title: Comparing Self-Regulation-Associated Event Related Potentials in Preschool Children with and without High Levels of Disruptive Behavior.
abstract: Deficient self-regulation plays a key role in the etiology of early onset disruptive behavior disorders and signals risk for chronic psychopathology. However, to date, there has been no research comparing preschool children with and without high levels of disruptive behavior using Event Related Potentials (ERPs) associated with specific self-regulation sub-processes. We examined 15 preschool children with high levels of disruptive behavior (35 % female) and 20 peers with low disruptive behavior (50 % female) who completed a Go/No-go task that provided emotionally valenced feedback. We tested whether 4 ERP components: the Error Related Negativity, the Error Positivity, the Feedback Related Negativity, and the No-go N2, differed in preschool children with and without high levels of disruptive behavior. Preschoolers with high levels of disruptive behavior showed less differentiation between the Error Positivity and corresponding waveforms following correct responses at posterior sites. Preschoolers with high and low disruptive behavior also showed differences in Go/No-go N2 waveform amplitudes across electrodes. These findings suggest that preschool children with high levels of disruptive behavior may show abnormal brain activity during certain self-regulation sub-processes, informing potential advances in conceptualizing and treating early disruptive behavior.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA. grabella@upmc.edu.
authors.forename: Adam S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Grabell
authors.affiliation: Ann Arbor, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Sheryl L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Olson
authors.affiliation: Ann Arbor, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Twila
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tardif
authors.affiliation: Ann Arbor, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Meaghan C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.affiliation: Ann Arbor, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: William J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Gehring
mesh_terms: D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D000066553:Problem Behavior; D000068356:Self-Control
keywords: Disruptive behavior; Preschool children; Self-regulation event related potential