Infants
who sweat less in response to scary situations at age 1 show more physical and
verbal aggression at age 3, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for
Psychological Science.
Lower
levels of sweat, as measured by skin conductance activity (SCA), have been
linked with conduct disorder and aggressive behavior in children and
adolescents. Researchers hypothesize that aggressive children may not
experience as strong of an emotional response to fearful situations as their
less aggressive peers do; because they have a weaker fear response, they are
more likely to engage in antisocial behavior.
Psychological
scientist Stephanie van Goozen of Cardiff University and colleagues wanted to
know whether the link between low SCA and aggressive behaviors could be
observed even as early as infancy.
To
investigate this, the researchers attached recording electrodes to infants'
feet at age 1 and measured their skin conductance at rest, in response to loud
noises, and after encountering a scary remote-controlled robot. They also
collected data on their aggressive behaviors at age 3, as rated by the infants'
mothers.
The
results revealed that 1 year-old infants with lower SCA at rest and during the
robot encounter were more physically and verbally aggressive at age 3.
Interestingly,
SCA was the only factor in the study that predicted later aggression. The other
measures taken at infancy -- mothers' reports of their infants' temperament,
for instance -- did not predict aggression two years later.
These
findings suggest that while a physiological measure (SCA) taken in infancy
predicts aggression, mothers' observations do not.
"This
runs counter to what many developmental psychologists would expect, namely that
a mother is the best source of information about her child," van Goozen
notes.
At the
same time, this research has important implications for intervention
strategies:
"These
findings show that it is possible to identify at-risk children long before
problematic behavior is readily observable," van Goozen concludes.
"Identifying precursors of disorder in the context of typical development
can inform the implementation of effective prevention programs and ultimately
reduce the psychological and economic costs of antisocial behavior to
society."
Co-authors
on this research include Erika Baker, Katherine Shelton, Eugenia Baibazarova,
and Dale Hay of Cardiff
University
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