Emotion regulation in child-mother dyads: A psychobiological approach

Tese de Doutoramento em Psicologia Aplicada (Psicologia do Desenvolvimento) apresentada ao Instituto Superior Psicologia AplicadaEste trabalho tem como objectivo o estudo da regulação emocional em díades mãe-criança, sob uma perspectiva psicobiológica, ou seja, a análise das relações entre processos internos (temperamento e actividade adrenocortical) e externos (representações de vinculação maternas e comportamentos de base segura das crianças), durante diferentes contextos situacionais (medo, afecto positivo, frustração/raiva) e sociais (constrangimento e envolvimento maternos). Cinquenta e cinco crianças entre os 18 e os 26 meses da idade e respectivas mães participaram neste estudo. As estratégias comportamentais de regulação emocional, a expressividade e intensidade emocionais das crianças foram estudadas através do Paradigma de Regulação Emocional (Diener, & Mangelsdorf, 1999 a, b). Os comportamentos de base segura das crianças e as representações de vinculação das mães foram avaliadas através do “Attachment Behavior Q-Set” (Waters, 1995) e pelas Narrativas de Representação da Vinculação em Adultos (Waters, & Rodrigues-Doolabh, 2004), respectivamente. O temperamento das crianças foi avaliado através do “Bate’s Infant Characteristics Questionnaire” (Bates, Freeland, & Lounsbury, 1979; adaptação portuguesa por Soares, Rangel-Henriques, & Dias, 2009). Finalmente, as respostas adrenocorticais das crianças e das mães foram avaliadas através de amostras de saliva e analisadas através de ensaios de luminoimunoiscência (LIA). Os resultados revelaram que, de um modo geral, as estratégias comportamentais das crianças variaram, significativamente, em função do contexto situacional (as crianças exibiram mais estratégias durante os episódios de afecto positivo e frustração/raiva, em comparação com os de medo) e envolvimento materno. A expressividade emocional das crianças variou em função do contexto situacional (as crianças exibiram maior expressividade emocional, positiva ou negativa, durante os episódios de medo e frustração/raiva e menos durante os de afecto positivo) e de interacções entre a expressividade emocional e o envolvimento materno. A intensidade emocional revelou variações em função de uma interacção entre o contexto e o envolvimento materno. As estratégias comportamentais e a expressividade emocional das crianças também se diferenciaram significativamente em função da qualidade da relação de vinculação às mães. As representações maternas sobre a vinculação além de serem predictoras dos comportamentos de base segura das crianças crianças, também influenciaram significativamente a expressividade e a intensidade emocionais destas. As respostas adrenocorticais das crianças e das mães variaram significativamente, em função da qualidade de vinculação das crianças. As representações maternas sobre a vinculação influenciaram significativamente os níveis de cortisol das mães, assim como os das crianças (de um modo marginal). A qualidade do temperamento das crianças revelou associações significativas com as estratégias comportamentais e com as respostas adrenocorticais das crianças e das mães. Os resultados são discutidos, analisando possíveis implicações, limitações e futuras linhas de investigação. ---------- ABSTRACT ---------- This work studies emotion regulation in child-mother dyads from a psychobiological perspective, particularly, the study of the relationships between internal (temperament and adrenocortical activity) and external processes (mothers’ attachment representations and children’s secure base behaviours), during different situational (fear, positive affect, frustration/anger) and social (mother constrained and involved) contexts. Fifty-five children between 18 and 26 months of age and their mothers participated in this study. Children’s emotion regulation behavioural strategies, emotional expressiveness and intensity were studied through the Emotion Regulation Paradigm (Diener, & Mangelsdorf, 1999 a, b). To assess children’s secure base behaviours and mothers’ attachment representations the Attachment Behaviour Q-Set (Waters, 1995) and the Adult Attachment Representation Narratives (Waters, & Rodrigues-Doolabh, 2004) were used, respectively. Children’s temperament was evaluated by the The Bate’s Infant Characteristics Questionnaire (ICQ), (Bates, Freeland, & Lounsbury, 1979; portuguese adaptation by Soares, Rangel-Henriques, & Dias, 2009). Finally, children’s and mothers’ adrenocortical activity were assessed from salivary cortisol and analyzed through luminoimmunoassay (LIA) kits. Results revealed that overall, toddlers’ regulatory strategies varied as function of emotion-eliciting context (children exhibited more strategies during positive affect and frustration/anger episodes and less during fear episodes) and maternal involvement. Toddlers’ emotional expressiveness varied as function of emotion-eliciting context (children exhibited more emotional expressions either negative or positive, during fear and frustration/anger episodes and less during positive affect episodes) and as result of interactions between emotional expressiveness and maternal involvement. Emotional intensity varied as function of an interaction between context and maternal involvement. Children’s behavioural strategies and expressiveness also differed significantly as function of attachment security to their mothers. Mothers’ attachment representations not only predicted their children’s secure base behaviours, but also influenced their expressiveness and emotional intensity, in a significant way. Children and mothers’ adrenocortical responses were significantly influenced by children’s attachment security. Mothers’ personal attachment representations influenced significantly their own cortisol responses, as well as their children’s (in a marginal significant way). Children’s temperament quality showed significant associations with toddlers’ behavioural strategies and children and mothers’ adrenocortical activities. Possible implications, limitations and future research lines and discussed

