Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Auburn University.
Dev Psychol. 2018 Sep;54(9):1687-1696. doi: 10.1037/dev0000501.
The present study investigates how coordination between stress responsivity of the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) moderates the prospective effects of marital conflict on internalizing and externalizing symptoms across adolescence. Although an important avenue for psychophysiological research concerns how PNS and SNS responses jointly influence adjustment in the context of stress, these processes have rarely been studied in adolescence or longitudinally. Participants were 252 youth (53% female, 66% European American, 34% African American) who participated in laboratory assessments when they were 16, 17, and 18 years old. PNS activity (measured via respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]) and SNS activity (measured via skin conductance level [SCL]) were assessed during a resting baseline and in response to a laboratory-based challenge (star tracing). Parents and adolescents both reported on marital conflict and adolescents reported on their internalizing and externalizing symptoms. At higher levels of marital conflict, coactivation of PNS and SNS activity, characterized by increased RSA and increased SCL from baseline to challenge, predicted elevated internalizing symptoms and an increase in externalizing behavior across adolescence. Coinhibition, or decreased activity across both systems, also predicted an increase in internalizing symptoms over time. At lower levels of marital conflict, internalizing and externalizing symptoms were relatively low. Findings extend primarily cross-sectional work with younger children by demonstrating that coordination between the two branches of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) moderates the longitudinal effects of marital conflict on psychological and behavioral maladjustment among adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record
本研究探讨了副交感神经系统 (PNS) 和交感神经系统 (SNS) 的应激反应协调性如何调节婚姻冲突对青少年内外向症状的前瞻性影响。尽管自主神经系统 (ANS) 两个分支之间的协调如何共同影响压力环境下的适应是心理生理学研究的一个重要途径，但这些过程在青少年或纵向研究中很少被研究。参与者为 252 名青少年（女性占 53%，欧洲裔美国人占 66%，非洲裔美国人占 34%），他们在 16、17 和 18 岁时参加了实验室评估。在休息基线和实验室挑战（星迹追踪）期间，通过呼吸窦性心律失常 (RSA) 测量 PNS 活动（测量 PNS 活动），通过皮肤电导水平 (SCL) 测量 SNS 活动。父母和青少年都报告了婚姻冲突，青少年报告了他们的内外向症状。在婚姻冲突程度较高的情况下，PNS 和 SNS 活动的共同激活，表现为从基线到挑战时 RSA 增加和 SCL 增加，预测了青少年时期内外向症状的升高和外显行为的增加。共同抑制，即两个系统的活动减少，也预测了随着时间的推移，内向症状会增加。在婚姻冲突程度较低的情况下，内外向症状相对较低。这些发现扩展了与年幼儿童的主要横断面研究，表明自主神经系统 (ANS) 的两个分支之间的协调调节了婚姻冲突对青少年心理和行为适应不良的纵向影响。
