1-040 - Central and Autonomic Nervous System Activity and Adjustment at the Transition to Adolescence

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

The transition to adolescence often marks the onset of increased adjustment problems, including delinquent behavior, substance use, and internalizing symptoms. Development of central nervous system (CNS) and autonomic nervous system (ANS) components during this transition may offer a partial explanation for increases in adjustment problems that characterize adolescence. Additionally, a biosocial perspective would suggest that the best explanation for increased adjustment problems during the adolescent transition includes interactions between biological and social influences.

Paper 1 addresses links between CNS activity and substance use during early adolescence with fMRI imaging of activity in structures related to emotion processing (amygdala, anterior insula, and anterior cingulate). Results suggest that reduced neural activity in response to negative emotional images is related to higher levels of substance use. Paper 2 evaluates links between harsh parenting, ANS activity, and development of delinquency and substance use with a longitudinal sample assessed from age 8 to 15. These results indicate that harsh parenting is associated with increases in delinquency and odds of drug use, especially for boys with lower with lower resting parasympathetic nervous system activity. Paper 3 focuses on the development of internalizing problems in early adolescence as a function of peer victimization and sympathetic nervous system activity. Findings from this study suggest that the combination of blunted sympathetic activity in combination with high levels of peer victimization is related to increased internalizing symptoms over time. A discussant will tie together the studies from a biosocial perspective on child and adolescent development.

Sub Unit

• Biological Processes

Chair

• Ben Benjamin Hinnant, Catholic University of America

Discussant

• Sheila E Crowell, University of Utah

Individual Presentations

• Neural Reactivity to Emotional Stimuli: Relations with Adolescent Substance Use Initiation - Presenting Author: Tara M Chaplin, George Mason University

• Harsh Parenting, Parasympathetic Activity, and Development of Delinquency and Substance Use - Presenting Author: Ben Benjamin Hinnant, Catholic University of America

• Skin Conductance Level Reactivity Moderates the Longitudinal Association Between Peer Victimization and Internalizing Problems - Presenting Author: Stephen Erath, Auburn University