Emotional context, maternal behavior and emotion regulation

This study investigated the importance of emotion-eliciting context (positive and negative) and mother’s behaviors (constrained and involved) on toddlers’ emotion regulation behavioral strategies, emotional expressiveness and intensity, during three episodes eliciting fear, frustration/anger and positive affect. Fifty-five children between 18 and 26 months of age and their mothers participated in the study. Toddlers’ regulatory strategies varied as function of emotion-eliciting context (children exhibited behavioral strategies more frequently during positive affect and frustration/anger episodes and less frequently during fear episodes) and maternal involvement. Toddlers’ expression of emotion varied as function of emotion-eliciting context (children exhibited more emotional expressions, both negative and positive during fear and frustration/anger episodes compared to positive affect episodes). Toddlers’ expression of emotion was not strongly related to maternal involvement, however, the intensity of emotional expression was related to the interaction of context and maternal involvement

Enabling sustainable food transitions in schools : a systemic approach

Purpose Recent reviews and reports have highlighted the need for integrated, context-specific efforts to enable sustainable food transitions. This study aimed to identify pathways to promote healthier and more environmentally friendly food practices in school contexts, with a focus on increased plant-based eating. Design/methodology/approach The study used a systemic approach with data collected from relevant stakeholders in an EU country (Portugal) at diverse levels of influence in the school meals system (i.e. proximal, intermediate, distal; from end-consumers to food providers, market actors, civil society organizations, and policy and decision-makers). Data from individual interviews (N = 33) were subjected to thematic analysis. Findings Meat-centric cultural perceptions of a 'proper meal' can be a socio-emotional barrier for sustainable food transitions in schools. Main pathways identified to unlock these transitions included: (1) Levering orientations toward ethical and environmentally beneficial consumption; (2) Improving and increasing the offer of plant-based meals; and (3) Mobilizing local communities and society. Originality/value The current findings suggest that promoting healthier and more environmentally friendly food practices in schools requires systemic, integrated approaches which focus on food consumption, food provision, and the broader political and sociocultural environment.Peer reviewe

Plant-based school meals as levers of sustainable food transitions : A narrative review and conceptual framework

Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The AuthorsCurrent food systems face immediate and complex challenges in feeding a growing global population. It is necessary to mitigate the environmental impact of food systems while ensuring food security across the globe. Drawing on the example of recent multi-sectoral approaches which focus on the interconnections between public health and the environment, this work offers a narrative review and broader conceptual framework advancing two propositions. The first is that school meals systems have the potential to help enable sustainable food transitions. The second is that favoring well-planned plant-based meals in schools may strengthen this potential. The review and resulting framework highlight the relevance of seeking transdisciplinary dialogue and considering diverse sectors of society, such as public health, the environment, social protection, economic development, and community welfare. We review possible health benefits as well as possible economic and environmental outcomes, especially if school meals are sourced mainly from local communities and eco-friendly agricultural practices. Cross-sectoral implications related to social protection and community welfare are also identified and discussed, as well as potential pathways for materializing sustainable food transitions in schools.Peer reviewe

a field study

OBJECTIVE: Shifting from meat-centric to plant-rich diets may help to enable healthier and more sustainable food systems. Here we present the results of a 1-week intervention to promote plant-based eating in a meat-centric food context (i.e. canteen). DESIGN: The intervention included environmental restructuring strategies (e.g. promotional materials and menu redevelopment) and improvements to the offer of plant-based meals. The evaluation (sales data; pre-registered) spanned 3 weeks prior to the intervention (baseline), 1 week during the intervention (immediate/short-term impact) and 3 weeks after the intervention (follow-up). Opinion surveys were also used to collect data with customers during the intervention. SETTING: Canteen unit of a university campus in Portugal (Lisbon metropolitan area). PARTICIPANTS: In addition to sales data (baseline: 7965 meals; immediate/short-term: 2635 meals; follow-up: 7135 meals), we used opinion surveys to assess customers' meal appraisals during the intervention (n = 370). RESULTS: The odds of a sold meal being vegetarian were 24 % higher in the intervention week compared with the pre-intervention period [OR = 1·24, 95 % CI (1·10, 1·40)] and 9 % higher in the post-intervention period compared with the pre-intervention period [OR = 1·09, (95 % CI (1·00, 1·19)]. Survey data showed that vegetarian meals compared favourably to meat and fish alternatives in liking, sustainability and satiety. CONCLUSIONS: A short-term, theory-driven, operationally feasible intervention was effective in promoting increased plant-based meal choices in a collective meal context. Nevertheless, these changes were not entirely sustained over time. Future studies could test whether prolonged or more transformative interventions are necessary to unlock entrenched food practices more effectively in meat-centric collective meal contexts.publishersversionepub_ahead_of_prin

