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Updated: Jun 20, 2026

Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood
08:09

Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood

Published on: February 11, 2017

Children's patterns of emotional reactivity to conflict as explanatory mechanisms in links between interpartner

Patrick T Davies1, Melissa L Sturge-Apple, Dante Cicchetti

  • 1Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA. patrick.davies@rochester.edu

Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines
|September 12, 2009
PubMed

Insights

Children

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Child Psychology
  • Family Studies

Background:

  • Interparental conflict and aggression can impact child development.
  • Understanding the pathways through which this occurs is crucial for intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate children's emotional reactivity (fearful, sad, angry) as mediators.
  • To examine the association between exposure to interparental aggression and physiological functioning in toddlers.

Main Methods:

  • 200 toddlers and their mothers participated.
  • Maternal surveys and interviews assessed interparental aggression and child emotional reactivity.
  • Cortisol levels and cardiac indices (SNS, PNS) measured physiological functioning.

Main Results:

  • Exposure to interparental aggression linked to higher cortisol and PNS activity, and lower SNS activity.
  • Angry reactivity mediated aggression's effect on cortisol and PNS.
  • Fearful reactivity mediated aggression's effect on SNS.

Conclusions:

  • Emotional reactivity plays a key role in how family risk impacts physiological regulation.
  • Findings inform understanding of individual differences in response to family conflict.
Abstract

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