Understanding temper loss in young children: Interactions among family violence, respiratory sinus arrhythmia, and frontal asymmetry.

BACKGROUND

Exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) increases risk for emotion dysregulation and externalizing problems in young children. Individual differences in respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and frontal asymmetry (FA) have been shown to moderate the relations between early adversity and later problem behaviors. While theory and evidence suggest IPV, RSA, and FA may interact and help explain temper loss in young children, this has scarcely been explored.

METHOD: This study's socioeconomically diverse community sample included 143 right-handed children (Mage = 5.5 years old, SD = 0.91; 52.4 % male) and their mothers. Mothers reported on IPV in a semi-structured interview and children's temper loss via questionnaire. Children's RSA and FA were assessed in a resting state paradigm.

RESULTS

IPV exposure was positively associated with temper loss, p = .023. The association was moderated by RSA (p = .019) but not FA. At low RSA (-1 SD), IPV was associated with a 134 % increase in temper loss severity (p = .002); at high RSA (+1 SD), however, the association was non-significant. FA moderated the relation between RSA and temper loss such that RSA was negatively associated with temper loss when left frontal asymmetry was slight to strong (FA > 0.45 SD above mean).

CONCLUSIONS

Findings highlight the utility of multisystem, interactive models of psychophysiological regulation in explaining risk for emerging psychopathology and suggest RSA as a modifiable target for early intervention.