Emotion regulation and attachment: Relationships with children’s secure base, during different situational and social contexts in naturalistic settings

This study investigated the relationships between children’s secure base and emotion regulation, namely their behavioral strategies and emotional expressiveness, during different situational and social contexts in naturalistic settings. Fifty-five children ranging in age from 18 to 26 months of age and their mothers participated in this study. Children were exposed to three situational (fear, positive affect and frustration/anger) and two social (maternal constraint and involvement) contexts. Toddlers’ behavioral strategies differed as function of emotion-eliciting context, maternal involvement and attachment quality. Emotional expressiveness varied as function of an interaction involving situational contexts, maternal involvement and children’s attachment security

Attachment security and HPA axis reactivity to positive and challenging emotional situations in child-mother dyads in naturalistic settings

This study investigated adrenocortical activity in response to different challenging and positive affect emotional contexts in child–mother dyads, as function of attachment security (children’s secure base behaviors and mothers’ attachment representations). Fifty-one children ranging in age from 18 to 26 months and their mothers participated in this study. Secure children showed significant increases in their cortisol levels after fear episodes and significant decreases, after positive affect ones. No significant changes were found for frustration/ anger episodes. Insecure children did not show significant differences in cortisol levels in any of the episodes, which suggests that insecure attachment may be related to hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis suppression in response to challenging and positive contexts. Mothers of insecure children showed significantly higher cortisol concentrations in pre- and post-session samples, than mothers of secure children. Mothers’ personal attachment representations influenced their own cortisol responses, as well as their children’s (in a marginal significant way)

Incorporating biodiversity responses to land use change scenarios for preventing emerging zoonotic diseases in areas of unknown host-pathogen interactions

The need to reconcile food production, the safeguarding of nature, and the protection of public health is imperative in a world of continuing global change, particularly in the context of risks of emerging zoonotic disease (EZD). In this paper, we explored potential land use strategies to reduce EZD risks using a landscape approach. We focused on strategies for cases where the dynamics of pathogen transmission among species were poorly known and the ideas of “land-use induced spillover” and “landscape immunity” could be used very broadly. We first modeled three different land-use change scenarios in a region of transition between the Cerrado and the Atlantic Forest biodiversity hotspots. The land-use strategies used to build our scenarios reflected different proportions of native vegetation cover, as a proxy of habitat availability. We then evaluated the effects of the proportion of native vegetation cover on the occupancy probability of a group of mammal species and analyzed how the different land-use scenarios might affect the distribution of species in the landscape and thus the risk of EZD. We demonstrate that these approaches can help identify potential future EZD risks, and can thus be used as decision-making tools by stakeholders, with direct implications for improving both environmental and socio-economic outcomes

Simulating land use changes, sediment yields, and pesticide use in the Upper Paraguay River Basin: Implications for conservation of the Pantanal wetland

As a consequence of accelerated and excessive use of pesticides in tropical regions, wilderness areas are under threat; this includes the Pantanal wetlands in the Upper Paraguay River Basin (UPRB). Using a Land Cover Land Use Change (LCLUC) modelling approach, we estimated the expected pesticide load in the Pantanal and the surrounding highlands region for 2050 under three potential scenarios: i) business as usual (BAU), ii) acceleration of anthropogenic changes (ACC), and iii) use of buffer zones around protected areas (BPA). The quantity of pesticides used in the UPRB is predicted to vary depending on the scenario, from an overall increase by as much as 7.4% in the UPRB in the BAU scenario (increasing by 38.5% in the floodplain and 6.6% in the highlands), to an increase of 11.2% in the UPRB (over current use) under the AAC scenario (increasing by 53.8% in the floodplain and 7.5% in the highlands). Much higher usage of pesticides is predicted in sub-basins with greater agricultural areas within major hydrographic basins. Changing the current trajectory of land management in the UPRB is a complex challenge. It will require a substantial shift from current practices, and will involve the implementation of a number of strategies, ranging from the development of new technologies to achieve changes in land use policies, to increasing dialogue between farmers, ranchers, the scientific community, and local or traditional communities through participatory learning processes and outreach