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Anger and Approach Motivation in Infancy: Relations to Early Childhood Inhibitory Control and Behavior Problems
Author(s) -
He Jie,
Degnan Kathryn Amey,
McDermott Jennifer Martin,
Henderson Heather A.,
Hane Amie Ashley,
Xu Qinmei,
Fox Nathan A.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
infancy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.361
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1532-7078
pISSN - 1525-0008
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-7078.2009.00017.x
Subject(s) - anger , psychology , inhibitory control , temperament , developmental psychology , context (archaeology) , electroencephalography , clinical psychology , cognition , personality , social psychology , neuroscience , paleontology , biology
The relations among infant anger reactivity, approach behavior, and frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) asymmetry, and their relations to inhibitory control and behavior problems in early childhood were examined within the context of a longitudinal study of temperament. Two hundred nine infants’ anger expressions to arm restraint were observed at 4 months of age. Infants’ approach behaviors during play with an unpredictable toy and baseline frontal EEG asymmetry were assessed at 9 months of age. Inhibitory control during a Go/No‐Go task and parent report of behavior problems were evaluated at 4 years of age. High anger‐prone infants with left, but not right, frontal EEG asymmetry showed significantly more approach behaviors and less inhibitory control relative to less anger‐prone infants. Although a link between anger proneness in infancy and behavior problems in early childhood was not found, a combination of low approach behaviors and poor inhibitory control was predictive of internalizing behaviors.