A meta-analysis of 95 studies was conducted to investigate the relations of heart rate (HR) and electrodermal activity (EDA) with aggression, psychopathy, and conduct problems. Analyses revealed a complex constellation of interactive effects, with a failure in some cases of autonomic patterns to generalize across antisocial spectrum behavior constructs. Low resting EDA and low task EDA were associated with psychopathy/sociopathy and conduct problems. However, EDA reactivity was positively associated with aggression and negatively associated with psychopathy/sociopathy. Low resting HR and high HR reactivity were associated with aggression and conduct problems. Physiology--behavior relations varied with age and stimulus valence in several cases. Empirical and clinical implications are discussed.

The present investigation was designed to evaluate whether mothers' emotion experience, autonomic reactivity, and negatively biased appraisals of their toddlers' behavior and toddlers' rates of misbehavior predicted over-reactive discipline in a mediated fashion. Ninety-three community mother-toddler dyads were observed in a laboratory interaction, after which mothers' emotion experience and appraisals of their toddler's behavior were measured via a video-recall procedure. Autonomic physiology and over-reactive discipline were measured during the interactions. Mothers' negatively biased appraisals mediated the relation between emotion experience and over-reactive discipline. Heart rate reactivity predicted discipline independent of this mediation. Toddler misbehavior appeared to be an entry point into the above process. Interventions that more actively target physiological and experiential components of mothers' emotion may further reduce their over-reactive discipline.

The roles of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression as intentional methods mothers use to regulate their own emotion were investigated in relation to mothers’ experience and expression of negative emotion and their overreactive and lax discipline practices. Eighty-two mothers of toddlers completed questionnaires that measured these constructs. Emotion regulation strategies were more consistently associated with overreactive than with lax discipline. More suppression in discipline encounters was associated with less overreactivity, an association partially mediated by expressed negative emotion. Reappraisal, both globally and in the context of discipline encounters, was inversely associated with overreactive discipline. The association of global reappraisal and overreactivity was mediated in parallel by experienced and expressed negative emotion. Surprisingly, global reappraisal, relative to reappraisal in discipline encounters, appears to have more consistent implications for mothers’ emotion and parenting practices in discipline encounters. A reconceptualization of the nature of reappraisal in discipline encounters is suggested. The study is the first to systematically apply methods and concepts from the better-developed basic research literature on adults’ emotion regulation to the domain of parenting.

Hypotheses were tested about how moment-by-moment variation in mothers' negative emotion predicts harsh and lax discipline. Mother-toddler dyads interacted in a task designed to elicit challenging child behavior. Mothers viewed videotapes of their interactions and continuously rated their experienced emotion. Harsh discipline was associated with mothers' greater negative emotion intensity, greater dependence of mothers' emotion on toddlers' negative affect, and lower serial predictability of mothers' emotion. Laxness was also associated with greater emotion dependence on negative toddler affect and lower serial predictability but not with negative emotion intensity. The dependence of mothers' emotion on toddlers' rule violations was not associated with discipline. Dynamic emotion variables were not redundant with emotion intensity and therefore enhance our understanding of the role of emotion in discipline.