A putative biomarker of anxiety risk, the startle response is typically enhanced by negative compared to neutral emotion modulation in adults, but remains understudied in children. To determine the extent to which neutral, negative, and positively valenced emotional conditions modulate startle response in early life, a child-friendly film paradigm was used to vary emotion across these conditions during startle induction in sixty-four 4- to 7-year-old children. Association of emotion-modulated startle with parent-reported anxiety symptom severity and child behavioral inhibition, a risk factor for anxiety problems, were assessed. Analyses revealed no difference in startle magnitude during negative compared to neutral film clips. By contrast, startle during both negative and neutral conditions was greater than startle during the positive condition. Larger startle magnitude during the neutral condition associated with higher levels of child behavioral inhibition (BI). These results are consistent with possible immaturity of startle response in young children, and suggest that startle amplitude in more emotionally ambiguous, neutral conditions could serve as an early biomarker for anxiety risk.

中文翻译：

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对中性而非负面刺激的惊吓：幼儿行为抑制的神经生理学相关性

作为焦虑风险的推定生物标志物，与成人的中性情绪调节相比，惊吓反应通常会因消极情绪调节而增强，但在儿童中仍未得到充分研究。为了确定中性、负性和正价情绪条件在多大程度上调节生命早期的惊吓反应，在 64 名 4 至 7 岁儿童的惊吓诱导期间，使用儿童友好的电影范例来改变这些条件下的情绪。老孩子。评估了情绪调节的惊吓与父母报告的焦虑症状严重程度和儿童行为抑制（焦虑问题的危险因素）之间的关联。分析显示，与中性电影剪辑相比，负片期间的惊吓程度没有差异。相比之下，消极和中性条件下的惊吓大于积极条件下的惊吓。在与较高水平的儿童行为抑制 (BI) 相关的中性条件下，较大的惊吓幅度。这些结果与幼儿的惊吓反应可能不成熟一致，并表明在情绪更加模糊、中性的条件下的惊吓幅度可以作为焦虑风险的早期生物标志物。