No abstract

Numerous studies have revealed autonomic underarousal in conduct-disordered adolescents and antisocial adults. It is unknown, however, whether similar autonomic markers are present in at-risk preschoolers. In this study, the authors compared autonomic profiles of 4- to 6-year-old children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD; n = 18) with those of age-matched controls (n = 20). Children with ADHD and ODD exhibited fewer electrodermal responses and lengthened cardiac preejection periods at baseline and during reward. Although group differences were not found in baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia, heart rate changes among ADHD and ODD participants were mediated exclusively by parasympathetic withdrawal, with no independent sympathetic contribution. Heart rate changes among controls were mediated by both autonomic branches. These results suggest that at-risk preschoolers are autonomically similar to older externalizing children.

Although parasuicidal behavior in adolescence is poorly understood, evidence suggests that it may be a developmental precursor of borderline personality disorder~BPD!. Current theories of both parasuicide and BPD suggest that emotion dysregulation is the primary precipitant of self-injury, which serves to dampen overwhelmingly negative affect. To date, however, no studies have assessed endophenotypic markers of emotional responding among parasuicidal adolescents. In the present study, we compare parasuicidal adolescent girls~n ϭ 23! with age-matched controls~n ϭ 23! on both psychological and physiological measures of emotion regulation and psychopathology. Adolescents, parents, and teachers completed questionnaires assessing internalizing and externalizing psychopathology, substance use, trait affectivity, and histories of parasuicide. Psychophysiological measures including electrodermal responding~EDR!, respiratory sinus arrhythmia, and cardiac pre-ejection period~PEP! were collected at baseline, during negative mood induction, and during recovery. Compared with controls, parasuicidal adolescents exhibited reduced respiratory sinus arrhythmia~RSA! at baseline, greater RSA reactivity during negative mood induction, and attenuated peripheral serotonin levels. No between-group differences on measures of PEP or EDR were found. These results lend further support to theories of emotion dysregulation and impulsivity in parasuicidal teenage girls.

The behavioral approach (BAS) and behavioral inhibition (BIS) systems are central to theories of both personality and psychopathology, yet agreement on methods of assessing BAS and BIS sensitivity has yet to emerge. We compare the Carver and White (1994) BIS/BAS scales with putative physiological markers of BAS (pre-ejection period [PEP], respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]) and BIS (electrodermal responding) reactivity during reward and extinction among 50 undergraduates. PEP, RSA, and electrodermal activity each responded strongly to one or more task conditions, but correlations with BIS/BAS scores were stronger for measures of affectivity than for any physiological marker. Finally, PEP reactivity was the only autonomic index that responded only to reward. These findings suggest that (a) self-report and physiological measures of BAS and BIS reactivity are independent, and (b) PEP may be superior to RSA as an index of approach motivation.

We tested the fearlessness hypothesis of psychopathy in an at-risk sample of 88 preadolescent children. Psychopathy was measured using combined child- and parent-reported scores on the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD). Using a continuous-flash-suppression paradigm, we evaluated threat processing at the preattentive level for the first time in a study of psychopathy. Scores for the APSD Callous/Unemotional factor, which assesses the core affective deficits of psychopathy, predicted preattentive face-recognition deficits for fearful faces and, to a lesser extent, for disgusted faces. This finding contradicts recent suggestions that the fearlessness associated with psychopathy is solely a consequence of overt attentional artifacts. Future research should focus on preattentive processing of fear in individuals with callous-unemotional traits, and on the implications of preattentive-processing deficits for treatment and theory development.