Emotional Underarousal and Overarousal and Engagement in Relational Aggression: Interactions between Relational Victimization, Physiological Reactivity, and Emotional Sensitivity.

Emotional Underarousal and Overarousal and Engagement in Relational Aggression: Interactions between Relational Victimization, Physiological Reactivity, and Emotional Sensitivity. J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2019 Apr 25;: Authors: McQuade JD, Murray-Close D, Breslend NL, Balda KE, Kim MM, Marsh NP Abstract The present study examined if overarousal (i.e., dysregulation and high emotional sensitivity) and underarousal (i.e., fearlessness and emotional insensitivity) to peer stress, reflected in physiological reactivity and subjective emotional sensitivity, exacerbated risk for relational aggression in relationally victimized children. Participants were a community sample of 125 children (10-12 years, M = 11.34 years, SD = 0.89; 45% female). Teachers provided ratings of children's relational victimization and relational aggression. Children's physiological reactivity was assessed based on skin conductance level (SCL) reactivity and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) reactivity to a standardized peer rejection task. Children's subjective emotional sensitivity was assessed using self-reported ratings of distress to hypothetical relational provocation vignettes. Results indicated that relational victimization was significantly associated with relational aggression only for children with high SCL reactivity and high emotional sensitivity (i.e., physiological and subjective overarousal) and for children with low SCL reactivity and low ...
Source: Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: J Abnorm Child Psychol Source Type: research