Shanghai Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Psychological Crisis Intervention, Affiliated Mental Health Center (ECNU), School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
Key Laboratory of Philosophy and Social Science of Anhui Province on Adolescent Mental Health and Crisis Intelligence Intervention, Hefei, China.
Psychophysiology. 2024 Dec;61(12):e14688. doi: 10.1111/psyp.14688. Epub 2024 Oct 2.
Adolescents exposed to childhood trauma are at an elevated risk for social anxiety. However, the physiological mechanisms linking childhood trauma and adolescents' social anxiety remain poorly understood. This study examined whether cardiovascular reactivity to acute social stress was a mechanism underlying this association. Participants were Chinese adolescents (N = 172; M = 12.95). They first reported their childhood trauma and social anxiety using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale. They then participated in a social stress task, during which their cardiovascular data [heart rate (HR) and systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP)] were monitored. The results showed that high levels of childhood trauma were associated with blunted HR, SBP, and DBP reactivity, which in turn were associated with high levels of social anxiety. Mediation analysis indicated that childhood trauma was indirectly associated with social anxiety via blunted cardiovascular reactivity. The findings suggest that blunted cardiovascular reactivity may serve as a physiological pathway linking childhood trauma and adolescents' social anxiety.
遭受童年创伤的青少年患社交焦虑症的风险更高。然而，将儿童期创伤与青少年社交焦虑联系起来的生理机制仍知之甚少。本研究旨在探讨心血管对急性社交应激的反应是否是这种关联的一种机制。参与者为中国青少年（N=172；M=12.95）。他们首先使用儿童期创伤问卷和社交互动焦虑量表报告了自己的童年创伤和社交焦虑程度。然后，他们参与了一项社交压力任务，在此期间监测了他们的心血管数据（心率（HR）和收缩压及舒张压（SBP、DBP））。结果表明，较高水平的儿童期创伤与 HR、SBP 和 DBP 反应迟钝有关，而这反过来又与较高水平的社交焦虑有关。中介分析表明，儿童期创伤通过心血管反应迟钝与社交焦虑间接相关。研究结果表明，心血管反应迟钝可能是将儿童期创伤与青少年社交焦虑联系起来的生理途径。
