1. The Intra-individual Dynamics of the Arousal and Regulation of Social Stress
2. The State Space Grid Project
3. Individual Differences in Emotion and Emotion Regulation in Adolescence

The Intra-individual Dynamics of the Arousal and Regulation of Social Stress

          We are examining the dynamic integration of psychophysiology (heart rate, skin conductance), with self-reported and observationally coded affective behaviour using variations of a spontaneous speech paradigm. In these designs, we record the psychophysiological measures across several tasks (paced breathing, baseline, speech, and recovery) to capture the increase in arousal due to the speech and rate of decrease during the recovery period. Participants are not informed of the speech beforehand and must construct the speech on the spot – thus eliciting mild social anxiety and possibly shame. The video of the speech is coded later using the Self-Conscious Affect Code. So far, the following variations have been explored in several samples (Sample 1: 100 17-20 year old females; Sample 2: 60 12-16 year olds; Sample 3: 80 14-15 year old females):

• How does the presence of a stranger (experimenter) affect speech-induced arousal? In Sample 1 there were two conditions (experimenter present or no one else in the room with the participant) for the speech. Arousal was much greater when the experimenter was present. In Sample 2, participants were always giving the speech with the experimenter present but either had or did not have his/her best friend present as well. Arousal was much lower with the presence of a friend.
• What individual difference factors account for variations in the arousal-recovery profiles? Examining factors such as age, gender, social anxiety, shame, general anxiety, and depression in Sample 2, we discovered that both social anxiety (but not general anxiety) and shame accounted for these profiles. However, age was the strongest predictor – older adolescents showed greater arousal and recovery.
• What observable behaviours are associated with variations in physiological arousal and recovery? The Self-Conscious Affect Code (SCAC) was developed to record the intensity of participants behaviours during the speech in four domains: body tension, eye gaze direction, mouth/facial tension, and verbal comments. Preliminary analyses on Sample 2 revealed that those who were less aroused and less nervous were also more “fidgety”. Conversely, those who were more aroused tended to freeze and become rigid. Coding for Sample 1 was just completed and is not yet analyzed. Information from these two samples will be used to revise and improve the coding system.
• What are the real-time dynamics among physiological, observational, and self-report measures?  Following the recovery period, participants in Sample 1 viewed their speech on a monitor and provided moment-to-moment reports of how “nervous” they were. Thus, there are synchronized time series for interbeat intervals (heart), SCAC codes, and self-report. These are currently being prepared for analysis using state space grids to explore the temporal integration of these three measures.
• How does an adolescent’s acceptance of her emotional states relate to the arousal-recovery profile and individual difference measures?  This project is currently being run by Jess Flynn as her Master’s project on Sample 3. Girls are given instructions to either accept or not accept (i.e., suppress) their emotions during the speech. Compared with a control group (no special instructions), non-acceptance is expected to evoke the greatest arousal.

The State Space Grid Project

          State space grids were developed by Marc Lewis and colleagues to depict trajectories of behaviour along two ordinal dimensions. In 2004, we released the first version of GridWare – a Java program that is available for free download on the internet (www.statespacegrids.org). This program allows users to display, manipulate, and derive measures from any synchronized categorical time series (see example below). We are currently in the process of adapting this technique for use with both psychophysiological (e.g., heart rate) and categorical (e.g., emotional states) time series. A new state space grid program will be developed in 2009 that will allow for more sophisticated graphical displays (e.g., 3d), more efficient data handling, more measures, and several analysis capabilities.

Individual Differences in Emotions and Emotion Regulation in Adolescence

          Using online questionnaires in concert with the abovementioned studies, we have data from hundreds of adolescents on emotions and moods, emotion regulation, coping, and interpersonal relationships. These data have been and are currently being analyzed by students to examine individual differences related to age, gender, or psychopathological outcomes (e.g., depressive symptoms). These projects include:

• Shame, Depressive Symptoms and Coping: Found that avoidant coping partially mediated the relationship between shame and depressive symptoms in adolescent boys and girls. (DeRubeis & Hollenstein, under review).
• Shame and Self-Conscious Affect during a Socially Stressful Situation: The first test of the Self Conscious Affect Code. Found relations between behaviour elicited by social stress and shame. (SCAC Manual: Hollenstein & Glozman, unpublished manual)
• Gender Differences in Emotional Suppression, Acceptance and Relations to Depressive Symptoms: Emotional suppression is associated with depressive symptoms. However, a conundrum emerges when considering gender differences: males suppress more than females but females have greater depressive symptoms. This study revealed that emotional acceptance can explain this conundrum. (Flynn & Hollenstein, in preparation).
• The Adolescent Transition Questionnaire: This self- and parent-report questionnaire was developed in order to detect when adolescents may be experiencing a period of rapid change. By detecting the age period of change for each individual, which can occur anywhere between the ages of 11 and 16, we hope to be able to identify critical windows of vulnerability and opportunity in an adolescent’s life.