Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Dev Sci. 2019 May;22(3):e12763. doi: 10.1111/desc.12763. Epub 2018 Dec 6.
Given the long-lasting detrimental effects of internalizing symptoms, there is great need for detecting early risk markers. One promising marker is freezing behavior. Whereas initial freezing reactions are essential for coping with threat, prolonged freezing has been associated with internalizing psychopathology. However, it remains unknown whether early life alterations in freezing reactions predict changes in internalizing symptoms during adolescent development. In a longitudinal study (N = 116), we tested prospectively whether observed freezing in infancy predicted the development of internalizing symptoms from childhood through late adolescence (until age 17). Both longer and absent infant freezing behavior during a standard challenge (robot-confrontation task) were associated with internalizing symptoms in adolescence. Specifically, absent infant freezing predicted a relative increase in internalizing symptoms consistently across development from relatively low symptom levels in childhood to relatively high levels in late adolescence. Longer infant freezing also predicted a relative increase in internalizing symptoms, but only up until early adolescence. This latter effect was moderated by peer stress and was followed by a later decrease in internalizing symptoms. The findings suggest that early deviations in defensive freezing responses signal risk for internalizing symptoms and may constitute important markers in future stress vulnerability and resilience studies.
鉴于内化症状的持久不良影响，非常需要检测早期风险标志物。一个有前途的标志物是冻结行为。虽然最初的冻结反应对于应对威胁至关重要，但长时间的冻结与内化心理病理学有关。然而，目前尚不清楚婴儿期冻结反应的早期变化是否预示着青少年期内化症状的变化。在一项纵向研究（N=116）中，我们前瞻性地测试了婴儿期观察到的冻结是否预示着从儿童期到青少年晚期（直到 17 岁）内化症状的发展。在标准挑战（机器人对抗任务）期间，婴儿期较长时间的冻结和无冻结行为均与青少年期的内化症状有关。具体而言，无婴儿期冻结预测内化症状在整个发展过程中的相对增加，从儿童期相对较低的症状水平到青少年晚期相对较高的症状水平。较长的婴儿期冻结也预测了内化症状的相对增加，但仅在青春期早期。这一效果受到同伴压力的调节，随后内化症状会有所下降。研究结果表明，防御性冻结反应的早期偏差预示着内化症状的风险，可能是未来应激易感性和恢复力研究中的重要标志物。
