Impact of Childhood Family Conflict on Adolescents' Startle Reactivity to Threat: The Moderating Role of Sensory Processing Sensitivity.

INTRODUCTION

Chronic familial conflict is known to hinder the development of adaptive stress responding in adolescents. However, there are differences in how individuals respond to familial conflict, which may be explained by the temperament trait of Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS). The aim of the current study was to examine the unique and interactive effects of childhood family conflict and SPS on objective stress responding in a cohort of adolescents in the United States, ages 16-19 (n = 60, M age = 18.07 years, 71.68% female), with a range of early life trauma.

METHODS

Participants completed a battery of self-report forms, including the Highly Sensitive Person Scale (HSPS) and the Family Risk and Protective Factors Scale. Objective stress response was captured using the No-Predictable-Unpredictable threat paradigm, which includes anticipation of predictable (P-) and unpredictable (U-) electric shock. Startle eyeblink potentiation was measured as an index of aversive responding to stress.

RESULTS

Hierarchical linear regression analyses controlling for age, biological sex, and lifetime trauma exposure revealed a main effect of family conflict on startle reactivity to U-threat and P-threat. There was also an SPS by family conflict interaction on startle reactivity to U-threat, only. At high levels of SPS, greater family conflict was associated with greater startle to U-threat. At low levels of SPS, there was no association between family conflict and startle reactivity.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest that more sensitive individuals might experience greater sensitization to unpredictable stressors in the presence of early family conflict, which may influence risk for psychopathology and other adverse outcomes.