit 50, 2-year-old children with stable In our second assessment of these childrenat age 2, we found that children characterizedexternalizing behavior problems (aggression/

destruction) in the borderline clinical range as aggressive by parents were, in fact, moreaggressive in play with an unfamiliar peer,(labeled “high risk”) and 50 children without

such problems (labeled “low risk”). The chil- even when the mothers of the children werepresent in the room. Moreover, the aggressivedren were matched on age, socioeconomic

status, gender, and race. We assessed these behavior became more frequent over the


course of the play session. Thus, these chil- Of the larger sample, 77 infants met the crite-ria for the “low frustration” group and 85 metdren had difficulty controlling aggressive im-

pulses under conditions of novelty and when the criteria for the “high frustration” group.Preliminary analyses revealed that there wastheir behavior is being closely monitored

(Calkins et al., 1999). In sum, there is good no relation between frustration group and sexof child (47 of the 85 infants in the high frus-evidence from this study that these children

displayed deficits in regulation across several tration group were females, compared with 36of the 77 infants in the low frustration group),levels of functioning—physiological, emo-

tional, attentional, behavioral, and social marital status, or child birth order.To examine the regulatory functioning of(Calkins & Dedmon, 2000; Calkins et al.,

1999). We conducted follow-up assessments these infants, we observed them in a batteryof emotion and attention tasks while collect-of these children at ages 4 and 5, and our pre-

liminary data suggest that there is a high de- ing cardiac data. Our analysis of their regula-tory functioning revealed that easily frustratedgree of stability of these problems and, in-

deed, good evidence that early regulatory infants displayed less physiological regulationduring a sustained attention task, had diffi-deficits are linked to Attention Deficit Hyper-

activity disorder (ADHD). The correlation be- culty sustaining attention, and engaged in dif-ferent sorts of regulatory behaviors duringtween CBCL externalizing behavior at ages 2

and 4 was r = .67, p < .0001, and the percent- emotion-eliciting situations. They engaged inless visual distraction and more tantrums thanage of children in the high risk category who

received a clinical diagnosis of ADHD at age did less easily frustrated infants (Calkins,Dedmon, Gill, Lomax, & Johnson, in press).4.5 was 40 versus 10% for the control chil-

dren (Gerrard, Anastopoulos, Calkins, & We propose that these infants displayed po-tentially problematic self-regulatory function-Shelton, 2000).

These data provide some evidence, then, ing very early in development. Important totheir developmental outcome is the extent tothat regulatory deficits are implicated in early

externalizing-type behavior problems, but which they receive environmental support thatmay assist them in acquiring the regulatorythey do not necessarily provide support for a

developmental model of self-regulatory con- skills that seem to be lacking due to their ex-cessive temperamental reactivity. Note thetributors to behavior problems. Given that the

self-regulation data were collected contempo- similarity in theme to issues raised with re-spect to social withdrawal. In that instance, asraneously, we do not know whether they are a

cause or merely a symptom of early behavior here, developmental outcome is a function notonly of initial temperamental reactivity andproblems.

To address the role of very early develop- maturation of self-regulation but also of theextent to which the environment (caregiversing self-regulation and the emergence of be-

havior problems, we are conducting a second and context) does or does not support the de-velopment of adaptive behaviors in the ser-longitudinal study in which we selected in-

fants that might be predisposed to difficulty vice of self-regulation.In prior work, we found significant linkswith aggression because of a susceptibility to

be easily angered. Toward this end, we between environmental support (parenting be-haviors) and child regulation at the levels ofscreened a cohort of 360, 6-month-olds in-

fants using a battery adapted from Gold- physiological, emotional, and behavioral reg-ulation (Calkins, Smith, Gill, & Johnson,smith’s Laboratory Temperament Assessment

Battery assessment of anger (Goldsmith & 1998). Toddlers of mothers who used morepositive, reinforcing, and guiding behaviorsRothbart, 1993). We selected infants who

scored above the 50th percentile on the anger were more physiologically well regulated, en-gaged in more constructive emotion regula-measure from the laboratory assessment and

above the 50th percentile on the anger scale tion behaviors, and were more compliant inadult-directed contexts than were toddlers offrom the Infant Behavior Questionnaire, a ma-

ternal report measure of infant temperament. mothers who were more controlling and nega-


tive. Our expectation with our infant sample standing of psychophysiological data. Second,we argue theoretically for a reciprocal child–is that, with sensitive and contingent care-

giving, these regulatory achievements will not environment interactional process that buildsthe regulatory system over the course of in-be compromised in the long term.

Our analysis of maternal behavior, how- fancy and childhood. However, we havefailed to specify how this might happen andever, suggests that the reciprocal processes

that take place between infant and caregiver what the likely origins of early individual dif-ference might be. Third, empirically, themay be more challenging for these frustrated

infants. We found that, across several differ- study of multiple levels is challenged by thedevelopmental process itself: how do changesent types of mother–infant interactions, moth-

ers of frustrated infants were significantly in one regulatory system affect changes in an-other system and how does one measure suchmore intrusive and less sensitive than were

mothers of nonfrustrated infants. However, it reciprocity? In this section, we discuss someof these problems in detail and suggest direc-was also the case that the frustrated infants

displayed more negative affect, even in these tions for future research.low-stress interactions. Once this negative af-fect was controlled for statistically, the differ-

Methodological challenges to the studyences between the two groups of mothers no

of physiological regulationlonger existed (Calkins, Dedmon, & Hunger-ford, 2002). These findings suggest that the Although the number of research laboratories

investigating links between physiological andday to day interactions between mother andinfant were driven, at least to some extent, by psychological phenomena has grown, a num-

ber of overlooked technical issues remain thatthe infant’s frustrated temperament. Again,however, the long-term implications of such a are relevant to these studies and to the re-

search on physiological measurement in gen-dynamic are unclear.Our longitudinal studies of early personal- eral. Perhaps the most important one is the

issue of the time course of change of each ofity provide support for the proposition thatmultiple levels of self-regulation are impli- these systems. It is clear from the physiologi-

cal literature that each of the various auto-cated in early personality development andthe emergence of some types of behavioral nomic responses has quite a different time

course, ranging from milliseconds to secondsproblems. However, our attempts to integratedata collected across multiple domains of and in some cases minutes, before a change

in the response can be measured. The fact thatfunctioning create a number of unresolvedquestions and challenges. each of these systems elicits a different time

course of change would seem problematicalto the different approaches for the study of

