Arousal In Adolescents Research Articles

Self-assessment of emotional arousal in adolescents and young adults

Introduction. The deep level of integration of cognitive and emotional processes must be taken into account in the modern education system and in the training of teaching staff. Adolescence is characterized by intense changes in the emotional sphere. At the same time, the data on emotional processes changes in adolescents are quite contradictory. In addition, most studies of emotions in this age period were carried out in Western culture and the problem of cross-cultural comparisons of emotional development patterns rarely attract the attention of researchers. To correctly measure a person’s emotional sphere, methods that have passed the validation procedure in the country where the work is planned are needed. One way to study emotional reactions is the IAPS database of emotionally evocative photographs. The aim of the study was to compare emotional performance at different stages of adolescence and early adulthood in as part of testing emotionally charged IAPS stimuli on a Russian adolescent sample. Materials and methods. The study involved 436 adolescents and young adults. Four groups were compared: 10-12 years old (49 boys and 51 girls), 13-14 years old (48 boys, 48 girls), 15-17 years old (45 boys, 75 girls) and 18-25 years old (24 men and 96 women). Participants in the study were required to evaluate the emotions that arose in response to the presentation of IAPS pictures on the screen on the scales of valence (feeling of pleasure - displeasure), arousal (strength of excitation) and dominance (feeling of control over the situation). Results. The valence, arousal and dominance scores were obtained for Russian samples 10-12 years old, 13-14 years old, 15-17 years old, 18-25 years old, with a high level of reliability. In addition, cross-cultural differences from American norms were demonstrated, emphasizing the necessity to use scores developed on representatives of the culture where the study is planned to be carry out. The study also showed that in adolescence there is a change in the affective space formed by the scale of valence and arousal, which indicates a crucial change in the emotional sphere during this period. The comparison showed significant differences on emotional scales for both positive and negative emotions between different age groups, indicating the dynamics of emotional development. The complex pattern of differences in valence, arousal and dominance scales between different age groups suggests non-linear changes. Conclusion. The standards for the valence, arousal and dominance scales of the IAPS database for Russian adolescents and young adults, which can be used to measure the emotional variables are presented in a study.

A virtual reality-based mind-body approach to downregulate psychophysiological arousal in adolescent insomnia.

ObjectiveIn this study, we describe the rationale, supported by preliminary data, for a novel, digital, immersive virtual reality (VR)-based mind–body approach, designed to reduce bedtime arousal in adolescents with insomnia.MethodsFifty-two high-school students (16–20 years; 32 female) with (N = 18) and without (N = 34) DSM-5 insomnia symptoms engaged with 20 min of immersive VR-guided meditation and paced breathing (0.1 Hz) (intervention condition) and 20 min of quiet activity (control condition), right before bedtime, on two separate evenings.ResultsThe intervention resulted in acute autonomic and cortical modulation (p < 0.05), leading to reduced physiological arousal (↓heart rate, ↓cortisol) compared with the control condition, with similar effects in adolescents with and without insomnia. No significant changes were detected for cognitive arousal levels. During the intervention, all participants were able to achieve the targeted 0.1 Hz breathing rate, and the majority experienced no discomfort associated with the VR exposure. However, 30–40% of the participants experienced some trouble slowing down their breathing.ConclusionsThe study provides supporting preliminary evidence for the mechanism behind a novel VR-based digital approach, designed to regulate psychophysiological arousal levels by acting on neurocognitive and autonomic pathways. Further studies (e.g. randomized clinical trials) are needed to evaluate the isolated and synergistic effects of its components (e.g. VR vs. VR + paced breathing), and its efficacy, acceptance, and feasibility in alleviating insomnia symptoms in adolescents.

