This is so great! From NPR’s Shankar Vedantam reports on research by Michael Potegal and James A. Green into the “natural phenomenon” of tantrums.

Now research suggests that, beneath all the screams and kicking and shouting, lies a phenomenon that is entirely amenable to scientific dissection. Tantrums turn out to have a pattern and rhythm to them. Once understood, researchers say, this pattern can help parents, teachers and even hapless bystanders respond more effectively to temper tantrums — and help clinicians tell the difference between ordinary tantrums, which are a normal part of a child’s development, and those that may be warning signals of an underlying disorder.

The key to a new theory of tantrums lies in a detailed analysis of the sounds that toddlers make during tantrums. In a new paper published in the journal Emotion, scientists found that different toddler sounds – or “vocalizations” – emerge and fade in a definite rhythm in the course of a tantrum.

(…) 

“We developed a onesie that toddlers can wear that has a high-quality wireless microphone sewn into it,” Green said. “Parents put this onesie on the child and press a go button.”

The wireless microphone fed into a recorder that ran for several hours. If the toddler had a meltdown during that period, the researchers obtained a high-quality audio recording. Over time, Green and Potegal said they collected more than a hundred tantrums in high-fidelity audio.

The scientists then analyzed the audio. They found that different tantrum sounds had very distinct audio signatures. When the sounds were laid down on a graph, the researchers found that different sounds emerged and faded in a definite pattern. Unsurprisingly, sounds like yelling and screaming usually came together.

“Screaming and yelling and kicking often go together,” Potegal said. “Throwing things and pulling and pushing things tend to go together. Combinations of crying, whining, falling to the floor and seeking comfort — and these also hang together.”

But where one age-old theory of tantrums might suggest that meltdowns begin in anger (yells and screams) and end in sadness (cries and whimpers), Potegal found that the two emotions were more deeply intertwined.

“The impression that tantrums have two stages is incorrect,” Potegal said. “In fact, the anger and the sadness are more or less simultaneous.”

Green and Potegal found that sad sounds tended to occur throughout tantrums. Superimposed on them were sharp peaks of yelling and screaming: anger.

It seems to me that this is really powerful information to share with parents. It’s so difficult, in the moment, to shift from our own experience of what’s happening to take in the child’s perspective… the complex emotions of anger and sorrow that are represented in the tantrum. 

Based on their research, they offer the following recommendations:

The trick in getting a tantrum to end as soon as possible, Potegal said, was to get the child past the peaks of anger. Once the child was past being angry, what was left was sadness, and sad children reach out for comfort. The quickest way past the anger, the scientists said, was to do nothing. Of course, that isn’t easy for parents or caregivers to do.

“When I’m advising people about anger, I say, ‘There’s an anger trap,”’ Potegal said.

Even asking questions can prolong the anger — and the tantrum.

This really resonates with our approach to managing tantrums and behavior:

• Maintain a calm demeanor, convey with your affect (face, body, and vocal tones) that “you’re safe” and “everything will be okay.” 
• Avoid adding any additional information into the already overwhelmed system by attempting to use logic, asking questions, or using too many words… in this state the child is probably not able to process complex concepts like “frustrated.” (This is true, even for adults- there’s no faster way to escalate my own anger than to tell me that I’m angry!) 
• Take action only to keep the child safe  
• Wait… and look for opportunities to make yourself available to share attention with the sadness and provide comfort, even when you’re the inadvertent cause of the tantrum

“You know, when children are at the peak of anger and they’re screaming and they’re kicking, probably asking questions might prolong that period of anger,” said Green. “It’s difficult for them to process information. And to respond to a question that the parent is asking them may be just adding more information into the system than they can really cope with.”

(…)

“Tantrums tend to often have this flow where the buildup is often quite quick to a peak of anger,” Green said.

Understanding that tantrums have a rhythm can not only help parents know when to intervene, but also give them a sense of control, Green said.

That’s because, when looked at scientifically, tantrums are no different than thunderstorms or other natural phenomena. Studying them as scientific subjects rather than experiencing them like parents can cause the tantrums to stop feeling traumatic and even become interesting.

 Read it and listen to the story here. 

This, from Richard Bromfield at the Huffington Post, resonates with how I often feel when reading scholarly research, and, most especially, when reading popular media reporting on autism research. So often, there’s an unnecessarily sensational emphasis on potential and frightening differences from so-called “typical,” especially with regards to aspects of attachment, conventional social skills, and theory of mind in individuals with autism, without noting the potential for rich and meaningful relationships and a complex and varied inner emotional life.

Over the subsequent two decades I treated many children diagnosed along the autistic spectrum. I found these children capable of forming therapeutic relationships and productive therapies involving play and talk. While the therapies were highly accommodating, our goals were not lowly. The creation of a therapeutic environment that acutely respected their individual fears and sensitivities — physically, psychologically and emotionally — led to the child’s growing willingness to venture out toward the therapist and others outside treatment. Establishing a shared world of language and interest between therapist and child led to the child’s growing more able to communicate. By increasingly engaging with me, as therapist, these children grew more aware of social experience and the satisfactions of greater connection. The clear appreciation that I expressed for their interests and intellectual strengths showed them that they can be who they are and still find a place in the world. It also encouraged them to take interest in others, in this case me and my interests.