Challenges to the Study of Multipleemotion. For example, if physiological mea-

Levels of Self-Regulationsurement is to describe patterns of arousal,then the choice of measure will obviously in-A multiple levels approach to the study of

early personality and behavioral adjustment fluence the conclusion as to whether the sub-ject has indeed become aroused due to thefaces both conceptual and empirical chal-

lenges. First, methodologically, the study of emotional stimulus. Changes in cortisol areonly noted some 20–30 min after the elicitingpsychophysiology and physiological regula-

tion is confronted with numerous difficulties. event. If cortisol is measured during an emo-tion, one would not conclude that the subjectThese include the synchronization of physiol-

ogy and behavior, the stability of physiologi- was aroused during that emotion. Similarly,if one is measuring patterns of physiologicalcal measures across time, and the conver-

gence of behavior and physiology. These change during the expression of discrete emo-tions, the time course for these changes mayissues are discussed in detail elsewhere (Fox

et al., 2000; Fox & Calkins, 1999). Neverthe- preclude finding these patterns if ecologicallyvalid expressive responses are utilized. Ek-less, they continue to complicate our under-


man and colleagues, for example, used a task patterns to autonomic measures in response toa stressor. The concept of a unitary notion ofin which subjects held the facial musculature

changes associated with certain emotions (the arousal as measured by multiple systemscould not be supported.directed facial action task) for long periods of

time for just this reason (e.g., Ekman, Leven- Perhaps a more informative strategy wouldbe to understand the particular physiologicalson, & Freisen, 1983).

The differing time course of physiological systems that are being tapped and the conse-quent underlying physiology and anatomy ofsystems may also be helpful in understanding

certain aspects of emotional experience. Fox those systems, so that particular patterns ofrelationship among measures can be inter-(1991) suggested that the slower changing au-

tonomic responses that are associated with the preted with greater depth and understanding.As an example, consider the research onexpression of certain discrete emotions may

be more related to the intensive aspects of the blood pressure and HR. There is a large bodyof work that attempts to understand the physi-experience than to the central feeling state.

Certain emotions may be intensified by the ological mechanisms that relate these two sys-tems in order to understand both the uniquecontribution of changing autonomic and vis-

ceral tone. Certain emotional states, which nature of each and the manner in which thesetwo systems overlap. The unique feedbacklast over prolonged periods of time, may do

so because of the slow changing physiological systems between blood pressure and HR viabaroreceptor mechanisms allowed scientistssystems that are involved in the expression of

the emotion. Of course, the degree to which to understand how blood pressure and HR co-vary. The use of the measures together canthese states last may be a function of individ-

ual differences in physiological lability. To illuminate issues regarding the nature of inter-action among these physiological systemsthe best of our knowledge, these issues are

not thoroughly explored in the literature, al- rather than simply among an emotion and asingle autonomic index.though the time course of these systems is

well defined. A second issue in the study of multipleresponse measures of emotion involves theA parallel issue in the use of multiple

physiological measures is the degree to which nature of emotion behavior/physiology syn-chronization. As discussed above, differentwe understand the relations among different

physiological systems. There are a number of physiological systems have differing timecourses. Measuring more than one system in-levels on which this problem may be ap-

proached. Perhaps the most simple and direct volves understanding the manner in whichthese different time courses overlap and inter-one would be to record multiple measures and

examine simple bivariate correlations among act. But what should we make of measure-ment of the emotion itself? What is its timethem. If, in response to or during an emotion

one system goes up, does the other system go course and how does it factor into the patternthat is being described? Again the history ofup or down? Patterning of this nature among

systems that share some similarity (e.g., and answer to this question are long and com-plex. There are many definitions of emotion,among autonomic measures) has had a long

history in psychophysiology. Classical ap- and there were multiple attempts at measure-ment of emotion. Ekman (1984) presents oneproaches that emphasized the role of arousal

maintained that there should be a correspon- theoretical position that may be helpful instudying emotion–physiology relationships.dence among physiological systems in their

response to emotional stimuli. Physiological Emotion, in Ekman’s conceptualization, is afast occurring event linked directly to changesarousal should, it was argued, be reflected in

multiple measures. These responses should all in facial expression and autonomic activity.The time course of emotion may be viewedgo up or down together. However, researchers

were quick to discover that this was not the as on the order of seconds. Feeling states thatoccur over longer periods of time are thoughtcase. Indeed, Lacey and Lacey (1970) re-

vealed that there were different directional of as mood states rather than emotions. If one


accepts these definitional distinctions, one can who are distressed is quite different fromthose who are not upset in response to thisbegin to find ways to link physiology to emo-

tion behavior. For example, we utilized facial identical stimulus situation. Collapsing dataacross individual subjects would obscureexpression as an anchor in determining the

presence of specific central nervous system these differences. As an alternative to eithercollapsing data across individuals or anchor-states in infants. In our studies of brain elec-

trical activity and its relation to emotion, we ing emotion to facial expression, which is afast changing response, one could use othersynchronized changes in the ongoing EEG to

changes in facial expression (Fox & David- response measures of emotion. For example,in the case of infant response to maternal sep-son, 1987). This was possible because the res-

olution and time course of the EEG is on the aration, we grouped infants into those whocry versus those who do not cry in responseorder of milliseconds as is the resolution and

time course of facial expressive change. Be- to this event (e.g., Davidson & Fox, 1989).Interestingly, the discrete facial expressioncause their time changes are compatible, it is

not unreasonable to link the two. does not discriminate physiological activitywithin individual infants who cry in responseBut can we link expressive changes to

autonomic activity? Again, because most au- to separation. We found, for example, thatsome infants cry and exhibit anger expres-tonomic change is on the order of seconds, it

is difficult to find instances of expressive sions whereas others cry and exhibit distressor sadness. Physiologically (at least with re-change that match this temporal level. Ekman

