Stankovic Aleksandra, Fairchild Graeme, Aitken Michael R F, Clark Luke
Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Developmental Psychiatry Section, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Academic Unit of Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
Int J Psychophysiol. 2014 Jul;93(1):22-9. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2013.11.001. Epub 2013 Nov 16.
Adolescence is characterized by increases in both perceived stress and risk-taking, although the effects of stress on risk-sensitive decision-making have received little attention in adolescent groups. We report psychophysiological data from the healthy control group of a larger project examining neuroendocrine and neuropsychological function in boys with conduct disorder. The present analysis focussed on healthy male adolescents (n = 66) performing a decision-making task that involved selection between two wheel-of-fortune gambles. The task was completed in a neutral state, and again following a psychosocial stress induction that robustly increased salivary cortisol levels and baseline autonomic arousal. Task-related changes in electrodermal activity (EDA) and heart rate (HR) were monitored during the receipt of win and loss outcomes. On gamble choice, stress attenuated the difference in risk taking between the losses-only and wins-only trials (the 'reflection effect') and reduced risk-taking on one further gamble type (i.e. a stress × gamble type interaction). In the neutral condition, EDA and HR deceleration responses were significantly greater for losses compared to wins. This physiological differentiation of losses and wins was reduced under stress, with a significant attenuation of the HR deceleration response. In addition, higher trait impulsivity scores predicted reduced EDA differentiation of the outcomes, and reduced EDA stress reactivity. As a limitation, the order of neutral and stress sessions was not counter-balanced. Reduced psychophysiological discrimination between positive and negative outcomes may contribute to the effects of stress on risky decision-making in adolescents.
青春期的特点是感知压力和冒险行为均有所增加，尽管压力对风险敏感型决策的影响在青少年群体中很少受到关注。我们报告了一个更大项目中健康对照组的心理生理学数据，该项目研究患有品行障碍男孩的神经内分泌和神经心理功能。目前的分析聚焦于健康男性青少年（n = 66），他们执行一项决策任务，该任务涉及在两个幸运大转盘赌博之间进行选择。任务在中性状态下完成，之后又在进行了社会心理压力诱导后完成，该诱导显著提高了唾液皮质醇水平和基线自主唤醒水平。在获得赢和输的结果期间，监测与任务相关的皮肤电活动（EDA）和心率（HR）变化。在赌博选择方面，压力减弱了仅输和仅赢试验之间冒险行为的差异（“反射效应”），并降低了另一种赌博类型的冒险行为（即压力×赌博类型交互作用）。在中性条件下，与赢相比，输时的EDA和HR减速反应显著更大。在压力下，这种赢和输的生理差异减小，HR减速反应显著减弱。此外，较高的特质冲动性得分预示着结果的EDA差异减小，以及EDA应激反应性降低。作为一个局限性，中性和压力测试环节的顺序没有进行平衡处理。积极和消极结果之间心理生理辨别能力的降低可能导致压力对青少年冒险决策产生影响。
