Stress Reactivity and Social Actions: An explorative longitudinal study of the control of socio-emotional behaviour

The ability to control socio-emotional behaviour is essential in everyday
societal functioning. However, in challenging or stressful situations this
control can fail causing us to fall back on automatic responses and defensive
stress reactions. Chronic failures in socio-emotional control are found in
anxiety- and aggression-related disorders, which are often resistant to current
therapeutic methods (Carver & White, 1994; Chronis-Tuscano et al., 2009). These
disorders not only heavily impact an individual*s societal functioning, but
also affect society as a whole (e.g., increased health costs).

Late adolescence (17 years) constitutes the ending phase of adolescence - a
critical transition period from childhood into full adulthood. During this time
a wide range of changes take place on the neuro-endocrine and social levels
(Blakemore, 2010). The age of 17 years is a particularly sensitive period when
late adolecents are preparing to make the transition into legally recognized
adulthood and take on new societal roles. This is considered a time of
heightened stress that poses new demands on the individual as they must quickly
adapt to new social, sexual, and intellectual challenges (Romeo, 2010; Spear,
2010). Given that this is a time marked by the greatest onset risk for social
disorders, which often continue developing into adulthood (Kessler, 2005), it
is essential to investigate the mechanisms that underlie the control of
socio-emotional and stress-related behaviour.

Previous neuroimaging studies have indicated that adolescence (age 14-17 in
specific) is a critical transition where socio-emotional control shifts from
subcortical to cortical control. However, this transition has never been
investigated in relation to stress coping, socio-affective symptoms, and social
action. The Nijmegen Longitudinal Study on Infant and Child Development (NLS)
offers a unique possibility to test this transition and its impact on stress
coping, symptoms, and social-affective decision making and behaviour. We will
examine these aspects of social-emotional control in emerging adulthood at age
17 when the critical transition from adolescence to emerging adulthood is
beginning to take place and social symptoms may have started to develop.

In order to create more effective preventive or therapeutic measures, it is
crucial to investigate the development and control of socio-emotional behaviour
during a time period that is particularly sensitive to external as well as
internal influences. Little is known about the developmental roots of
socio-affective disorders and the mechanisms underlying associations between
antecedents early in life and later outcomes. The present project has been
designed to gain more insight into this issue as it will constitute the 9th
measurement wave in the Nijmegen Longitudinal Study that includes theoretically
relevant predictors of the individual*s social and emotional experiences from
infancy onwards. Furthermore, this project is unique in providing the
opportunity to examine the developmental processes specifically taking place
during adolescence as it will compare measurements taken from the same
individuals at an earlier age when they were 14 years old. As such it will
enable us to elucidate properties of the neural and behavioural mechanisms
underlying the control of socio-emotional behaviour.

The primary objective of this study is to investigate the neuro-endocrine
development of socio-emotional control related to automatic and defensive
action tendencies and how this contributes to social interactive behaviour
across adolescence and into young adulthood. To this end, participants of the
NLS, on average 17 years of age, will perform a set of tasks that they have
completed at age 14 as part of a previous assessment wave (approved by CMO
NL34758.091.10 / CMO 2010/420). A secondary goal of the study is to relate
individual differences in socio-emotional control and stress reactivity,
including their neural-endocrine correlates to 1) various measures of
functioning and adjustment (i.e. social communication, decision-making,
aggression/anxiety tendencies) assessed at age 17, as well as 2) earlier
measures within the longitudinal study acquired from early childhood through
adolescence.

This is a consecutive wave of an ongoing longitudinal study. Participants
within the Nijmegen Longitudinal Study (NLS) will be asked to complete several
behavioural tasks (measuring stress reactivity, risky decision making, and
social communication). Additionally, brain activation will be measured using
functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) during task performance
(socio-emotional control of approach/avoidance tendencies and stress
reactivity).

The risk of participation in this (f)MRI study can be considered negligible
with a minimal burden on the participants. Before definite inclusion the
participant will fill out an MRI questionnaire to determine whether the
individual can participate, including all aspects of MRI contra-indication and
claustrophobia. Although there is no direct benefit to the participants from
this proposed research, there are greater benefits to society from the
potential knowledge gained from this study. The knowledge about normal
development is critical in understanding cases of abnormal development in order
to create more effective preventive and therapeutic techniques.