Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous System Functioning and Experiences of Peer Exclusion: Links to Internalizing Problems in Early Adolescence

  • Published:
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study examines the moderating effect of both branches of the autonomic nervous system (sympathetic and parasympathetic) on associations between peer exclusion and internalizing behaviors. Young adolescents (N = 68) self-reported their perceptions of peer exclusion and internalizing problems and participated in stress-inducing public speaking tasks. Skin conductance and respiratory sinus arrhythmia were assessed at baseline (skin conductance baseline, SCLB; respiratory sinus arrhythmia baseline, RSAB) and during the challenge task to provide measures of physiological reactivity (skin conductance reactivity, SCLR; respiratory sinus arrhythmia reactivity, delta RSA). Youth with high delta RSA (low vagal suppression) had higher levels of internalizing problems when they perceived more peer exclusion in their social environments. The combination of low SCLR and high delta RSA (reciprocal parasympathetic) predicted higher levels of internalizing problems, whereas the combination of high SCLR and high delta RSA (coactivation) predicted lower levels of internalizing problems. The association between peer exclusion and youth internalizing problems was not moderated by ANS reactivity profiles which reflected combinations of SCLR and delta RSA.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Achenbach, T. M. (1991). Manual for the child behavior checklist/4–18 and 1991 profile. Burlington: University of Vermont Department of Psychiatry.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc..

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen, A. P., Kennedy, P. J., Cryan, J. F., Dinan, T. G., & Clarke, G. (2014). Biological and psychological markers of stress in humans: Focus on the trier social stress test. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 38, 94–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arseneault, L., Bowes, L., & Shakoor, S. (2010). Bullying victimization in youths and mental health problems: ‘Much ado about nothing’? Psychological Medicine, 40, 717–729.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Berntson, G. G., Cacioppo, J. T., & Quigley, K. S. (1991). Autonomic determinism: The modes of autonomic control, the doctrine of autonomic space, and the laws of autonomic constraint. Psychological Review, 98, 459–487.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Berntson, G. G., Quigley, K. S., & Lozano, D. (2007). Cardiovascular psychophysiology. In J. T. Cacioppo, L. G. Tassinary, & G. G. Berntson (Eds.), Handbook of psychophysiology (3rd ed.) (pp. 182–210). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Birkett, M. A. (2011). The trier social stress test protocol for inducing psychological stress. Journal of Visualized Experiments, (56), 32–38.

  • Birkett, M. A., Johnson, L., & Gelety, C. (2017). Investigation of sex differences in sIgA response to the trier social stress test. Stress and Health, 33, 158–163. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.2680.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Boesch, M., Sefidan, S., Ehlert, U., Annen, H., Wyss, T., Steptoe, A., & La Marca, R. (2014). Mood and autonomic responses to repeated exposure to the trier social stress test for groups (TSST-G). Psychoneuroendocrinology, 43, 41–51. https://doi.org/10.1037/t05570-000.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Boucsein, W. (1992). Electrodermal activity. New York: Springer Science.

  • Boucsein, W. (2012). Electrodermal activity. New York: Springer Science.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Buske-Kirschbaum, A., Jobst, S., Wustmans, A., Kirschbaum, C., Rauh, W., & Hellhammer, D. (1997). Attenuated free cortisol response to psychosocial stress in children with atopic dermatitis. Psychosomatic Medicine, 59, 419–426. https://doi.org/10.1097/00006842-199707000-00012.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Conger, R. D., & Elder, G. H. (1994). Families in troubled times: Adapting to change in rural america. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cummings, E. M., El-Sheikh, C. D., Kouros, C. D., & Keller, P. S. (2007). Children's skin conductance reactivity as a mechanism of risk in the context of parental depressive symptoms. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 48, 436–445. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2006.01713.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Deater-Deckard, K. (2001). Annotation: Recent research examining the role of peer relationships in the development of psychopathology. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 42, 565–579. https://doi.org/10.1111/1469-7610.00753.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Delany-Brumsey, A., Mays, V. M., & Cochran, S. D. (2014). Does neighborhood social capital buffer the effects of maternal depression on adolescent behavior problems? American Journal of Community Psychology, 53, 275–285.

  • El-Sheikh, M., & Erath, S. A. (2011). Family conflict, autonomic nervous system functioning, and child adaptation: State of the science and future directions. Development and Psychopathology, 23, 703–721. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579411000034.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • El-Sheikh, M., & Whitson, S. A. (2006). Longitudinal relations between marital conflict and child adjustment: Vagal regulation as a protective factor. Journal of Family Psychology, 20, 30–39. https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.20.1.30.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • El-Sheikh, M., Harger, J., & Whitson, S. M. (2001). Exposure to interparental conflict and children’s adjustment and physical health: The moderating role of vagal tone. Child Development, 72, 1617–1636. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00369.

