Department of Clinical, Neuro- and Developmental Psychology, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
School of Health & Education, University of Skövde, Skövde, Sweden.
Dev Psychopathol. 2020 May;32(2):521-529. doi: 10.1017/S0954579419000269.
Relational victimization typically emerges first during the elementary school period, and has been associated with increased levels of internalizing symptoms in children. Individual differences in autonomic nervous system functioning have been suggested as a potential factor linking social stressors and internalizing symptoms. The aim of this study was therefore to examine whether heart rate and heart rate variability mediated the association between relational victimization and internalizing symptoms in 373 mainstream elementary school children. Children were assessed in 2015 (T0; Grades 3-5, M age = 9.78 years, 51% boys) and reassessed in 2016 (T1). Heart rate and heart rate variability were assessed during a regular school day at T1. A multi-informant (teacher and peer report) cross-time measure of relational victimization, and a multi-informant (self- and teacher report) measure of internalizing problems at T1 was used. Results showed that heart rate variability, but not heart rate, mediated the association between relational victimization and internalizing symptoms. This study provides tentative support that in children from a general population sample, a psychobiological factor may mediate the association of relational victimization with internalizing symptoms.
关系性受虐通常最早出现在小学阶段，与儿童内化症状的水平升高有关。自主神经系统功能的个体差异被认为是将社会压力源与内化症状联系起来的潜在因素。因此，本研究旨在检验在 373 名主流小学生中，心率和心率变异性是否在关系性受虐与内化症状之间起中介作用。儿童于 2015 年（T0；3-5 年级，M 年龄=9.78 岁，51%为男生）进行评估，并于 2016 年（T1）重新评估。在 T1 时，在常规上学日评估心率和心率变异性。使用多信息源（教师和同伴报告）的关系性受虐跨时间衡量指标，以及 T1 时的多信息源（自我和教师报告）内化问题衡量指标。结果表明，心率变异性而非心率，在关系性受虐与内化症状之间起中介作用。这项研究提供了初步支持，即在一般人群样本中，心理生物学因素可能在关系性受虐与内化症状之间的关联中起中介作用。
