Psychophysiological, behavioral, and self-reported validity of a video-mediated mood induction in a preschool-aged sample

Abstract

The current study examined the validity of a script-prompted video-mediated mood induction task in a sample of 98 children aged 3-4 (M age = 3.48 years, 58% boys). Preschoolers viewed fear, neutral, sadness, and happiness films that lasted an average of 81 seconds (range 65 – 93 seconds). Validity of the task to induce the intended mood states was assessed via heart rate (HR), behavioral observation, and self-report. Repeated-measures Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA)’s showed that HR during the anxiety, sadness, and happiness film clips all differed significantly from baseline measure of HR. Repeated-measures MANOVA’s and Chi-Square analyses of behavioral observation found that children were more likely to display the congruent facial emotion. Chi-square analyses conducted on self-reports indicated that children were more likely to report the intended emotion during the fear and happiness videos, than other emotions. Collectively, the results suggested that the anxiety and happiness clips are inducing emotions as intended. Results for the sadness video are mixed but were still supported by the psychophysiological and behavioral findings.