Resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia moderates the within-person relations of parental emotional expressivity and children's prosocial behaviors.

Parental supportive emotional expressivity could contribute to children's prosocial behaviors, and such an effect may differ for children with different levels of resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). This study disentangled the stable differences across dyads (i.e., between-person effects) from the dynamic associations between parental expressivity and children's prosocial behaviors within dyads (i.e., within-person effects) and determined how resting RSA functioned as a susceptibility factor in such effects. The longitudinal design consisted of three measurements with a 1-year interval performed among 208 school-aged children (48.6% girls; Han nationality) and their parents (153 mothers and 55 fathers). The initial measurement was conducted when the children were 7 years old (Mage  = 7.13, SDage  = .33). Resting RSA was calculated at the first measurement; parents reported children's prosocial behaviors and parental expressivity at each of the three measurements. The results demonstrated significant between- and within-person effects of parental expressivity on children's prosocial behaviors and found a moderating role of children's resting RSA in the within-person effects. These findings suggest that children displayed more prosocial behaviors when parents showed more supportive expressivity both across and within dyads, and higher resting RSA operated as a differential susceptibility factor in the intraindividual fluctuations in parental expressivity.

Aggressive behaviors predict greater intraindividual reaction time variability in children: Evidence from cross-lagged panel models.

Deficits in attentional control or inhibitory control are distinct features of childhood aggressive behaviors. Lower attentional control or inhibitory control is considered to predict more aggressive behaviors, while few studies have documented the possible predictive effects of aggressive behaviors on attentional control or inhibitory control. The present study examined the bidirectional relations between aggressive behaviors and both inhibitory control and attentional control in 169 Chinese primary school children (75 girls, Mage = 7.15, SDage = 0.33), annually for 3 years starting at age 7. The No-go accuracy on a Go/No-go task was used as the index of inhibitory control, and the intraindividual reaction time variability (IIRTV) of correct Go trials indicated attentional control. The aggressive behaviors subscale of the child behavior checklist-Chinese version was used to assess the children's aggressive behaviors. The results demonstrated a significant and stable predictive effect of previous aggressive behaviors on subsequent attentional control, with more aggressive behaviors predicting greater IIRTV at both the between-child and within-child levels. No significant effects of inhibitory control or attentional control on aggressive behaviors or sex-specific patterns were found. The findings suggest the negative impact of childhood aggressive behaviors on attentional control and underscore the importance of early prevention and intervention for childhood aggressive behaviors.

Effects of Helicopter Parenting, Tiger Parenting and Inhibitory Control on the Development of Children's Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms.

Helicopter parenting and tiger parenting may increase the risks of anxiety and depression in children. However, it is unclear how these parenting styles affect the developmental outcomes and trajectories of anxiety and depressive symptoms, and how children's internal inhibitory control (IC) moderates such effects. The present study aimed to examine this issue. A sample of 172 typically developing children (77 girls; Mage = 7.14, SDage = 0.33) and their parents participated in the study. Parents reported children's anxiety and depressive symptoms using the Child Behavior Checklist each year from the first measurement (T1) to the third measurement (T3) and reported their helicopter parenting and tiger parenting at T1. Children completed the Go/No-go task at T1 to measure their IC. Higher T1 helicopter parenting impeded the declines in anxiety and depression over time, and higher T1 tiger parenting predicted more anxiety and depressive symptoms at T3. However, such effects were only observed in children with low IC, and higher IC buffered the adverse impacts of both helicopter parenting and tiger parenting on children's anxiety and depressive symptoms. These findings revealed that helicopter parenting and tiger parenting had negative impacts on the developmental trajectories and outcomes of anxiety and depression in children and suggest that IC plays an important role in alleviating the risks of anxiety and depression among children in adverse environments.

Parent-Child Discrepancies in Perceived Parental Control and Their Associations with Children's Prosocial Behaviors in Early Adolescence within Chinese Families.

How parent-child discrepancies in perceived parental control associate with children's prosocial behaviors remains unknown. This study examined this issue in 578 Chinese children (297 girls, Mage = 10.85, SDage = 0.72) and their mothers and fathers. Parents and children reported parental psychological and behavioral control, and children reported their prosocial behaviors. The latent difference scores modeling showed that compared to parents' perceptions, children's higher perceptions of guilt induction were related to more public prosocial behaviors; higher perceptions of love withdrawal were linked to fewer altruistic, compliant, emotional, and dire prosocial behaviors; and higher reporting of solicitation was associated with more general prosocial behaviors. The findings revealed the association between parent-child discrepancies and early adolescents' prosocial behaviors, supporting both the discrepancy-maladaptive hypotheses and the discrepancy-adaptive hypotheses within Chinese families.

Intraindividual reaction time variability as an index of attentional control acts as a moderator of the longitudinal relationships between marital quality and children's externalizing problems.

