TY - JOUR
T1 - Harsh parenting and fearfulness in toddlerhood interact to predict amplitudes of preschool error-related negativity
AU - Brooker, Rebecca J.
AU - Buss, Kristin A.
N1 - Funding Information:
Data collection for this project was supported by a RGSO dissertation support award from the Penn State College of the Liberal Arts (R.J. Brooker) and R01 MH075750 from the National Institute of Mental Health (PI: Buss). The preparation of this manuscript was partially supported by the first T32 MH018931 (PI: Davidson) and K01 MH100240 (PI: Brooker). All work was conducted with the ethical approval of all relevant bodies.
PY - 2014/7
Y1 - 2014/7
N2 - Temperamentally fearful children are at increased risk for the development of anxiety problems relative to less-fearful children. This risk is even greater when early environments include high levels of harsh parenting behaviors. However, the mechanisms by which harsh parenting may impact fearful children's risk for anxiety problems are largely unknown. Recent neuroscience work has suggested that punishment is associated with exaggerated error-related negativity (ERN), an event-related potential linked to performance monitoring, even after the threat of punishment is removed. In the current study, we examined the possibility that harsh parenting interacts with fearfulness, impacting anxiety risk via neural processes of performance monitoring. We found that greater fearfulness and harsher parenting at 2 years of age predicted greater fearfulness and greater ERN amplitudes at age 4. Supporting the role of cognitive processes in this association, greater fearfulness and harsher parenting also predicted less efficient neural processing during preschool. This study provides initial evidence that performance monitoring may be a candidate process by which early parenting interacts with fearfulness to predict risk for anxiety problems.
AB - Temperamentally fearful children are at increased risk for the development of anxiety problems relative to less-fearful children. This risk is even greater when early environments include high levels of harsh parenting behaviors. However, the mechanisms by which harsh parenting may impact fearful children's risk for anxiety problems are largely unknown. Recent neuroscience work has suggested that punishment is associated with exaggerated error-related negativity (ERN), an event-related potential linked to performance monitoring, even after the threat of punishment is removed. In the current study, we examined the possibility that harsh parenting interacts with fearfulness, impacting anxiety risk via neural processes of performance monitoring. We found that greater fearfulness and harsher parenting at 2 years of age predicted greater fearfulness and greater ERN amplitudes at age 4. Supporting the role of cognitive processes in this association, greater fearfulness and harsher parenting also predicted less efficient neural processing during preschool. This study provides initial evidence that performance monitoring may be a candidate process by which early parenting interacts with fearfulness to predict risk for anxiety problems.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.dcn.2014.03.001
DO - 10.1016/j.dcn.2014.03.001
M3 - Article
C2 - 24721466
AN - SCOPUS:84898453164
SN - 1878-9293
VL - 9
SP - 148
EP - 159
JO - Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
JF - Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
ER -