  • El-Sheikh, M., Keller, P. S., & Erath, S. A. (2007). Marital conflict and risk for child maladjustment over time: Skin conductance level reactivity as a vulnerability factor. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 35, 715–727. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-007-9127-2.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • El-Sheikh, M., Kouros, C. D., Erath, S., Cummings, E. M., Keller, P., & Staton, L. (2009). Marital conflict and children's externalizing behavior: Interactions between parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system activity. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 74.

  • El-Sheikh, M., Keiley, M., Erath, S., & Dyer, W. J. (2013). Marital conflict and growth in children's internalizing symptoms: The role of autonomic nervous system activity. Developmental Psychology, 49, 92–108. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027703.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Erath, S. A., & Tu, K. M. (2014). Peer stress in preadolescence: Linking physiological and coping responses with social competence. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 24, 757–771. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12085.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Erath, S. A., El-Sheikh, M., & Cummings, E. M. (2009). Harsh parenting and child externalizing behavior: Skin conductance level reactivity as a moderator. Child Development, 80, 578–592.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Fletcher, A. C., Buehler, C., Buchanan, C. M., & Weymouth, B. B. (2017). Parenting stressors and young adolescents' depressive symptoms: Does high vagal suppression offer protection? Physiology & Behavior, 170, 78–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2016.11.036.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fuligni, A. J., Eccles, J. S., Barber, B. L., & Clements, P. (2001). Early adolescent peer orientation and adjustment during high school. Developmental Psychology, 37, 28–36. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.37.1.28.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gazelle, H., & Druhen, M. J. (2009). Anxious solitude and peer exclusion predict social helplessness, upset affect, and vagal regulation in response to behavioral rejection by a friend. Developmental Psychology, 45, 1077–1096. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016165.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, W. K., Janson, J., & Wolf, J. M. (2017). Meta-analytical assessment of the effects of protocol variations on cortisol responses to the trier social stress test. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 80, 26–35. https://doi.org/10.1037/t05570-000.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Graziano, P., & Derefinko, K. (2013). Cardiac vagal control and children's adaptive functioning: A meta-analysis. Biological Psychology, 94, 22–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2013.04.011.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Greaves-Lord, K., Tulen, J., Dietrich, A., Sondeijker, F., van Roon, A., Oldehinkel, A., & Huizink, A. (2010). Reduced autonomic flexibility as a predictor for future anxiety in girls from the general population: The TRAILS study. Psychiatry Research, 179, 187–193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2009.04.014.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gregson, K. D., Tu, K. M., & Erath, S. A. (2014). Sweating under pressure: Skin conductance level reactivity moderates the association between peer victimization and externalizing behavior. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 55, 22–30. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12086.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hankin, B. L., & Abramson, L. Y. (2001). Development of gender differences in depression: An elaborated cognitive vulnerability–transactional stress theory. Psychological Bulletin, 127, 773.

  • Hawker, D. S. J., & Boulton, M. J. (2000). Twenty years' research on peer victimization and psychosocial maladjustment: A meta-analytic review of cross-sectional studies. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 41, 441–455.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hinnant, J. B., Erath, S. A., Tu, K. M., & El-Sheikh, M. (2016). Permissive parenting, deviant peer affiliations, and delinquent behavior in adolescence: The moderating role of sympathetic nervous system reactivity. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 44, 1071–1081. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-015-0114-8.

  • Hoglund, W. G., & Chisholm, C. A. (2014). Reciprocating risks of peer problems and aggression for children’s internalizing problems. Developmental Psychology, 50, 586–599. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033617.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hoglund, W. L., & Leadbeater, B. J. (2007). Managing threat: Do social-cognitive processes mediate the link between peer victimization and adjustment problems in early adolescence? Journal of Research on Adolescence, 17, 525–540. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-7795.2007.00533.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holder, M. K., & Blaustein, J. D. (2014). Puberty and adolescence as a time of vulnerability to stressors that alter neurobehavioral processes. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, 35, 89–110.