The current study investigated whether trial-to-trial intraindividual reaction time variability (IIRTV), which serves as an index of attentional control fluctuations, moderates the effect of marital quality at 7 years of age on the development of children's externalizing problems from 7 to 9 years of age (N = 197). At the first assessment (T1), a flanker task was administered to children for assessing their IIRTV. The Chinese version of a marital quality questionnaire (Evaluating and Nurturing Relationship Issues, Communication, and Happiness [ENRICH]) and the Chinese version of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) were completed by children's mothers to assess marital quality and children's externalizing problems. At the second and third assessments (T2 and T3), children's externalizing problems were reassessed by their mothers. Growth curve analyses showed that boys' externalizing problems were relatively high and significantly decreased over time, whereas girls' externalizing problems were relatively low and stable. Importantly, the results indicated that boys' IIRTV (but not girls' IIRTV) and parental marital quality interactively predict the concurrent and developmental trajectories of externalizing problems. Specifically, boys with greater IIRTV were found to exhibit a relatively persistent high level of externalizing problems in the context of poor parental marital quality, whereas boys with lower IIRTV were found to exhibit a relatively low level of externalizing problems over time regardless of their parental marital quality. The findings suggest that poorer attentional control indexed by greater IIRTV is a robust predictor of boys' externalizing problems and that better attentional control indexed by lower IIRTV may buffer the negative impact of adverse family environment on the development of boys' externalizing problems.

Inhibitory control moderates the quadratic association between resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia and prosocial behaviors in children.

Resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is thought to be an important physiological correlate of prosocial behaviors. A negative quadratic association between resting RSA and prosocial behaviors has been found in recent studies. However, it remains unknown whether inhibitory control (IC), as an aspect of cognitive regulation, moderates this quadratic association. This issue was examined in the present study. One hundred and forty-eight children (81 girls, 54.7%) aged 7-8 years completed a go/no-go task to assess their IC, and the children's parents completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire-Chinese version (SDQ-CV) to assess children's prosocial behaviors. Resting RSA was calculated by electrocardiogram (ECG) data collected during a resting period in the laboratory. The results showed a significant quadratic association between resting RSA and children's prosocial behaviors. More importantly, IC had a significant moderating effect on the quadratic association between resting RSA and prosocial behaviors. Specifically, the quadratic effect of resting RSA on prosocial behaviors was observed only among children with low and average IC and disappeared in children with better IC. The findings suggest that IC interacts with resting RSA to contribute to prosocial behaviors in children. High levels of IC could attenuate the negative impact of high and low resting RSA on prosocial behaviors.

Intraindividual reaction time variability, respiratory sinus arrhythmia, and children's externalizing problems.

Intraindividual reaction time variability (IIRTV) is a unique cognitive function index that is independent of accuracy and has been found to be related to children's externalizing problems. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) reactivity to challenge tasks was also found to be a potential influence factor of children's externalizing problems. The present study examined whether IIRTV interacts with RSA reactivity to relate to externalizing problems in children. The flanker task was administered to 168 early elementary school-age children to assess their IIRTV, and the Child Behavior Checklist-Chinese version (CBCL-CV) was completed by their parents to assess children's externalizing problems. Electrocardiogram data were collected during the resting and task period to calculate resting RSA and RSA reactivity. The results indicated that children's IIRTV was correlated with their externalizing problems. Importantly, IIRTV interacted with RSA reactivity to relate to externalizing problems. IIRTV was positively related to externalizing problems in children with RSA suppression but was not significantly related to externalizing problems in children with RSA augmentation during the task. These findings suggest that poor attentional or cognitive control, as indexed by greater IIRTV, is related to more externalizing problems. Moreover, during mild cognitive stress, greater RSA suppression might indicate poor physiological regulation, which is more likely to increase externalizing problems for children with poor attentional or cognitive control.

The mediating effect of empathy in the quadratic relationship between children's resting RSA and sharing behavior.

The present study examined the mediating role of empathy in the quadratic relationship (an inverted U-shaped curve) between resting RSA and sharing behavior in 7- to 8-year-old children. Sharing behavior was measured using children's allocation of resources in the dictator game; the Griffith Empathy Scale-Chinese version was used to assess children's empathy. Resting RSA was calculated by electrocardiogram (ECG) data collected during a resting period in the laboratory. The results demonstrated a significant mediating effect of empathy in the quadratic association between resting RSA and sharing behavior. Specifically, moderate resting RSA was related to greater empathy and then contributed to more sharing behavior, while high and low resting RSA had a negative impact on empathy, which reduced the children's sharing behavior. The present study is the first to investigate the mediating role of empathy in the quadratic relationship between resting RSA and sharing behaviors. Accordingly, this study contributes to a better understanding of the psychological mechanisms that underlie the quadratic vagal tone-prosociality relationship.