It’s well worth clicking through to read the entire post here. 

From Science Daily:

Researchers studying the relationship between cortisol levels and behavior problems in children often found conflicting information, i.e. abnormally high and abnormally low levels in children with similar behavioral profiles. What they found is that the amount of cortisol did not correlate to the degree or type of behavior, but was inversely related to the duration of time the behavioral problems have existed. 

“We studied the relationship between cortisol levels in young people with problematic behaviour such as aggression or depression, and the length of time since the onset of these behaviours,” explains Paula Ruttle, lead author and PhD candidate at Concordia’s Department of Psychology. “Cortisol levels were abnormally high around the time problem behaviours began, but abnormally low when they had been present for a long time.”

(…) 

Youngsters who developed depression-like symptoms or anxiety problems in adolescence had high levels of cortisol. However, those who developed symptoms earlier had abnormally low cortisol levels. The conclusion? Cortisol levels go up when individuals are first stressed by depression or anxiety, but then decline again if they experience stress for an extended period.

“It seems the body adapts to long-term stress, such as depression, by blunting its normal response,” says coauthor Lisa Serbin, a psychology professor who is Ruttle’s PhD supervisor and Concordia University Research Chair in Human Development.

Cortisol is always present in the body; cortisol levels naturally fluctuates throughout the day. Exposure to a stressful event causes a spike in cortisol levels, preparing the body for action: increased blood sugar, depressed immune function, etc. This research suggests that long term exposure to stress, such as a child’s emotional experience of poorly integrated sensory processing, overwhelms the body’s natural response and exhausts the cortisol response, resulting in abnormally low levels. 

Individuals with a blunted response to stress may not respond to things that would — and should — make other people nervous. For example, children with long-term behaviour problems perform poorly in school. Because of their blunted stress response, these youngsters may not be worried about exams, so they don’t bother to prepare as much as their peers.

The study has many significant implications, according to Serbin. “This research suggests interventions should begin as soon as a behavioural problem appears,” she says. “For children with severe externalizing problems, this may be very early, perhaps even when they are preschoolers or toddlers.

“We now have evidence that behavioural problems in children are linked to mental and physical health. Taking a ‘wait-and-see’ attitude may not be the right approach.”

Read more here. 

If you have access, find the journal article here. 

This is another great series from PBS Parents:

Despite a parent’s best efforts to shelter them, children are exposed to frightening concepts and events through incidental television, radio, or newspaper images. Even if they do not have direct contact with these media, children are quick to pick up on the emotional tenor of the adult world. With limited capacity to think objectively and reflect on their emotional experience through verbal conversation, children explore and process their experiences and ideas through play. 

Parents are often uncomfortable when their children begin to explore scary events and violent themes. This series is about establishing shared attention and engagement around difficult subjects, reassuring them while also being responsive to their need to explore these emotional themes in the safe and secure world of play and art.

“Young children play about anything they hear in the news that interests, puzzles or worries them,” says teacher Jane Katch, M.S.T., author of Under Deadman’s Skin: Discovering the Meaning of Children’s Violent Play. “If they hear about a bombing, they may make imaginary bombs and drop them on bad guys. If they hear about a school shooting, they may take turns pretending to be shooters and victims. If they hear about adoption, they may want to see what it feels like to be adopted. If they hear about endangered animals, they play games about hunters and their prey. Children play about issues that concern them in order feel safe and in control. It’s similar to the way adults use conversations with colleagues and friends to help them understand events and put them in perspective.” 

While many parents and teachers find it fascinating when children act out their reactions to events, they worry when the play becomes filled with violent images and actions. After 9/11 parents wondered if they should let their children play-act the Twin Towers falling down. After Hurricane Katrina, some parents worried when their children pretended to be hurricane victims in puddles at the playground. And there are ongoing concerns when children play with pretend guns, knives, and swords. A big fear is that if children’s play is violent then kids will learn lessons about becoming violent. Many parents wonder if they should stop kids from play-acting in this way.

“There is no simple answer,” says Diane Levin, Ph.D., co-author of The War Play Dilemma. “Like it or not, children are exposed to violent images on the news and they bring these images into their play. And in these violent times, this means the play often turns into war play. Parents’ and teachers’ attempts to limit this play are frequently met with difficulty. Teachers who ban it talk about an underworld that develops anyway, just out of the teacher’s reach. Therefore it’s very important when this happens to watch the play, discuss its content, and make sure everyone is safe.”

Be sure to click through each link at the bottom of the page for excellent guidelines, such as:

Start by watching the play unfold without interrupting. By silently paying attention, you can find out more about what your child knows, is struggling to understand, or may be worried about.