(1984) developed the directed facial action gard to the EEG measures we utilized), thesetwo subgroups do not differ. Thus, the use oftask for just this purpose. In this task, a sub-

ject is required to move his or her facial mus- vocal measures of emotion proved to be moresuccessful in parsing emotion behavior andcles into a pattern resembling a discrete emo-

tion. The subject must then hold that physiology than facial expressions of emo-tion.expression for a long period of time, so that

changes in autonomic activity may be re-corded. Although such a pattern is interesting

Origins of individual differencesin the abstract and can inform us about the

in regulationrelations among certain behaviors and physi-ology, its direct relation to ecologically valid Researchers have begun describing regulatory

processes and their effects on development,changes in facial activity is dubious. Seldomare facial expressions of discrete emotion in and one important issue that they address con-

cerns the etiology of these processes. Two"real life” held for such long periods of time.It is therefore difficult, if not impossible, in very different views of these origins are

offered. One theoretical perspective empha-ecologically valid situations to synchronizeemotion and autonomic behavior—if emotion sizes the caregiver–child relationship as the

primary context in which children learn tois solely defined by the presence of specificfacial behaviors. regulate their emotions, for example. This

perspective typically emphasizes particularOne could define emotion by the stimuluscondition itself. However, the obvious draw- maternal behaviors as more or less supportive

of adaptive emotional development in theback here is that individuals may respondquite differently to the same condition and, if child. Literature on face to face interactions

between mothers and infants focuses on thephysiology and behavior are linked, one maynot find clear relations when differing emo- experience of mutual regulation within the

dyad as important in infants’ emotional devel-tions are elicited across individuals. For ex-ample, we recorded physiology in young in- opment (Gianino & Tronick, 1988; Tronick,

1989; Tronick, Cohn, & Shea, 1986). Tronickfants in response to maternal separation (Fox,Bell, & Jones, 1992). Not all infants cry in (1989) argued that positive emotional devel-

opment may be associated with an experienceresponse to separation or are distressed. In-deed, we found that the physiology of infants of coordinated interactions with a caregiver.


In the literature on face to face play, maternal 1996; Porges, Doussard–Roosevelt, & Maiti,1994).contingent responsivity to infant interactive

behavior was found to relate to infant behav- Although it may appear that these twopoints of view (individual differences in regu-iors presumed to reflect arousal regulation,

such as decreased gaze aversion and negative lation as a consequence of endogenous vs.exogenous differences) are not integrated, thisaffect and increased smiling (Fogel, Diamond,

Langhorst, & Demos, 1982; Gusella, Muir, & is not the case. Several researchers suggestthat internal factors, such as the child’s physi-Tronick, 1988; Symons & Moran, 1987).

Researchers also draw on attachment the- ological reactivity, and external factors, suchas experiences with early caregivers, bothory to propose that maternal sensitivity and

subsequent child attachment strategies play a make important contributions to the develop-ment of emotion regulation (Calkins, 1994;formative role in emotion regulation develop-

ment (Cassidy, 1994; Gunnar, 1998; Sroufe, Calkins & Johnson, 1998; Calkins et al.,1998; Cicchetti et al., 1991; Gunnar, 1998).1996). Theorists who emphasize the role of

early experiences with caregivers for the de- Despite the acknowledgment that internal andexternal factors probably interact, relativelyvelopment of emotion regulation often focus

on the interpersonal experiences that are most little empirical work with human infants andchildren investigated the interface betweenrelevant to the infancy period. Much research

in this area is grounded in Ainsworth’s (1969; biologically based and relationship-based pro-cesses by which emotion regulation develops.Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978)

and Bowlby’s (1969) theory of attachment. One hypothesis that we advanced that isbased on the psychophysiological work is thatThe flexibility that a well-regulated child needs

to express a range of emotions is proposed to child characteristics may place limits on thedevelopment of self-regulation such thatdevelop, at least partially, through a history

with a caregiver who responds sensitively particular achievements are compromised orparticular adaptive strategies are less likely tomuch of the time to a range of infant emo-

tional signals without selectively ignoring be used than others. These constraints mayoperate directly on self-regulation or throughany. There is, however, limited data demon-

strating such relations. In one study, inhibited their effects on parenting. Thus, for example,a child’s characteristic level of physiologicaltoddlers with secure attachment relationships

displayed lower stress reactivity, as measured arousal may directly affect how and when themastery of states of arousal develops in earlyin salivary cortisol, than did inhibited toddlers

with insecure attachments (Nachmias, Gun- infancy (Porges et al., 1994). Similarly, be-havioral tendencies, such as extreme fear ornar, Manglesdorf, Parritz, & Buss, 1996), sug-

gesting that some characteristics of the secure frustration, may influence the developmentof emotion regulation in late infancy andrelationship provide the child with the ability

to cope with stressful situations and events. toddlerhood (Braungart–Rieker & Stifter,1996; Fox & Calkins, 1993). Alternately, theA different theoretical perspective suggests

that individual differences in observable emo- child’s gender may affect the kind of strate-gies the parent uses for discipline during tod-tion regulation are based on individual differ-

ences in underlying physiological functioning dlerhood (Keenan & Shaw, 1997). Finally, thechild’s intellectual abilities may limit how(Calkins et al., 1996; Fox, 1989; Porges,

1997). It is clear that physiological develop- able he or she is to take advantage of environ-mental input and learn self-regulation. Inments that occur during the first years of life

are critical for developments in self-regulation short, characteristics of the child that are pres-ent from birth may place limits on both the(Posner & Rothbart, 2000; Thompson, 1994).

Researchers identified important physiologi- direct and indirect acquisition of self-regula-tion and must, by extension, be incorporatedcal correlates of emotion regulation strategies

and behaviors (Calkins & Dedmon, 2000) and into a theory of how regulatory developmentsand deficits influence child adjustment (Cal-also found that particular physiological pat-

terns predict later regulation (Fox et al., 1995, kins, 1994; Calkins & Dedmon, 2000).


