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Youth Parasympathetic Functioning Moderates Relations between Cumulative Family Risk and Internalizing Behaviors

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Abstract

Problematic family functioning places young adolescents at risk for internalizing behaviors. However, not all adolescents who experience family risk develop internalizing behaviors during early adolescence. Informed by a cumulative risk perspective, the current study examined whether associations between cumulative family risk, as well as particular family risk domains, and youth internalizing behaviors are moderated by youth parasympathetic reactivity. Participants include 68 young adolescents in 6th grade. Youth were 56% female, 41% African American, and 54% European American. For young adolescents who experienced higher change in respiratory sinus arrhythmia during a challenge/stressor task, greater cumulative family risk, exposure to more family risk domains, and several particular risk factors (maternal psychological well-being, marital/family system risk), were associated with higher levels of internalizing behaviors. The findings from this study demonstrate that the extent to which both particular family risk factors and cumulative family risk place youth at increased risk for internalizing behaviors depends on youth’s parasympathetic functioning.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the study participants and research assistants who helped collect data for the analyses presented in the current study.

Authors’ Contributions

A.C.F. and C.B. designed the study and supervised data collection; A.C.F., C.B., and M.B.G. participated in the conceptualization of this manuscript and the development of the cumulative family risk measure; M.B.G. performed the statistical analysis, wrote the literature review, methods, results, and discussion. All three authors participated in preparation of revised versions and approved the final version of this manuscript.

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This research was supported by grants to C.B. and A.C.F. from the University of North Carolina Greensboro.

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  1. Department of Human Development and Family Studies, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, USA

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

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  1. Marta Benito-Gomez
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Benito-Gomez, M., Fletcher, A.C. & Buehler, C. Youth Parasympathetic Functioning Moderates Relations between Cumulative Family Risk and Internalizing Behaviors. J Youth Adolescence 48, 2307–2322 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-019-01145-5

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