Managing fear and anxiety in development: A framework for understanding the neurodevelopment of emotion regulation capacity and tendency
How we manage emotional responses to environmental threats is central to mental health, as difficulties regulating threat-related distress can blossom into symptoms of anxiety disorders. Given that anxiety disorders emerge early in the lifespan, it is crucial we understand the multi-level processes...
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| Published in: | Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews 2023-02, Vol.145, p.105002, Article 105002 |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | eng |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | How we manage emotional responses to environmental threats is central to mental health, as difficulties regulating threat-related distress can blossom into symptoms of anxiety disorders. Given that anxiety disorders emerge early in the lifespan, it is crucial we understand the multi-level processes that support effective regulation of distress. Scholars have given increased attention to behavioral and neural development of emotion regulation abilities, particularly cognitive reappraisal capacity (i.e., how strongly one can down-regulate negative affect by reinterpreting a situation to change one’s emotions). However, this work has not been well integrated with research on regulatory tendency (i.e., how often one spontaneously regulates emotion in daily life). Here, we review research on the development of both emotion regulation capacity and tendency. We then propose a framework for testing hypotheses and eventually constructing a neurodevelopmental model of both dimensions of emotion regulation. Clarifying how the brain supports both effective and frequent regulation of threat-related distress across development is crucial to identifying multi-level signs of dysregulation and developing interventions that support youth mental health.
•Regulating emotional responses to threat is key to well-being across the lifespan.•Scholars have distinguished regulatory capacity (ability) from tendency (frequency).•Here, we synthesize research on the development and neural bases of these dimensions.•We formulate a framework for building a neurodevelopmental model of regulation capacity and tendency.•Validating this model could detect or prevent anxiety disorder development in youth. |
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| ISSN: | 0149-7634 1873-7528 |