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Updated: Jun 3, 2026

Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood
Published on: February 11, 2017
Mood symptoms and emotional responsiveness to threat in school-aged children
Jessica L Borelli1, David A Sbarra, Michael J Crowley
1Department of Psychology, Pomona College, Claremont, CA 91711, USA. Jessica.borelli@pomona.edu
Abstract:
Clinical accounts of depression underscore its relation to negative emotional experiences; yet few empirical studies examine emotional experiences in adults with depression, with even less work on depression and emotion in children. Using a nonclinical sample of school-aged children (n = 89) ages 8 to 12, this study evaluated whether greater mood symptoms were associated with more or less intense emotional reactions (measured via psychophysiology, subjective report, and behavior) in response to a threat paradigm. Results indicated that greater negative mood symptoms were associated with larger startle magnitude responses during threat, increased self-reports of negative emotion, and greater likelihood of crying and stopping the paradigm prematurely.
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