Again, though, the problem is how to inte- these findings was a study that found thatsecurely attached 18-month-olds who weregrate this point of view with the notion that

the caregiving environment will play a role as fearful during a novel laboratory event did notexhibit an elevation of cortisol, unlike theirwell. One strategy that has been used is to

assess physiological functioning in infants ex- wary counterparts in insecure relationships(Nachmias et al., 1996).posed to deviant or less than optimal kinds of

parenting. Thus, for example, Jones and Thus, there is a growing literature that inte-grates the study of developing physiologicalcolleagues found that infants of withdrawn

mothers had significantly lower levels of nor- regulation with assessments of the influenceof the environment. Nevertheless, a compre-epinephrine, epinephrine, and dopamine than

infants of intrusive mothers (Jones, Field, hensive study of these relations over time islacking. Presumably, as more longitudinalFox, Davalos, Malphurs, Carraway, Schan-

berg, & Kuhn, 1997). Alternatively, manipu- work is conducted, these relations will bemore fully illuminated.lations of social stimuli were also conducted

to examine the effects on child functioning.Bazhenova and Porges (1997) observed that

The development and reciprocity of multiple5-month-old infants demonstrated decreases

systems of self-regulationin RSA and in positive affect when exposedto a standard still-face procedure with the ex- Although there are some clearly identifiable

development progressions that have beenperimenter. The reverse pattern was observedin a subsequent social interaction. Finally, identified at the physiological, attentional,

emotional, and social regulatory levels, thereCalkins found that maternal negative controlwith toddlers was significantly related to has been less emphasis on how developments

in each of these levels affect one another.lower vagal suppression (poorer regulation)during a positive emotion task (Calkins et al., Thus, for example, while much is known

about the changes in brain electrical activity1998). More research of this kind is neededto understand the magnitude and direction of that can be observed across the infancy and

childhood periods, less work has been con-effects of the caregiving environment.Other studies examined relationships be- ducted linking these changes to specific

changes in other types of regulation. More-tween traditional attachment constructs andinfant physiological functioning and found re- over, the direction of effects of individual dif-

ferences in specific levels of regulation onsults that further support the suggestion thatearly, sensitive maternal behavior may impact other levels of regulation is another largely

unexplored area. What we know currentlydeveloping infant physiology. Donovan andLeavitt (1985) found interesting differences about the relations among levels of regulation,

we know at the molar level. Future investiga-between the cardiac responses and overt be-havior of insecurely attached infants, who tions must be aimed at the more micro level:

How do individual differences in particularpresumably had less sensitive mothering.Gunnar, Brodersen, Nachmias, Buss, and types of physiological regulation affect the

development of specific emotion regulatoryRigatuso (1996) studied infant cortisol re-sponses in relation to maternal responsivity processes that are implicated in the develop-

ment of aggression and childhood social with-and infant attachment classifications. Theirwork indicates that high fearfulness in 2-year- drawal? These process-oriented questions are

likely to be more informative than the correla-olds was associated with higher cortisol re-sponses to inoculations only for infants in in- tional kinds of findings that we have relied on

to understand these early outcomes.secure relationships with their accompanyingparent. Furthermore, earlier data taken whenthe infants were 2, 4, and 6 months old re-

Summary and Conclusionsvealed that attachment security at 18 monthswas related to greater maternal responsiveness Many researchers who study change from a

developmental psychopathology perspectiveand lower cortisol baselines. Corroborating


articulate a view of social development that havior problems, as well as behavioral mani-festations of the failures of self-regulation thatproposes that development will proceed on

multiple, reciprocally interacting levels. In lead to such problems. We acknowledge thatthere are a number of challenges to this workour view, these levels can be usefully studied

by focusing on self-regulatory functioning. that must be addressed, including a morefocused effort to understand the multiple path-Theories of early self-regulation assume that

infants display individual differences in be- ways and complex interactions that exist be-tween child and environment and a better un-havioral reactivity and regulation that have

implications for subsequent development. derstanding of how developments at differentlevels of the self-regulatory system affect oneThese behavioral differences were also linked

to physiological differences observable in the another over time. Nevertheless, we are con-vinced that a complete understanding of earlyHR, cortisol response, and brain electrical

activity. Moreover, these behavioral and childhood functioning is dependent on re-search that focuses on the differentiation andphysiological differences are also linked to

environmental events and stimulation. In integration of the various components of theself-regulatory system across the first fewapplying such a view to our studies of child-

hood social withdrawal and aggression, we years of life.observed physiological correlates of these be-

References

Ahadi, S. A., & Rothbart, M. K. (1994). The developing ics of affective expression. Child Development, 69,359–374.structure of temperament and personality from in-

Calkins, S. D. (1994). Origins and outcomes of individualfancy to adulthood. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.differences in emotional regulation. Monographs ofAinsworth, M. D. S. (1969). Attachment and exploratorythe Society for Research in Child Development, 59behavior of one-year-olds in a Strange Situation. In(2–3, Serial No. 240).B. M. Foss (Ed.), Determinants of infant behavior IV.

Calkins, S. D. (1997). Cardiac vagal tone indices of tem-London: Methuen.peramental reactivity and behavioral regulation inAinsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, M. C., Water, E., & Wall,young children. Developmental Psychobiology, 31,S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: Assessed in the125–135.strange situation and at home. Hillsdale, NJ: Erl-

Calkins, S. D., & Dedmon, S. A. (2000). Physiologicalbaum.and behavioral regulation in two-year-old childrenBazhenova, O. V., & Porges, S. W. (1997). Vagal reac-with aggressive/destructive behavior problems. Jour-tivity and affective adjustment in infants. Annals ofnal of Abnormal Child Psychology.the New York Academy of Sciences, 807, 469–470.

