Cardiovascular and affective responses to social stress in adolescents with internalizing and externalizing problems

• Published in: International journal of behavioral development Vol. 31; no. 1; pp. 77 - 87
• Main Authors: Hastings, Paul D., Zahn-Waxler, Carolyn, Usher, Barbara A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Thousand Oaks, CA Sage Publications 01.01.2007; SAGE Publications; Taylor & Francis; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescents; Affective Behavior; Anxiety; Arousal; Arousal Patterns; Behavior Patterns; Behavior Problems; Behavioral responses; Biological and medical sciences; Blood pressure; Comorbidity; Developmental Psychology; Early Adolescents; Elementary School Students; Emotional Response; Emotional responses; Emotional states; Externalizing problems; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Heart rate; Hostility; Internalization; Internalizing disorders; Internalizing problems; Interpersonal Relationship; Metabolism; Physiological arousal; Physiology; Positive affect; Positive emotions; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Reactivity; Social stress; Stress; Stress Variables; Symptoms (Individual Disorders); Teenagers; Young Children; adolescence; physiology; stress; emotion; problems; Human; Heart rate; Affect affectivity; Follow up study; Social interaction; Adolescent; Mental disorder; Blood pressure; Hemodynamics; Child; Stress; Behavioral disorder
• ISSN: 0165-0254; 1464-0651
• DOI: 10.1177/0165025407073575

Behavioral responses to stress and challenge are based in emotional and physiological arousal reactions. Adolescents with maladaptive or problematic behavior patterns, such as internalizing or externalizing problems, are likely to show atypical emotional and physiological reactions to stress. Relations between problems and reactions to stress were examined in a sample of 55 young adolescents with normal to clinical levels of internalizing and externalizing problems. Youth had their self-reported emotional states, heart rate, and blood pressure levels measured before and after engaging in two socially challenging, evaluative manipulations. Internalizing problems were associated with less positive affect but greater anxiety and cardiovascular arousal, whereas externalizing problems predicted greater hostility and positive affect but less cardiovascular arousal. The necessity of recognizing and incorporating comorbid characteristics and multiple response systems into studies of the links between problems and reactivity is emphasized in the discussion.