We thank the children and families who have participated in our studies and the research assistants of the Emotion Regulation Lab for their assistance with data collection and coding.

<ol>
	<li>Stegge, H., Meerum Terwogt, M., Reijntjes, A., Van Tijen, N. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=.">.</a> Implicit theories on the (non)expression of emotion: A developmental perspective. The sixth volume of the series biobehavioral perspectives on health and disease prevention. , (2004).</li><li>Saarni, C. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=.">.</a> The development of emotional competence. , (1999).</li><li>Graziano, P. A., Reavis, R. D., Keane, S. P., Calkins, S. 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A. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term="Just+stop+thinking+about+it":+effects+of+emotional+disengagement+on+children's+memory+for+educational+material.">"Just stop thinking about it": effects of emotional disengagement on children's memory for educational material.</a> Emotion. 7 (4), 812 (2007).</li><li>Davis, E. L., Levine, L. J., Lench, H. C., Quas, J. A. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Metacognitive+emotion+regulation:+children's+awareness+that+changing+thoughts+and+goals+can+alleviate+negative+emotions.">Metacognitive emotion regulation: children's awareness that changing thoughts and goals can alleviate negative emotions.</a> Emotion. 10 (4), 498-510 (2010).</li><li>Cole, P. M., Martin, S. E., Dennis, T. 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A. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Emotion+regulation:+A+theme+in+search+of+definition.">Emotion regulation: A theme in search of definition.</a> Monographs of the society for research in child development. 59 (2-3), 25-52 (1994).</li><li>Beauchaine, T. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Vagal+tone,+development,+and+Gray's+motivational+theory:+Toward+an+integrated+model+of+autonomic+nervous+system+functioning+in+psychopathology.">Vagal tone, development, and Gray's motivational theory: Toward an integrated model of autonomic nervous system functioning in psychopathology.</a> Development and psychopathology. 13 (02), 183-214 (2001).</li><li>Porges, S. 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The authors have nothing to disclose.

Critical Steps within the Protocol
Effectively eliciting negative emotion and instructing children to use specific emotion regulation strategies are the critical steps within the protocol.
Modifications and Troubleshooting
Film clips must be selected (and pilot tested) to be age-appropriate given the age range in question to ensure they evoke the target emotions of interest for the specified age ranges. Researchers should also take care to make...