Calkins, S. D., Dedmon, S., & Hungerford, A. (2002).Belsky, J., Friedman, S., & Hsieh, K. (2001). Testing aMothers’ interactions with temperamentally frus-core emotion-regulation prediction: Does early atten-trated infants. Manuscript submitted for publication.tional persistence moderate the effect of negative

Calkins, S. D., Dedmon, S., Gill, K., Lomax, L., & John-emotionality on later development? Child Develop-son, L. (in press). Frustration in infancy: Implications

ment, 72, 123–133.for emotion regulation, physiological processes, and

Bergman, L., & Magnusson, D. (1997). A person-ori- associated dimensions of temperament. Infancy.ented approach in research on developmental psycho- Calkins, S. D., & Fox, N. A. (1992). The relations amongpathology. Development and Psychopathology, 9, infant temperament, security of attachment and be-291–320. havioral inhibition at 24 months. Child Development,

Berger, H. (1929). Uber das elektrekephalogram de men- 63, 1456–1472.schen. Archives fur Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheit, Calkins, S. D., Fox, N. A., & Marshall, T. R. (1996).87, 527–570. Behavioral and physiological antecedents of inhibi-

Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss: Vol. 1. Attach- tion in infancy. Child Development, 67, 523–540.ment. New York: Basic Books. Calkins, S. D., Gill, K., & Williford, A. (1999). External-

Braungart–Rieker, J., & Stifter, C. (1996). Infants’ re- izing problems in two-year-olds: Implications for pat-sponses to frustrating situations: Continuity and terns of social behavior and peers’ responses to ag-change in reactivity and regulation. Child Develop- gression. Early Education and Development, 10,ment, 67, 1767–1769. 267–288.

Bronstein, M., & Suess, P. (2000). Physiological self-reg- Calkins, S. D., & Johnson, M. C. (1998). Toddler regula-ulation and information processing in infancy: Car- tion of distress to frustrating events: Temperamentaldiac vagal tone and habituation. Child Development, and maternal correlates. Infant Behavior and Devel-71, 273–287. opment , 21, 379–395.

Buss, K. A., & Goldsmith, H. H. (1998). Fear and anger Calkins, S. D., Smith, C. L., Gill, K. L., & Johnson,M. C. (1998). Maternal interactive style across con-regulation in infancy: Effects on the temporal dynam-


texts: Relations to emotional, behavioral and physio- the regulatory disordered infant. Infant Behavior andDevelopment, 14, 37–50.logical regulation during toddlerhood. Social Devel-

Derryberry, D., & Reed, M. A. (1996). Regulatory pro-opment, 7, 350–369.cesses and the development of cognitive representa-Cassidy, J. (1994). Emotion regulation: Influences of at-tions. Development and Psychopathology, 8, 215–tachment relationships. Monographs of the Society for234.Research in Child Development, 59 (2–3, Serial No.

Derryberry, D., & Rothbart, M. K. (1997). Reactive and240).effortful processes in the organization of tempera-Cicchetti, D. (1984). The emergence of developmentalment. Development and Psychopathology, 9, 633–psychopathology. Child Development, 55, 1–7.652.Cicchetti, D. (1993). Developmental psychopathology:

Diamond, A. (1991). Young children’s performance on aReactions, reflections, projections. Developmentaltask sensitive to the memory functions of the medialReview, 13, 471–502.temporal lobe in adults: The delayed nonmatching-to-Cicchetti, D., Ackerman, B., & Izard, C. (1995). Emo-sample task reveals problems that are due to non–tions and emotion regulation in developmental psy-memory-related task demands. Behavioral Neurosci-chopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 7,ence, 108, 659–680.1–10.

Donovan, W. L., & Leavitt, L. A. (1985). PhysiologicCicchetti, D., Ganiban, J. & Barnett, D. (1991). Contribu-assessment of mother–infant attachment. Journal oftions from the study of high-risk populations to un-the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 24,derstanding the development of emotional regulation.65–70.In J. Garber & K. A. Dodge (Eds.), The development

Doussard–Roosevelt, J. A., Porges, S. W., Scanlon,of emotion regulation and dysregulation (pp. 69–88).J. W., Alemi, B., & Scanlon, K. B. (1997). Vagal reg-Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ulation of heart rate in the prediction of develop-Cicchetti, D., & Rogosch, F. A. (1996). Equifinality andmental outcome for very low birth weight preterm in-multifinality in developmental psychopathology. De-fants. Child Development, 68, 173–186.velopment and Psychopathology, 8, 597–600.

Ekman, P., Levenson, R. W., & Friesen, W. V. (1983).Cicchetti, D., & Schneider–Rosen, K. (1984). Toward aAutonomic nervous system activity distinguishes be-transactional model of childhood depression. New Di-tween emotions, Science, 221, 1208–1210.rections for Child Development, 26, 5–27.

Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., Bernzweig, J., Karbon, M.,Cole, P., Michel, M. K., & O’Donnell, L. (1994). ThePoulin, R., & Hanish, L. (1993). The relations ofdevelopment of emotion regulation and dysregulation.emotionality and regulation to preschoolers’ socialMonographs of the Society for Research in Child De-skills and sociometric status. Child Development, 64,velopment, 59(2–3, Serial No. 240), 73–100.1418–1438.Cole, P. M., Michel, M. K., & Teti, L. O. (1994). The

Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R., Guthrie, I, Murphy, B., Maszk,development of emotion regulation and dysregulation:P., Holmgren, R., & Suh, K. (1996). The relations ofA clinical perspective. Monographs of the Society forregulation and emotionality to problem behavior inResearch in Child Development, 59(2–3, Serial No.elementary school. Development and Psychopathol-240), 250–283.ogy, 8, 141–162.Coplan, R. J., Rubin, K. H., Fox, N. A., Calkins, S. D., &

Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., Nyman, M., Bernzweig,Stewart, S. (1994). Being alone, playing alone andJ., & Pinuelas, A. (1994). The relations of emotional-acting alone: Distinguishing among reticence, andity and regulation to children’s anger-related reac-passive- and active-solitude in young children. Childtions. Child Development, 65, 109–128.Development, 65.

Eisenberg, N., Murphy, B. C., Maszk, P., Smith, M., &Davidson, R. J. (1984). Affect, cognition and hemisphericKarbon, M. (1995). The role of emotionality and reg-specialization. In C. E. Izard, J. Kagan, & R. Zajonculation in children’s social functioning: A longitudi-

(Eds.), Emotion, cognition, and behavior. New York: nal study. Child Development, 66, 1360–1384.Cambridge University Press. Ekman, P. (1984). Expression and nature of emotion. In

Davidson, R. J. (2000). Affective style, psychopathology, K. R. Scherer & P. Ekman (Eds.), Approaches toand resilience: Brain mechanisms and plasticity. emotions (pp. 319–344). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.American Psychologist, 55, 1196–1214. Fabes, R., & Eisenberg, N. (1992). Young children’s cop-

Davidson, R. J., Chapman, J. P, Chapman, L. J., Hen- ing with interpersonal anger. Child Development, 63,riques, J. B. (1990). Asymmetrical brain electrical ac- 116–128.tivity discriminates between psychometrically- Fogel, A., Diamond, G. R., Langhorst, B. H., & Demos,matched verbal and spatial cognitive tasks. Psycho- V. (1982). Affective and cognitive aspects of the 2-physiology, 27, 528–543. month-old’s participation in face-to-face interaction

Davidson, R. J., & Fox, N. A. (1989). Frontal brain asym- with the mother. In E. Z. Tronick (Ed.), Social inter-metry predicts infant’s response to maternal separa- change in infancy: Affect, cognition, and communica-tion. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 98, 127–131. tion. Baltimore, MD: University Park Press.

Davidson, R. J., Jackson, D. C., & Kalin, N. H. (2000). Fox, N. A. (1989). Psychophysiological correlates ofEmotion, plasticity, context, and regulation: Perspec- emotional reactivity during the first year of life. De-tives from affective neuroscience. Psychological Bul- velopmental Psychology, 25, 364–372.letin, 126, 890–909. Fox, N. A. (1991). If it’s not left, it’s right: Electroen-

Dawson, G., Hessl, D., & Frey, K. (1994). Social influ- cephalogram asymmetry and the development ofences on early developing biological and behavioral emotion. American Psychologist, 46, 863–872.systems related to affective disorder. Development Fox, N. A. (1994). Dynamic cerebral process underlyingand Psychopathology, 6, 759–779. emotion regulation. Monographs of the Society for

DeGangi, G., DiPietro, J., Greenspan, S., & Porges, Research in Child Development, 59(2–3, Serial No.240).S. W. (1991). Psychophysiological characteristics of


Fox, N. A., Bell, M. A., & Jones, N. A. (1992). Individual Schneiderman (Eds.), Stress and coping (pp. 47–68).Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.differences in response to stress and cerebral asym-

metry. Developmental Neuropsychology, 8, 165–184. Goldsmith, H. H., & Rothbart, M. K. (1993). The Labora-tory Temperament Assessment Battery (LAB-TAB).Fox, N. A., & Calkins, S. D. (1993). Pathways to aggres-

sion and social withdrawal: Interactions among tem- University of Wisconsin.Gunnar, M. R. (1989). Studies of the human infant’sperament, attachment, and regulation. In K. Rubin &

J. Asendorpf (Eds.), Social withdrawal, inhibition and adrenocortical response to potentially stressful events.New Directions for Child Development, 45, 3–18.shyness in children. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Fox, N. A., & Calkins, S. D. (1999). Multiple measure Gunnar, M. R. (1998). Quality of early care and bufferingof neuroendocrine stress reactions: Potential effectsapproaches to the study of infant emotion. In M.

Lewis & J. Haviland (Eds.), Temperament: Individual on the developing human brain. Preventive Medicine,27, 208–211.differences at the interface of biology and behavior.

Washington, DC: American Psychological Associa- Gunnar, M. R., Brodersen, L., Nachmias, M., Buss, K., &Rigatuso, J. (1996). Stress reactivity and attachmenttion.

Fox, N. A., Calkins, S. D., & Bell, M. A. (1994). Devel- security. Developmental Psychobiology, 29, 191–204.Gunnar, M. R., Porter, F. L., Wolf, C. M., Rigatusso,opment and neuroplasticity: Behavioral and cognitive

outcomes. Development and Psychopathology, 6, J., & Larson, M. C. (1995). Neonatal stress reactivity:Predictors to later emotional temperament. Child De-677–696.

Fox, N. A., Calkins, S. D., Porges, S. W., Rubin, K., velopment, 66, 1–13.Gunnar, M. R., Tout, K., de Haan, M., Pierce, S., &Coplan, R. J., Stewart, S., Marshall, T. R., & Long,

J. M. (1995). Frontal activation asymmetry and social Stansbury, K. (1997). Temperament, social compe-tence and adrenocortical activity in preschoolers. De-competence at four years of age. Child Development,

66, 1770–1784. velopmental Psychobiology, 31, 65–85.Gusella, J. L., Muir, D., & Tronick, E. Z. (1988). TheFox, N. A., & Card, J. (1999). Psychophysiological mea-

sures in the study of attachment. In J. Cassidy & P. effect of manipulating maternal behavior during aninteraction on three- and six-month-olds’ affect andShaver (Eds.), The handbook of attachment. New

York: Guilford Press. attention. Child Development, 59, 1111–1124.Henderson, H. A., Fox, N. A., & Rubin, K. H. (2001).Fox, N. A., & Davidson, R. J. (1986). Taste-elicited

changes in facial signs of emotion and the asymmetry Temperamental contributions to social behavior: Themoderating roles of frontal EEG asymmetry and gen-of brain electrical activity in human newborns. Neu-

ropsychologia, 24, 417–422. der. Journal of the American Academy of Child andAdolescent Psychiatry, 40, 68–74.Fox, N. A., & Davidson, R. J. (1987). Electroencephalo-

gram asymmetry in response to the approach of a Hinde, R. (1992). Developmental psychology in the con-text of other behavioral sciences. Developmental Psy-stranger and maternal separation. Developmental Psy-

chology, 23, 233–240. chology, 28, 1018–1028.Hoffheimer, J. A., Wood, B. R., Porges, S. W., Pearson,Fox, N. A., Henderson, H. A., & Marshall, P. J. (in

press). The biology of temperament: An integrative E., & Lawson, E. (1995). Respiratory sinus ar-rhthymia and social interaction patterns in pretermapproach. In C. A. Nelson & M. Luciana (Eds.), The

handbook of developmental cognitive neuroscience. newborns. Infant Behavior and Development, 18,233–245.Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Fox, N. A., Henderson, H. A., Rubin, K. H., Calkins, Huffman, L. C., Bryan, Y., del Carmen, R., Pederson, F.,Doussard–Roosevelt, J., & Porges, S. (1998). InfantS. D., & Schmidt, L. A. (2001). Continuity and dis-

continuity of behavioral inhibition and exuberance: temperament and cardiac vagal tone: Assessments attwelve weeks of age. Child Development, 69, 624–Psychophysiological and behavioral influences across

the first four years of life. Child Development, 72, 635.Jones, N. A., Field, T., Fox, N. A., Davalos, M., Mal-1–21.

