An experimental task to measure preschool children’s frustration induced by having to wait unexpectedly: The role of sensitivity to delay and culture

Abstract

<p>The ability to manage frustration induced by having to wait for valued outcomes emerges across childhood and is an important marker of self-regulatory capacity. However, approaches to measure this capacity in preschool children are lacking. In this study, we introduced a new task, the Preschool Delay Frustration Task (P-DeFT), designed specifically to identify children’s behavioral and emotional markers of waiting-induced frustration <em>during</em> the imposed wait period and <em>after</em> the release from waiting. We then explored how waiting-induced frustration relates to individual differences in delay sensitivity and whether it differs between two cultural groups thought to have different attitudes toward children’s conduct and performance: Hong Kong (HK) and the United Kingdom (UK). A total of 112 preschool children (mean age = 46.22 months) completed the P-DeFT in a quiet laboratory. Each trial had two stages; first, a button press elicited a <em>Go signal;</em> second, this Go signal allowed children to go to a “supermarket” to pick a target toy. On most trials, the Go signal occurred immediately on the first press. On 6 trials, an unexpected/unsignaled 5- or 10-s <em>pre-Go-signal</em> period was imposed. Frustration was indexed by performance (button presses and press duration), behavioral agitation, and negative affect during the pre-Go-signal wait period and the <em>post-Go-signal</em> shopping task. Parents rated their children’s delay sensitivity. Waiting-related frustration expressed during both the pre-Go-signal wait period and the post-Go-signal task varied with (a) the length of wait and (b) individual differences in parent-rated delay sensitivity. UK children displayed more negative affect during delay than their HK counterparts, although the relationship between delay sensitivity and frustration was culturally invariant.<br></p>