Children experience negative emotions like sadness and fear every day. As they develop and mature, children learn regulatory strategies that allow them to manage a broad range of stressors and challenges to adapt to the world. Their emotion regulation repertoire expands, and shifts in composition from primarily behavioral strategies to include more cognitive strategies1. By the end of middle childhood, children regulate their emotions using both cognitive and behavioral strategies2. Understanding the effective regulation or management of unwanted negative feelings has become increasingly interesting to developmental scientists in recent years. This interest is driven, in part, by research linking emotion regulation processes to a host of social, emotional, and cognitive outcomes with substantial consequences for children&#39;s daily lives (e.g., academic achievement3, friendships4, and psychopathology5).
The method described here focuses on two cognitive emotion regulation strategies that have received the lion&#39;s share of empirical attention to date: reappraisal and distraction. Studies done with adults have shown that reappraisal and distraction are effective methods for alleviating emotion6,7,8,9,10,11. Reappraisal, which involves changing or reframing how one interprets an emotion or problem, has been shown to be effective in reducing the intensity of negative emotions in school-aged children12,13. Distraction, in contrast, involves changing what one is thinking about, such as when a child about to receive a vaccine thinks instead of the ice cream they will enjoy with their parent afterwards. Children can also begin to use these cognitive strategies to regulate negative emotions effectively, from as young as 5 - 6 years of age14.
The Theoretical and Practical Challenges of Studying Emotion Regulation
Emotional reactivity and regulatory processes are intertwined, bidirectional, and iterative15,16. Thus, a key conceptual challenge for developmental scientists is to identify and employ methods that meaningfully distinguish between emotion responding and regulatory processes. The approach described here takes the view of emotions as regulated (in contrast to emotions as regulating)15. Emotion regulation is defined as the process of changing an experienced emotion17 in ways that alter the intensity, duration, and/or valence of the emotion18.
Despite promising behavioral evidence that cognitive emotion regulation strategies like distraction and reappraisal reduce negative emotions14, there are many limitations to the predominant self-report or observational methodologies that constrain the conclusions that can be drawn from existing empirical studies, especially with young children. For example, self-report of emotional experience is subject to inaccuracies and demand characteristics. Although behavioral observation (e.g., of facial expressions) to index emotional responding is ostensibly more objective than self-report, observation is still subject to automatic and explicit regulatory processes that mask or hide the true experience of distress or negative emotion. To address these conceptual and methodological issues, this paper describes a method of examining the effects of emotion regulation strategies on children&#39;s subsequent psychophysiology that allows researchers to more clearly distinguish between reactivity to and active regulation of negative emotions. This experimental paradigm for eliciting negative emotions and assessing the consequences of different instructed emotion regulation strategies provides an approach that can be used with children of a wide range of ages, adolescents, or adults.
Psychophysiology Is a Non-Invasive Index of Emotion Regulation
Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA) is a commonly used index of parasympathetic cardiac psychophysiology, and has emerged as a key correlate of children&#39;s emotion regulatory ability19,20. RSA is derived from the measurement of heart rate variation (controlled by efferent fibers of the vagus nerve) within the respiratory cycle21,22. High baseline RSA indicates better emotional regulation and socio-emotional competencies21, whereas lower baseline RSA is linked to negative socio-emotional outcomes23. Baseline RSA reflects the system&#39;s regulatory capacity to respond to stress, whereas changes in RSA from baseline levels under conditions of challenge (RSA reactivity) enable greater sympathetic influence and resource mobilization. This process reflects a shift away from homeostatic demands to the facilitation of sustained attention, behavioral self-regulation, and the generation of coping strategies to control affective or behavioral arousal20,26. RSA reactivity to challenging lab tasks is associated with better emotion regulatory abilities and general adaptive functioning, including less negative emotionality and risk for behavior problems and better sustained attention21,23,24,25,26,27. RSA reactivity to challenge can be described as increasing (RSA augmentation) or decreasing (RSA suppression) parasympathetic influence. The flexibility with which parasympathetic influence over the heart is regulated across contexts is thought to underlie adaptive emotion regulation.
Indeed, changes in children&#39;s RSA amplitudes during a series of challenging tasks predict their emotional regulatory skill28. RSA is responsive in emotionally challenging contexts as well. For example, RSA suppression (a decrease from baseline level to task level) is linked to experiencing fear and sadness, but augmentation (increase from baseline to task) is linked to effective regulation of emotion when sadness and fear are evoked via film clips29,30. Previous work that has capitalized on the utility of this non-invasive method for assessing in vivo emotion regulation processes has demonstrated how children&#39;s use of specific cognitive emotion regulation strategies predicted RSA reactivity while they were watching emotion-eliciting videos31. This paper describes a novel experimental paradigm that uses the physiological patterns associated with active emotion regulation to index regulatory ability, providing an innovative method to parse the experience and regulation of negative emotions.

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psychophysiological assessment of the effectiveness of emotion regulation strategies in childhood

Effective regulation of emotion is one of the most important skills that develops in childhood. Research interest in this area is expanding, but empirical work has been limited by predominantly correlational investigations of children's skills. Relatedly, a key conceptual challenge for emotion scientists is to distinguish between emotion responding and emotion regulatory processes. This paper presents a novel method to address these conceptual and methodological issues in child samples. An experimental paradigm that assesses the effectiveness with which children regulate emotion is described. Children are randomly assigned to use specific emotion regulation strategies, negative emotions are elicited with film clips, and changes in subsequent psychophysiology index the extent to which emotion regulation is effective. Children are instructed to simply watch the emotion-eliciting film (control), distract themselves from negative emotions (cognitive distraction), or reframe the situation in a way that downplays the importance of the emotional event (cognitive reappraisal). Cardiac physiology, continuously acquired before and during the emotional task, serves as an objective measure of children's unfolding emotional responding while viewing evocative films. Key comparisons in patterns of obtained physiological reactivity are between the control and emotion regulation strategy conditions. Representative results from this approach are described, and discussion focuses on the contribution of this methodological approach to developmental science.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, a typical result is that instructing children to use cognitive emotion regulation strategies leads to a different pattern of RSA reactivity than simply viewing the emotional film (Control). This supports the idea that instructions to regulate negative emotion using distraction or reappraisal give rise to different patterns of physiological responding during an emotionally challenging task, given the difference in responding am...

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Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood

A detailed protocol for an experimental paradigm to assess the effectiveness with which children regulate emotion is described. Children are randomly assigned to use specific emotion regulation strategies, negative emotions are elicited with film clips, and changes in subsequent psychophysiology index the extent to which emotion regulation is effective.

Effective regulation of emotion is one of the most important skills that develops in childhood. Research interest in this area is expanding, but empirical ...

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11.4K Views.  University of California, Riverside (UCR). A detailed protocol for an experimental paradigm to assess the effectiveness with which children regulate emotion is described. Children are randomly assigned to use specific emotion regulation strategies, negative emotions are elicited with film clips, and changes in subsequent psychophysiology index the extent to which emotion regulation is effective.

Video: Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood

Assessment of Age-related Changes in Cognitive Functions Using EmoCogMeter, a Novel Tablet-computer Based Approach

The main goal of this study was to assess the usability of a tablet-computer-based application (EmoCogMeter) in investigating the effects of age on cognitive functions across the lifespan in a sample of 378 healthy subjects (age range 18-89 years). Consistent with previous findings we found an age-related cognitive decline across a wide range of neuropsychological domains (memory, attention, executive functions), thereby proving the usability of our tablet-based application. Regardless of prior computer experience, subjects of all age groups were able to perform the tasks without instruction or feedback from an experimenter. Increased motivation and compliance proved to be beneficial for task performance, thereby potentially increasing the validity of the results. Our promising findings underline the great clinical and practical potential of a tablet-based application for detection and monitoring of cognitive dysfunction.

We tested the usability of a tablet-computer-based application (EmoCogMeter) in investigating the effects of age on cognition. Results show an age-related cognitive decline, thereby proving the usability of our application. Findings underline the great clinical and practical potential of a tablet-based application for detection and monitoring of cognitive dysfunction.

The main goal of this study was to assess the usability of a tablet-computer-based application (EmoCogMeter) in investigating the effects of age on ...

Behavioral Assessment of the Aging Mouse Vestibular System

Age related decline in balance performance is associated with deteriorating muscle strength, motor coordination and vestibular function. While a number of studies show changes in balance phenotype with age in rodents, very few isolate the vestibular contribution to balance under either normal conditions or during senescence. We use two standard behavioral tests to characterize the balance performance of mice at defined age points over the lifespan: the rotarod test and the inclined balance beam test. Importantly though, a custom built rotator is also used to stimulate the vestibular system of mice (without inducing overt signs of motion sickness). These two tests have been used to show that changes in vestibular mediated-balance performance are present over the murine lifespan. Preliminary results show that both the rotarod test and the modified balance beam test can be used to identify changes in balance performance during aging as an alternative to more difficult and invasive techniques such as vestibulo-ocular (VOR) measurements.

Motor control and balance performance are known to deteriorate with age. This paper presents a number of standard noninvasive behavioral tests with the addition of a simple rotary stimulus to challenge the vestibular system and show changes in balance performance in a murine model of aging.

Age related decline in balance performance is associated with deteriorating muscle strength, motor coordination and vestibular function. While a number of ...

Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm

The ability to recall the past allows us to report on details of previous experiences, from the everyday to the significant. Because recall memory is commonly assessed using verbal report paradigms in adults, studying the development of this ability in preverbal infants and children proved challenging. Over the past 30 years, researchers have developed a non-verbal means of assessing recall memory known as the elicited or deferred imitation paradigm. In one variant of the procedure, participants are presented with novel three-dimensional stimuli for a brief baseline period before a researcher demonstrates a series of actions that culminate in an end- or goal-state. The participant is allowed to imitate the demonstrated actions immediately, after a delay, or both. Recall performance is then compared to baseline or to performance on novel control sequences presented at the same session; memory can be assessed for the individual target actions and the order in which they were completed. This procedure is an accepted analogue to the verbal report techniques used with adults, and it has served to establish a solid foundation of the nature of recall memory in infancy and early childhood. In addition, the elicited or deferred imitation procedure has been modified and adapted to answer questions relevant to other aspects of cognitive functioning. The broad utility and application of imitation paradigms is discussed, along with limitations of the approach and directions for future research.

The elicited imitation procedure was established to examine the development of recall memory in infancy and early childhood. This procedure has been widely used to establish a solid foundation of the nature of recall memory in infancy and early childhood.

The ability to recall the past allows us to report on details of previous experiences, from the everyday to the significant. Because recall memory is ...

Exploring the Use of Isolated Expressions and Film Clips to Evaluate Emotion Recognition by People with Traumatic Brain Injury

The current study presented 60 people with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and 60 controls with isolated facial emotion expressions, isolated vocal emotion expressions, and multimodal (i.e., film clips) stimuli that included contextual cues. All stimuli were presented via computer. Participants were required to indicate how the person in each stimulus was feeling using a forced-choice format. Additionally, for the film clips, participants had to indicate how they felt in response to the stimulus, and the level of intensity with which they experienced that emotion.

This paper describes how to implement a battery of behavioral tasks to examine emotion recognition of isolated facial and vocal emotion expressions, and a novel task using commercial television and film clips to assess multimodal emotion recognition that includes contextual cues.

The current study presented 60 people with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and 60 controls with isolated facial emotion expressions, isolated vocal emotion ...

Ultrasound Images of the Tongue: A Tutorial for Assessment and Remediation of Speech Sound Errors

Diagnostic ultrasound imaging has been a common tool in medical practice for several decades. It provides a safe and effective method for imaging structures internal to the body. There has been a recent increase in the use of ultrasound technology to visualize the shape and movements of the tongue during speech, both in typical speakers and in clinical populations. Ultrasound imaging of speech has greatly expanded our understanding of how sounds articulated with the tongue (lingual sounds) are produced. Such information can be particularly valuable for speech-language pathologists. Among other advantages, ultrasound images can be used during speech therapy to provide (1) illustrative models of typical (i.e.&#160;&#34;correct&#34;) tongue configurations for speech sounds, and (2) a source of insight into the articulatory nature of deviant productions. The images can also be used as an additional source of feedback for clinical populations learning to distinguish their better productions from their incorrect productions, en route to establishing more effective articulatory habits.
Ultrasound feedback is increasingly used by scientists and clinicians as both the expertise of the users increases and as the expense of the equipment declines. In this tutorial, procedures are presented for collecting ultrasound images of the tongue in a clinical context. We illustrate these procedures in an extended example featuring one common error sound, American English /r/. Images of correct and distorted /r/ are used to demonstrate (1) how to interpret ultrasound images, (2) how to assess tongue shape during production of speech sounds, (3), how to categorize tongue shape errors, and (4), how to provide visual feedback to elicit a more appropriate and functional tongue shape. We present a sample protocol for using real-time ultrasound images of the tongue for visual feedback to remediate speech sound errors. Additionally, example data are shown to illustrate outcomes with the procedure.

Ultrasound imaging can be used to display the shape and movements of the tongue in real time during speech. The images can be used to determine the nature of speech sound errors. Visual feedback of the tongue can be used to facilitate improvements in speech sound production in clinical populations.

Diagnostic ultrasound imaging has been a common tool in medical practice for several decades. It provides a safe and effective method for imaging ...

Use of a Psychophysiological Script-driven Imagery Experiment to Study Trauma-related Dissociation in Borderline Personality Disorder

This protocol offers a detailed description of a psychophysiological experiment using script-driven trauma-related imagery and standardized clinical instruments within a comparative design assessing physiological and psychopathological features of individuals with BPD. This method aims at studying the psychological and physiological effects of trauma-related dissociation. Since the psychodiagnostic classification of trauma-related disorders relies on the observation of evolutionarily determined responses to life-threat, an integrated assessment paradigm for the study of reactions to traumatic memories proposes a very appropriate methodological approach.
The employed script-driven imagery paradigm uses individual recall instructions to activate trauma-related memory networks and prompt associated emotional and physiological responses. These responses are measured by means of self-rating scales and physiological assessments. During the individual recall, participants are asked to vividly imagine traumatic and everyday experiences and other situations triggered by short personalized verbal scripts they authored beforehand together with the experimenters. A wide range of affective reactions and different physiological parameters can be measured. We used this paradigm to investigate dissociative states in BPD and to find physiological and affective correlates of dissociative states. Some of the participants were having severe traumatic antecedents.
To investigate different reaction patterns within the same diagnostic group, participants with different levels of traumatic histories, symptom severities, and co-morbidities should be included. By using short verbal scripts, the level of stress induced to participants is held as low as possible without affecting the validity of the object of investigation.

We present a protocol of personalized script-driven trauma-related imagery and clinical assessments within a comparison design for investigating peritraumatic dissociation (PD), psychophysiological reactions, i.e. heart rate (HR) and skin conductance (SC), and psychological features of often severely traumatized individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD).

This protocol offers a detailed description of a psychophysiological experiment using script-driven trauma-related imagery and standardized clinical ...

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure

Valid and efficient measures for assessing the quality of parent-child relationships are needed to facilitate research and evidence-based practice with parents. This paper focuses on such a method, namely Five-Minute Speech Sample-Coherence (FMSS-Coherence). In this method, a parent is asked to speak for five uninterrupted minutes about her/his child and their relationship. The resulted narrative is coded for coherence, namely the extent to which the parent provides&#160;in the narrative&#160;a clear, consistent, multidimensional and well-supported portrayal of the child. FMSS-Coherence is based on attachment research that shows that the coherence of parents&#8217; narratives is indicative of the quality of the parent-child relationship and child adjustment. It overcomes the limitations of attachment narrative measures which are typically labor intensive. FMSS-Coherence is less nuanced than extant attachment narrative measures. Yet, studies of families from different cultural backgrounds, across different child ages and in the context of typically developing children as well as children with special needs suggest that coherence can be reliably evaluated using the FMSS procedure. Furthermore, parents&#8217; FMSS-Coherence is associated with parenting quality and children&#8217;s socio-emotional adjustment. Thus, it holds promise for researchers and practitioners who seek a relatively time- and cost-effective method for assessing the coherence of parents&#8217; narratives regarding their child.

This paper introduces a method for assessing the coherence of parents' short narratives regarding their child and their relationship using the five-minute speech sample procedure.

Valid and efficient measures for assessing the quality of parent-child relationships are needed to facilitate research and evidence-based practice with ...

Assessment of Sexual Behavior of Male Mice

Sexual behavior is highly species-specific. Although rodents have slightly different sexual behaviors, mice and rats have a similar sexual behavioral pattern. The purpose of this article is to describe the hormone-induced estrus ovariectomized female model and the experimental procedure for the assessment of sexual behavior of male mice. The most important sexual behavioral elements are demonstrated in the video and illustrations. The critical steps, advantages, and limitations of the sexual behavior test are explained as well. Finally, the behavior parameters are presented, and mounting, intromission, and ejaculation processes in mating are distinguished. Behavioral parameters are assessed in terms of the occurred duration and counts during the test period.

This article describes how to perform sexual behavior tests in male mice.

Sexual behavior is highly species-specific. Although rodents have slightly different sexual behaviors, mice and rats have a similar sexual behavioral ...

Examining Changes in HRV and Emotion Following Artmaking with Three Different Art Materials

This protocol enables the examination of psychological and physiological responses to different types of behavioral engagements. Specifically, in this study example, the emotional response and changes in heart rate variability are examined in response to artmaking with three different art materials that vary in their levels of fluidity. This protocol can be adapted to examine other types of behavior or engagement in artmaking with other materials. There are several benefits to using this protocol. Firstly, the order randomization of the materials improves the probability that the response measured is associated with its qualities and not the order of presentation. Secondly, the continuous measuring of electrocardiogram enables the examination of changes in heart rate variability after engagement with each art material and changes that might occur during the artmaking itself. The advantages of this protocol should be considered with their limitations. The music listening is before each art making session; thus, the return to baseline can only be measured in the first two conditions. The return to baseline provides information on how fast individuals recover after response to working with each of the materials. Furthermore, a more liquid material instead of gouache paint with a brush, such as finger paints, provides more difference between materials. Finally, this protocol can be adapted to specific research needs.

The goal of the protocol is to guide researchers in conducting experiments that are intended to measure changes in self-reported emotional response and heart rate variability following art making with different materials. The protocol can easily be adapted for use in a variety of behavioral conditions and activities.

This protocol enables the examination of psychological and physiological responses to different types of behavioral engagements. Specifically, in this ...

Assessment of Midline Lingual Point-Pressure Somatosensation Using Von Frey Hair Monofilaments

Detection and discrimination threshold estimates for oral point pressure are assessed using Von Frey Hair monofilaments. Consistent with previously published protocols, threshold estimates are determined using a two-interval forced choice (2-IFC) paradigm with a three down/one up approach. Detection threshold estimates determine the mean force in which a participant can identify the presence of pressure. During the detection threshold procedure, the participant is instructed to choose which of two sequentially presented observation intervals contained the tactile test stimulus. If the participant performs three correct detections in a row (i.e., 3 &#39;hits&#39;), the researcher decreases the stimulus to the next lower target force level. With one incorrect detection (a &#39;miss&#39;), the researcher increases the force delivered to the next higher level. This threshold estimation approach is known as a 3-down/1-up adaptive staircase. Reponses are recorded on a paper ballot, and a participant&#39;s estimated threshold is defined as the geometric mean of five reversals. During the discrimination threshold procedure, the participant is asked to make a choice between two serially presented stimuli as to which is the &#34;harder&#34; or &#34;stronger&#34; pressure. The same scoring of &#39;hits&#39;, &#39;misses&#39;, and stopping points are used. Detection and discrimination testing for oral point pressure at tongue midline takes approximately 20 min to complete. Using these commercially-available clinical tools, individual touch sensation profiles for the midline tongue can be achieved in a relatively time and cost effective means.

This work describes a standard method to assess tactile sensation at the midline of the tongue tip. Using Von Frey Hair (VFH) monofilaments, this protocol provides estimates of detection and discrimination threshold estimates for oral point pressure (OPP).

Detection and discrimination threshold estimates for oral point pressure are assessed using Von Frey Hair monofilaments. Consistent with previously ...