Fox, N. A., Schmidt, L. A., Calkins, S. D., Rubin, phurs, J., Carraway, K., Schanberg, S., & Kuhn, C.(1997). Infants of intrusive and withdrawn mothers.K. H. & Coplan, R. J. (1996). The role of frontal acti-

vation in the regulation and dysregulation of social Infant Behavior and Development, 20, 175–186.Kagan, J. (1997a). Conceptualizing psychopathology:behavior during the preschool year. Development and

Psychopathology, 8. The importance of developmental profiles. Develop-mental Psychopathology, 9, 321–334.Fox, N., Schmidt, L. A., & Henderson, H. (2000). Devel-

opmental psychophysiology: Conceptual and method- Kagan, J. (1997b). Temperament and the reactions to un-familiarity. Child Development, 68, 139–143.ological perspective. In J. Cacioppo, L. Tassinary, &

G. Bernsten (Eds.), Handbook of psychophysiology Kagan, J., & Snidman, N. (1991). Temperamental factorsin human development. American Psychologist, 46,(2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Garcia–Coll, C., Kagan, J., & Reznick, J. (1984). Behav- 856–862.Keenan, K., & Shaw, D. (1997). Developmental and so-ioral inhibition in young children, Child Develop-

ment, 55, 505–529. cial influences on young girls’ early problem behav-iors. Psychological Bulletin, 121, 95–113.Gerrard, L., Anastopoulos, A., Calkins, S., & Shelton, T.

(2000, August). Effortful control as a contributor to Kochanska, G., Coy, K., & Murray, K. (2001). The de-velopment of self-regulation across the first four yearsresiliency: Changes in externalizing scores from 2- to

4-years of age. Paper presented at the Conference on of life. Child Development, 72, 1091–1111.Kopp, C. (1982). Antecedents of self-regulation: A devel-Human Development, Memphis, TN.

Gianino, A., & Tronick, E. Z. (1988). The mutual regula- opmental perspective. Developmental Psychology, 18,199–214.tion model: The infant’s self and interactive regula-

tion coping and defense. In T. Field, P. McCabe, & N. Kopp, C. (1989). Regulation of distress and negative


emotions: A developmental view. Developmental Richards, J. E. (1987). Infant visual sustained attentionPsychology, 25, 243–254. and respiratory sinus arrhythmia. Child Development,

Lacey, J., & Lacey, B. (1970). The relationship of resting 58, 488–496.autonomic activity to motor impulsivity. Research Richards, J. E., & Cameron, D. (1989). Infant heart ratePublications of the Association for Research in Ner- variability and behavioral developmental status. In-vous and Mental Disease, 36, 144–209. fant Behavior and Development, 12, 45–58.

Lindsey, D. B., & Wicke, J. D. (1974). The electroen- Richters, J. E. (1997). The Hubble hypothesis and the de-cephalogram: Autonomous electrical activity in man velopmentalist’s dilemma. Development and Psycho-and animals. In R. Thompson & M. N. Patterson pathology, 9, 19–23.(Eds.), Bioelectric recording techniques (pp. 465– Rothbart, M. K. (1981). Measurement of temperament in479). New York: Academic Press. infancy. Child Development, 52, 569–578.

Luthar, S., Cicchetti, & Becker, B. (2000). The construct Rothbart, M. K. (1986). Longitudinal observation of in-of resilience: A critical evaluation and guidelines for fant temperament. Developmental Psychology, 22,future work. Child Development, 71, 543–562. 356–365.

Malatesta, C. Z., Culver, C., Tesman, J., & Shephard, B. Rothbart, M. K. (1989). Temperament and development.(1989). The development of emotion expression dur- In G. Kohnstamm, J. Bates, & M. K. Rothbart (Eds.),ing the first two years of life. Monographs of the So- Temperament in childhood (pp. 187–248). Chiches-ciety for Research in Child Development, 54(1–2, ter, UK: Wiley.Serial No. 219), 1–104. Rothbart, M. K., & Derryberry, D. (1981). Development

Masten, A., Best, K., & Garmezy, N. (1990). Resilience of individual differences in temperament. In M. E.and development: Contributions from the study of Lamb & A. L. Brown (Eds.), The neuropsychology ofchildren who overcome adversity. Development & individual differences: A developmental perspectivePsychopathology, 2, 425–444. (pp. 93–123). New York: Plenum Press.

Miller, P. H., & Zalenski, R. (1990). Preschoolers’ strate- Rothbart, M. K., Derryberry, D., & Posner, M.I. (1994).gies of attention on a same-different task. Develop- A psychobiological approach to the development ofmental Psychology, 18, 871–875. temperament. In J. E. Bates & T. D. Wachs (Eds.),

Nachmias, M., Gunnar, M. R., Manglesdorf, S., Parritz, Temperament: Individual differences at the interfaceR. H., & Buss, P. (1996). Behavioral inhibition and of biology and behavior (pp. 83–116). Washington,stress reactions: The modulating role of attachment DC: American Psychological Association.security. Child Development, 67, 508–522. Rothbart, M. K., Derryberry, D., & Hershey, K. (2000).

Porges, S. W. (1991). Vagal tone: An autonomic media- Stability of temperament in childhood: Laboratory in-tory of affect. In J. A. Garber & K. A. Dodge (Eds.), fant assessment to parent report at seven years. InThe development of affect regulation and dysregula- V. J. Molfese (Ed.), Temperament and personality de-tion (pp. 11–128). New York: Cambridge University velopment across the life span (pp. 85–119). Mah-Press. wah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Porges, S. W. (1995). Cardiac vagal tone: A physiologi- Rothbart, M. K., & Jones, L. (1998). Temperament, self-cal index of stress. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral regulation and education. School Psychology Review,Reviews, 19, 225–233. 27, 479–491.