  • Kochel, K. P., Ladd, G. W., & Rudolph, K. D. (2012). Longitudinal associations among youth depressive symptoms, peer victimization, and low peer acceptance: An interpersonal process perspective. Child Development, 83, 637–650.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ladd, G. W., & Profilet, S. M. (1996). The child behavior scale: A teacher-report measure of young children's aggressive, withdrawn, and prosocial behaviors. Developmental Psychology, 32, 1008–1024. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.32.6.1008.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLaughlin, K. A., Alves, S., & Sheridan, M. A. (2014). Vagal regulation and internalizing psychopathology among adolescents exposed to childhood adversity. Developmental Psychobiology, 56, 1036–1051. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.21187.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, J. K., Shaw, D. S., & Forbes, E. E. (2013). Physiological and behavioral engagement in social contexts as predictors of adolescent depressive symptoms. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42, 1117–1127. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-012-9815-2.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Petersen, A. C., Crockett, L., Richards, M., & Boxer, A. (1988). A self-report measure of pubertal status: Reliability, validity, and initial norms. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 17, 117–133.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Porges, S. W. (2007). The polyvagal perspective. Biological Psychology, 74, 116–143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2006.06.009.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Reijntjes, A., Kamphuis, J. H., Prinzie, P., & Telch, M. J. (2010). Peer victimization and internalizing problems in children: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Child Abuse & Neglect, 34, 244–252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2009.07.009.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scerbo, A. S., Freedman, L. W., Raine, A., Dawson, M. E., & Venables, P. H. (1992). A major effect of recording site on measurement of Electrodermal activity. Psychophysiology (Vol. 29). doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8986.1992.tb01693.x.

  • Sentse, M., Prinzie, P., & Salmivalli, C. (2017). Testing the direction of longitudinal paths between victimization, peer rejection, and different types of internalizing problems in adolescence. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 45, 1013–1023. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-016-0216-y.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sontag, L. M., Graber, J. A., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Warren, M. P. (2008). Coping with social stress: Implications for psychopathology in young adolescent girls. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 36, 1159–1174. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-008-9239-3.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Spangler, T., & Gazelle, H. (2009). Anxious solitude, unsociability, and peer exclusion in middle childhood: A multitrait—Multimethod matrix. Social Development, 18, 833–856. https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.2009.18.issue-410.1111/j.1467-9507.2008.00517.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Steinberg, L., & Morris, A. S. (2001). Adolescent development. Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology, 2, 55–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stroud, L. R., Papandonatos, G. D., D’Angelo, C. M., Brush, B., & Lloyd-Richardson, E. E. (2017). Sex differences in biological response to peer rejection and performance challenge across development: A pilot study. Physiology & Behavior, 169, 224–233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2016.12.005.

  • Susman, E. J., Peckins, M. K., Bowes, J. L., & Dorn, L. D. (2017). Longitudinal synergies between cortisol reactivity and diurnal testosterone and antisocial behavior in young adolescents. Development and Psychopathology, 29, 1353–1369. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579416001334.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thorell, L. H. (2009). Valid electrodermal hyporeactivity for depressive suicidal propensity offers links to cognitive theory. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 119, 338–349.

  • Twenge, J., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2002). Age, gender, race, socioeconomic status, and birth cohort differences on the children’s depressive inventory: A meta-analysis. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 111, 578–588.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Veenstra, R., Lindenberg, S., Oldehinkel, A. J., de Winter, A. F., Verhulst, F. C., & Ormel, J. (2005). Bullying and victimization in elementary schools: A comparison of bullies, victims, bully/victims, and uninvolved preadolescents. Developmental Psychology, 41, 672–682.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, C. R., & Abaied, J. L. (2015). Relational victimization and proactive versus reactive relational aggression: The moderating effects of respiratory sinus arrhythmia and skin conductance. Aggressive Behavior, 41, 566–579. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21596.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Whitson, S., & El-Sheikh, M. (2003). Marital conflict and health: Processes and protective factors. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 8, 283–312. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1359-1789(01)00067-2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zwierzynska, K., Wolke, D., & Lereya, T. S. (2013). Peer victimization in childhood and internalizing problems in adolescence: A prospective longitudinal study. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 41, 309–323. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-012-9678-8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This research was supported by grants to Cheryl Buehler and Anne C. Fletcher from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and to Christy M. Buchanan from Wake Forest University.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Development & Family Studies, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, 27402-6170, USA

    Marta Benito-Gomez, Anne C. Fletcher & Cheryl Buehler

Authors
  1. Marta Benito-Gomez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Anne C. Fletcher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Cheryl Buehler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marta Benito-Gomez.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Benito-Gomez, M., Fletcher, A.C. & Buehler, C. Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous System Functioning and Experiences of Peer Exclusion: Links to Internalizing Problems in Early Adolescence. J Abnorm Child Psychol 47, 633–644 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-018-0472-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-018-0472-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation