اجزای سازنده دیفرانسیل واکنش پذیری و کنترل توجه برای پیشبینی رفتار برون سازی

Abstract The present study examined the contribution of early reactivity and regulation on externalizing behavior in preadolescence. Moreover, subcomponents of attentional control (i.e., attention shifting and attention focusing) and negative reactivity (i.e., sadness and anger) were examined individually to test whether a specific combination of factors uniquely contributed to the outcome. A subset of data were utilized from the ongoing, longitudinal RIGHT Track project (N = 404), in which parents reported on individual factors at age 4 and teachers reported on externalizing behavior at age 10. A hierarchical linear regression analysis revealed a significant interaction between anger reactivity and attention shifting when controlling for early externalizing behavior, where children with high levels of anger and low levels of attention shifting experienced the greatest increase in externalizing behavior over time. An increased focus on specificity is needed in research on the interplay between reactivity and regulation in the prediction of externalizing behavior.

Results The data were first imputed to account for missing values using the missing value analysis (MVA) technique in SPSS version 20. Little's (Little & Rubin, 2002) missing completely at random (MCAR) yielded a Chi-square = 2425.12 (p = 0.91; df = 2520), indicating that the data were not systematically missing. An expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm was then used to generate values to fill in all the missing data. Preliminary analyses were conducted, and the scales were normally distributed based upon values of skewness (< 2) and kurtosis (< 4). Variables were centered prior to creating interaction terms. Table 1 lists the descriptive information for all study variables; Table 2 displays correlations among all study variables. Anger reactivity was correlated modestly with the outcome. There was no correlation between sadness reactivity and externalizing behavior. Both subcomponents of attentional control were negatively correlated with the outcome. The subcomponents of reactivity correlated moderately with each other, and the components of attentional control were also significantly correlated. Table 1. Descriptive statistics for independent and dependent composite variables. Variable Mean SD Min Max 4 yr. externalizinga 54.77 5.43 50.00 76.50 10 yr. externalizingb 48.91 8.12 31.19 85.50 Anger 4.68 0.84 1.92 6.58 Sadness 4.06 0.67 1.33 5.70 Attention shifting 3.81 0.86 1.60 7.00 Attention focusing 4.40 0.81 1.89 7.00 a Composite variable from parent report of Delinquency and Aggression subscales of the CBCL (t scores). b Composite variable from teacher report on the Aggression and Conduct Problem subscales of the BASC (t scores). Table options Table 2. Correlation coefficients for independent and dependent composite variables. Variable 1 2 3 4 1. Externalizing – 2. Anger .33⁎⁎ – 3. Sadness − .06 .51⁎⁎ – 4. Attention shifting − .19⁎⁎ − .27⁎⁎ − .18⁎⁎ – 5. Attention focusing − .20⁎⁎ − .11⁎⁎ − .18⁎⁎ .23⁎⁎ ⁎⁎ p < .01. Table options Components of reactivity and attentional control as predictors of externalizing behavior To test for main effects for the variables of interest, a hierarchical regression analysis was conducted. At the first step, early externalizing behavior was entered as a control variable and to assess for change in this behavior over time. At the second step, the main effects for reactivity components were entered separately, and at the third step, the main effects for the regulation components were entered. Table 3 presents the beta weights and significance levels for all steps. Main effects for anger reactivity and sadness reactivity were found, indicating that children with high levels of anger reactivity as well as children with low levels of sadness reactivity display increases in externalizing behavior from ages 4 to 10. There was also a main effect for attention focusing, where children with low abilities to focus their attention at age 4 display increased levels of externalizing behavior at age 10. Table 3. Early externalizing behavior, components of reactivity and attentional control, and interactions regressed onto externalizing behavior. Variable β R2 ∆R2 Step 1 Early externalizing behavior 35⁎⁎ .12⁎⁎ Step 2 .11⁎⁎ Anger .38⁎⁎ Sadness − .32⁎⁎ Step 3 .01 Attention shifting − .02 Attention focusing − .10⁎ Step 4 .02⁎ Sadness × attention shifting .05 Anger × attention shifting − .13⁎ Sadness × attention focusing .11 Anger × attention focusing .00 ⁎ p < .05. ⁎⁎ p < .01. Table options Interactions between components of reactivity and attentional control as predictors of externalizing behavior We hypothesized that children who display high levels of anger reactivity and low levels of attention shifting at age 4 would display the most elevated levels of externalizing behavior at age 10, with this interaction being significant above and beyond the other possible combination of components. Thus, at the fourth step all 2 way interactions were entered (see Table 3). As hypothesized, the interaction variable of anger × attention shifting was significant, where children with high levels of anger reactivity and low levels of attention shifting had elevated levels of externalizing behavior. Table 3 shows the beta weights and significance levels for all interactions, and Fig. 1 displays the anger × attention shifting interaction. The simple slopes analysis revealed that the lines representing children who had low levels of attention shifting (β = 4.80, p = .00) and children who had high levels of attention shifting (β = 2.59, p = .00) were significantly different from zero. No other significant interactions were found. Interaction of anger reactivity and attention shifting predicting externalizing ... Fig. 1. Interaction of anger reactivity and attention shifting predicting externalizing behavior. Values on y-axis represent change in externalizing behavior from ages 4 to 10.