Gently intervene if a child gets scared. It’s important to keep the play feeling safe. If it gets scary or out of control, pause the play, and initiate a discussion about what feels scary. Ask kids to describe the rules of the game and come up with some revisions to make everyone feel safe. “A good question to ask is, ‘How can we play this game so it will still be fun, but Suzy won’t be too scared?’ Allow the children to problem-solve on their own. In my class kids made up rules like ‘you can only kill bad guys but not good guys’ to help others feel comfortable,” says teacher Jane Katch, M.S.T., author of Under Deadman’s Skin: Discovering the Meaning of Children’s Violent Play.

Extend the play if it becomes repetitive. At times children may imitate acts they’ve seen in the media over and over again. If this goes on for long periods without evolving, you may want to introduce new objects and characters to turn the play into a positive and new direction. “Offer simple objects, like toy cars, airplanes, dolls, or plastic figures that relate to an event that has occurred — so kids can act out some of the things they might need to express,” recommends Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Ed. D, co-author of The War Play Dilemma. “If the play gets stuck, you might ask how people can help each other, or provide toys such as rescue vehicles and medical equipment.”

If you join the play, don’t take over. Try to follow your child’s lead as she acts out her story, rather than telling her what to do. Remember that play is reassuring and satisfying in itself. “In my class, after Hurricane Katrina was on the news, children were swinging on monkey bars pretending the water was rising below them. They were reassuring themselves, imagining they could climb to safety, and didn’t need any intervention from me,” notes Jane Katch.

Talk together. When the play is done, you might talk with children about what they acted out, if this seems appropriate. Discuss the news stories and issues addressed in the children’s play and answer kids’ questions simply. This discussion is an opportunity to clear up confusions, revise the rules and talk through conflicts that may have come up.

Read the whole series here. 

From SEED Magazine:

This is a wonderful article that discusses emotions and behavioral responses to emotional states, highlighting the role of the cerebellum in the calibration of sensory input at inductor sites (which assign emotional meaning to incoming stimuli) and effector sites (which control physical expression of that emotion.)

The old explanation for PLC dates back to 1924, when neurologists worked with limited anatomical data. Basically, it was assumed that the healthy frontal lobe within the cerebral cortex usually regulates the emotional structures buried deeper in the brain. In that view, when those “higher” brain areas that endow us with rational, voluntary behavioral control fail, wild, pathological emotions are unleashed. But the voluntary pathway theory cannot explain why PLC patients often have no problem performing voluntary facial muscle movements. They can even mimic laughing and crying. Parvizi and his team knew that there had to be something going wrong with involuntary, automatic behavior patterns.

The seeming neurological magic through which an emotionally loaded stimulus turns into a physical expression is no simple process. But unlike the turn-of-the-century scientists, neuroscientists now know that it involves constant communication between networks. In neuroscience terms, major players are “induction sites” and “effector sites.” Induction sites, such as the amygdala or ventral striatum, pair a stimulus with an emotion. “You can think of an induction site like a switchboard deciding that when a snake comes, the best output is a sense of fear,” explains Parvizi. Effector sites, such as regions of the brainstem, execute the actual physical expression of that emotion, the part when we actually feel fear or joy. They are the warehouses producing the actual act of laughing or crying: moving the facial muscles up, spreading your lips, producing tears.

Induction and effector sites do not operate in a linear step-by-step fashion in a healthy brain. Instead, Parvizi’s research suggests, the cerebellum could be intercepting the induction signals before they reach the effector site, like a checkpoint. The “mini-brain” then makes sure our behavior plays appropriately in the social context, deploying a lifetime of cultural learning. It’s an idea that adds an entire new continent to the map of emotion: Rather than the brain’s frontal lobe serving as the geographic hotspot of rational decision making, instructions from the frontal lobe, along with autobiographical memories and tactile and visual data sent from other brain areas, wind up at the cerebellum. The cerebellum then adjusts the emotional response to match the social setting. Finally, the brainstem executes the response. Making sure that what would have been a shriek of laughter in the café is a soft giggle in a classroom is the cerebellum’s constant chore. But when this disciplinarian is ailing, as in some cases of PLC, behaviors can swing wild. 

Though the article focuses on MS case studies to illustrate how cerebellar dysfunction can impact on the capacity to regulate emotional responses, there is evidence that points to cerebellar differences in ASD and, likely, sensory processing disorders. These concepts seem to resonate with many of the ideas we put forth when coaching parents: that physical/sensory experiences are coded with emotional “tags” that, when repeated over time, can constitute their own kind of learning. When parents use synchronous affect cues that reflect and give meaning to their child’s experiences, they may be able to help the child modify the emotional tag and resulting emotional response. 

As an aside, the discussion of how actors may use behavioral responses to manufacture the emotional experience, not only for themselves, but also to produce a specific pattern of visual and auditory to elicit that same emotional response in the minds and bodies of their audience is a concept very close to my heart. It’s what I did before I became an OT, and it describes the way we employ the therapeutic use of self in each and every hour of our treatment sessions. 

Read more HERE.