Influence of Baseline Physiology of Behaviorally Inhibited Preschool Children Involved in Early Intervention Samantha Hamburger, Matthew Barstead, Kelly Smith, Nicholas Wagner, Christina Danko, Andrea Chronis-Tuscano & Kenneth H. Rubin University of Maryland, College Park The Laboratory for the Study of Child and Family Relationships Introduction Behavioral inhibition (BI) is a temperamental trait observed through fearful and withdrawn disposition in novel situations (Kagan et al., 1984) Without intervention, shy toddlers may become socially reticent preschoolers who are at risk for peer rejection, victimization, loneliness, and social anxiety (Rubin, Coplan, & Bowker, 2009; Tarullo , Mliner & Gunnar, 2011) “The Turtle Program” is an intervention program designed to increase adaptive parenting and provide high BI children with regulation strategies during peer interaction (Chronis-­Tuscano et al., 2015) Children participate in the Social Skills Facilitated Play program (Coplan et al., 2010) Results Group Play Unconditional Growth Model: Fixed Effects Estimate Std. Error z-value p-value Intercept 0.2718 0.4248 0.640 0.5222 Week (Linear) 0.4864 0.0972 5.002 5.66e-0.7*** Week (Quadratic) -0.0205 0.0069 -3.015 0.00257** RSA (mean centered at 0) -0.8521 0.5112 -0.167 0.8676 Week (Linear) X RSA 0.2183 0.1189 1.836 0.0663 Week (Quadratic) X RSA -0.0251 0.0084 -2.983 0.00286** Note: *p <  .10; **p < .05; ***p <  .01 Reticent Unconditional Growth Model: Fixed Effects Estimate Std. Error z-value p-value Intercept 2.294 0.2102 10.914 <2e^-16*** Week (Linear) 0.-0.0311 0.0494 -0.630 0.5285 Week (Quadratic) -0.0026 0.0059 -.441 0.6590 RSA (mean centered at 0) -0.636 0.2332 -2.603 0.009 Week (Linear) X RSA 0.1129 0.0527 2.145 0.03198 Week (Quadratic) X RSA -0.02489 0.0052962 -2.497 0.0125 Note: *p <  .10; **p < .05; ***p <  .01 Multilevel Growth Models for Changes in Group Play Poisson-linked Group Play Models   (1) (2) (3) (4) Time 0.202*** .277*** 0.381*** 0.466*** (0.010) (0.061) (0.079) (0.097) Quadratic Time - -0.013** -0.021*** (0.006) (0.007) Centered RSA -0.065 (0.511) Time X RSA 0.218* (0.119) Quadratic Time X RSA -0.025*** (0.008) Constant 1.179*** 0.660** 0.527 0.272 (0.166) (0.344) (0.362) (0.425) Log Likelihood -1,337.425-1 154.328-1 151.726 -785.942 Akaike Inf. Crit. 2,680.849 2,318.656 2,315.451 1,589.884 Bayesian Inf. Crit. 2,690.622 2,334.943 2,334.996 1,616.423 Note: *p <  .10; **p < .05; ***p <  .01 Multilevel Growth Models for Changes in Reticence Poisson-linked Reticence Models   (1) (2) (3) (4) Time -0.059*** -0.048*** -0.024 -0.031 (0.008) (0.026) (0.038) (0.049) Quadratic Time - -0.004 -0.003 (0.004) (0.006) Centered RSA -0.636*** (0.244) Time X RSA 0.113** (0.053) Quadratic Time X RSA -0.015** Constant 2.548*** 2.496*** 2.474*** 2.294*** (0.178) (0.199) (0.201) (0.210) Log Likelihood -1,047.225 -987.557 -987.176 -617.054 Akaike Inf. Crit. 2,100.449 1,985.114 1,986.353 1,252.109 Bayesian Inf. Crit. 2,110.222 2,001.402 2,005.898 1,278.648 Note: *p <  .10; **p < .05; ***p <  .01 Research Questions Will study participants increase in the frequency of social behaviors over time during the intervention free play sessions? Does parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) functioning predict individual rates of change in social behaviors over time? Does PNS functioning alter the association between child BI and changes in social behaviors over time? Analysis Plan We developed a pair of growth models to examine change in reticent and group play behavior as a function of treatment efficacy over time, moderated by individual RSA Poisson distribution was used to regress frequency of behavior Intercepts were centered at week 1 of treatment A series of linear prediction models in which behavioral changes over the 8 week intervention were regressed on baseline RSA Participants and Measures Participants were a part of  a larger NIMH-funded (R01) study examining early intervention programs for BI preschool-age children and their parents. 22 physiological recordings at baseline Child age: 45 to 64 months 39.3% males, Mage = 4.53 years Inclusion criteria: BIQ score of ≥ 132 Reticent Behavior: Coded using the Play Observation Scale (POS) during 10 min. free play sessions (Rubin et al., 1997) Non-play behavior such that a child shows absence of intent when unoccupied and/or watching the activities of another child or group of children but not entering into activity Group Play Behavior: Coded using POS during 10 min. free play sessions Social play behavior such that a child shares a common goal or purpose to the group's activity Baseline RSA: Was collected when children were watching a neutral video at initial assessment Index of Heart Rate Variability (HRV) Conclusion and Discussion On average the number of child social interactions increased at an increasing rate from week-to-week Children with higher RSA at baseline increased in number of social behaviors at a faster rate compared to individuals with lower baseline levels of RSA Children with higher levels of BI at baseline experienced a reduced rate of change in social behavior over time Children with lower baseline RSA experienced less increase in social behavior over of the intervention Findings suggest that the extent to which the Turtle Program facilitates positive change in the social behaviors of BI children may depend on individual variability in basal parasympathetic regulation Changes in reticent and unoccupied behavior over the 8-week intervention period (time-centered at week 1) as a function of baseline RSA. Changes in group play over the 8-week intervention period (time-centered at week 1) as a function of baseline RSA. Acknowledgements Special thanks to the NIMH and the MCUR for funding, and to the Principal Investigators of the Multi-Component Early Intervention for Inhibited Preschool-Aged Children Study, Dr. Andrea Chronis-Tuscano and Dr. Kenneth H. Rubin Contact: Samantha Hamburger | shamburg@terpmail.umd.edu