A person-centered approach to adolescent emotion regulation: Associations with psychopathology and parenting

Adolescence is a unique period of heightened emotional arousal and still-developing regulatory abilities. Adolescent emotion regulation patterns may be critically involved in adolescents’ psychosocial development, but patterns of emotion regulation in youths are not well understood. The current study used latent profile analysis (LPA) to elucidate patterns of emotion expression, experience, and emotion-related physiological arousal in adolescents. A sample of 198 adolescents and their primary caregivers participated in an emotionally arousing parent–adolescent conflict interaction. Adolescents’ observed emotion expressions, emotion experiences, and heart rate (HR) and caregiver parenting behaviors were assessed during and/or after the interaction. Parents reported on adolescents’ internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and youths reported on depressive symptoms. The LPA revealed four emotion regulation profiles: a moderate HR and high expression profile, a suppression profile (with low negative emotion expression and high emotion experience), a low reactive profile, and a high reactive profile. The moderate HR and high expression profile was associated with lower conduct disorder symptoms, the suppression profile was related to lower anxiety symptoms, and the high reactive profile was associated with higher adolescent depressive symptoms. The high reactive profile and moderate HR and high expression profile were associated with more negative/critical parenting behaviors. Findings suggest that profiles of adolescent emotion regulation can be empirically identified and may be significant risk factors for psychopathology.

Effects of eye gaze directions of facial images on looking behaviour and autonomic responses in adolescents with autism spectrum disorders

It has been suggested that atypical eye contact of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) arises from an unusually high level of autonomic activity elicited by another person's gaze. The present study investigated visual fixation duration and autonomic reactivity (heart rate, skin conductance response) simultaneously, while adolescents looked towards photographs of neutral faces, with either direct eye gaze, averted eye gaze or closed eyes. Both cognitively able adolescents with ASD (n=31, mean age=16 years, mean IQ=104) and typically developing (TD) adolescents (n=34, mean age=16 years, mean IQ=108) looked significantly longer towards the eye region of faces with direct eye gaze compared with faces with averted eye gaze or closed eyes. The adolescents with ASD did not show higher levels of autonomic activity than TD adolescents while they were instructed to look at the eye region. This suggests that looking at the eye region of static faces does not particularly trigger high autonomic arousal in adolescents with ASD.

Physiological reactivity to stress and parental support: comparison of clinical and non‐clinical adolescents

An Alarm Stress Task was developed to study affect regulation in the context of parent-child interactions in adolescents (mean age = 12.72, standard deviation = 2.06) with (n = 20) and without (n = 20) mental health problems. Changes in heart rate (HR), preejection period (PEP) and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) were used as indicators of affect regulation. HR increased, and PEP and RSA decreased significantly in reaction to a suggested failure on a simple task, indicating that this procedure induced affective arousal in adolescents. During reunion with the parent, RSA increased significantly. Support seeking on reunion was associated with stronger parasympathetic reactivity during stress and reunion, consistent with the model that the parasympathetic system is involved when affect is regulated by social engagement. Quality of parent-adolescent interactive behaviour was overall lower in the clinical sample. Individual and relationship-based processes of affect regulation may be simultaneously assessed, highlighting the continuing importance of the parent-child relationship in adolescence for affect regulation and mental health.

Type A behavior and self reports of cardiovascular arousal in adolescents.

The association of adolescent Type A behavior with reports of cardiovascular arousal and sleep disturbances was examined. Previous research on the Framingham cohort indicates a cross-sectional relationship between symptoms of arousal and Type A behavior in both sexes, and a prospective relationship between arousal and coronary heart disease incidence in women. Certain sleep patterns have been related to behavior pattern status in a college-aged population. In the current study, Type A behavior was assessed by the Adolescent Structured Interview (ASI), which yields three factor scores: interview behaviors, impatience, and harddriving. Endorsement of symptoms of cardiovascular arousal and sleep disturbances was compared for subjects above and below the median on each of the factor scores. The results showed that the impatience score is strongly related to reports of cardiovascular arousal, the harddriving factor yields a weaker relationship, and the interview behaviors factor was unrelated to reports of arousal. No relationship of Type A behavior and sleep disturbances was found. These data support the usefulness of the component scoring of the ASI, and are encouraging of future research on the cardiovascular processes of the young.