EXPRESSIVE CONTROL DURING A DISAPPOINTMENT - VARIATIONS RELATED TO PRESCHOOLERS BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS

Individual differences in expressive control during a disappointment w ere examined in relation to preschool boys' and girls' concurrent beha vior and to their risk for developing disruptive behavior disorders. A disappointment paradigm was used to examine expressive control in 79 4- and 5-year-old children with low, moderate, or high risk. Boys at r isk showed more negative emotion in the experimenter's (E's) presence than low-risk boys. In E's absence, low-risk boys' negative emotion wa s equivalent to at-risk boys'. Boys' negative emotion, particularly an ger, predicted their disruptiveness during the disappointment and gene ral symptoms of oppositionality. At-risk girls differed from low-risk girls after E left, displaying less negative emotion than low-risk gir ls. Girls' minimization of negative emotion predicted attention defici t and conduct disorder symptoms. Gender-specific expressive control is discussed in terms of gender differences in emotion regulation and ps ychopathology.