Porges, S. W. (1997). Emotion: An evolutionary by-prod- Rothbart, M. K., & Posner, M. I. (1985). Temperamentuct of the neural regulation of the autonomic nervous and the development of self-regulation. In L. C. Hart-system. Annals of the New York Academy of Science, lage & C. F. Telzrow (Eds.), The neuropsychology of807, 78–100. individual differences: A developmental perspective

Porges, S. W. (1996). Physiological regulation in high- (pp. 93–123). New York: Plenum Press.risk infants: A model for assessment and potential in- Rothbart, M. K., Posner, M. I., & Boylan, A. (1990). Reg-tervention. Development and Psychopathology, 8,

ulatory mechanisms in infant development. In J. T.29–42.Enns (Ed.), The development of attention: ResearchPorges, S. W., Doussard–Roosevelt, J. A., & Maiti, A. K.and theory. Advances in psychology, 69 (pp. 47–66).(1994). Vagal tone and the physiological regulation ofNew York: Elsevier.emotion. Monographs of the Society for Research in

Rubin, K. (1998). Social and emotional developmentChild Development, 59(2–3, Serial No. 240), 167–from a cultural perspective. Developmental Psychol-186.ogy, 34, 611–615.Porges, S. W., Doussard–Roosevelt, J. A., Portales,

Rubin, K. H., Cheah, C. S. L., & Fox, N. A. (2001). Emo-A. L., & Greenspan, S. I. (1996). Infant regulation oftion regulation, parenting, and display of social reti-the vagal “brake” predicts child behavior problems:cence in preschoolers. Early Education and Develop-A psychobiological model of social behavior. Devel-ment, 12, 97–115.opmental Psychobiology, 29, 697–712.

Rubin, K. H., Coplan, R. J., Fox, N. A., & Calkins, S. D.Posner, M. I., & Rothbart, M. K. (1992). Attentional(1995). Emotionality, emotion regulation and pre-mechanisms and conscious experience. In D. Mil-schooler’s social adaptation. Development and Psy-ner & M. Ruggs (Eds.), The neuropsychology of con-chopathology, 7, 49–62.sciousness (pp. 91–111). San Diego, CA: Academic

Rubin, K., Hastings, P. Stewart, S., Henderson, H., &Press.Chen, X. (1997). The consistency and concomitantsPosner, M. I., & Rothbart, M. K. (2000). Developingof inhibition: Some of the children, all of the time.mechanisms of self-regulation. Development and Psy-Child Development, 68, 467–483.chopathology, 12, 427–441.

Ruff, H., & Rothbart, M. K. (1996). Attention in earlyRichards, J. E. (1985). Respiratory sinus arrhythmia pre-development. New York: Oxford University Press.dicts heart rate and visual responses during visual at-

Rutter, M. L. (1987). Continuities and discontinuitiestention in 14- and 20-week-old infants. Psychophysi-ology, 22, 101–109. from infancy. In J. D. Osofsky (Ed.), Handbook of


infant development (pp. 1256–1296). New York: The role of emotion regulation. Child Development,70, 21–32.Wiley.

Schmidt, L., & Fox, N. A. (1998). The development and Suess, P. E., Porges, S. W., & Plude, D. J. (1994). Car-diac vagal tone and sustained attention in school-ageoutcomes of childhood shyness. Annals of Child De-

velopment, 13, 1–20. children. Psychophysiology, 31, 17–22.Symons, D. K., & Moran, G. (1987). The behavioral dy-Sethi, A., Mischel, W., Aber, J., Shoda, Y., & Rodriquez,

M. (2000). The role of strategic attention deployment namics of mutual responsiveness in early face-to-facemother–infant interactions. Child Development, 58,in development of self-regulation: Predicting pre-

schoolers’ delay of gratification from mother–toddler 1488–1495.Thompson, R. A. (1994). Emotion regulation: A theme ininteractions. Developmental Psychology, 36, 767–

777. search of definition. Monographs of the Society forResearch in Child Development, 59(2–3, Serial No.Smith, C. L., Lomax, L. E., & Calkins, S. D. (1998).

Patterns of mother–child interaction in two-year-old 240), 25–52.Tomarken, A. J., Davidson, R. J., & Henriques, J. B.children with externalizing behavior problems. Paper

presented at the Biennial Meeting of the International (1990). Resting frontal brain asymmetry predicts af-fective responses to films. Journal of Personality andSociety for Infant Studies, Atlanta, GA.

Sroufe, L. A. (1996). Emotional development: The orga- Social Psychology, 59, 791–801.Tronick, E. Z. (1989). Emotions and emotional communi-nization of emotional life in the early years. New

York: Cambridge University Press. cation in infants. American Psychologist, 44, 112–119.Sroufe, L. A., & Rutter, M. (1984). The domain of devel-

opmental psychopathology. Child Development, 55, Tronick, E. Z., Cohn, J., & Shea, E. (1986). The transferof affect between mother and infants. In T. B. Brazel-17–29.

Stansbury, K., & Gunnar, M. (1994). Adrenocortical ac- ton & M. W. Yogman (Eds.), Affective developmentin infancy (pp. 11–26). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.tivity and emotion regulation. Monographs of the So-

ciety for Research in Child Development, 59(2–3, Se- Wilson, B., & Gottman, J. (1996). Attention—The shuttlebetween emotion and cognition: Risk, resiliency, andrial No. 240).

Stifter, C. A., & Braungart, J. M. (1995). The regulation physiological bases. In E. Hetherington & E. Blech-man (Eds.), Stress, coping and resiliency in childrenof negative reactivity in infancy: Function and devel-

opment. Developmental Psychology, 31, 448–455. and families. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Zelazo, P., & Reznick, J. S. (1991). Age-related asyn-Stifter, C. A., & Fox, N. A. (1990). Infant reactivity:

Physiological correlates of newborn and 5-month chrony of knowledge and action, Child Development,62, 719–735.temperament. Developmental Psychology, 26, 582–

588. Zelazo, P., Reznick, J. S., & Pinon, D. (1995). Responsecontrol and the execution of verbal rules. Develop-Stifter, C. A., Spinrad, T., & Braungart–Rieker, J. (1999).

Toward a developmental model of child compliance: mental Psychology, 31, 508–517.

Documents

Self-regulatory processes in early personality development ...€¦ · a corpus of research underscoring the impor- role that various dimensions of personality or tance for social