TY - JOUR
T1 - Inhibitory control mediates the association between perceived stress and secure relationship quality
AU - Herd, Toria
AU - Li, Mengjiao
AU - Maciejewski, Dominique
AU - Lee, Jacob
AU - Deater-Deckard, Kirby
AU - King-Casas, Brooks
AU - Kim-Spoon, Jungmeen
PY - 2018/2/26
Y1 - 2018/2/26
N2 - Past research has demonstrated negative associations between exposure to
stressors and quality of interpersonal relationships among children and
adolescents. Nevertheless, underlying mechanisms of this association
remain unclear. Chronic stress has been shown to disrupt prefrontal
functioning in the brain, including inhibitory control abilities, and
evidence is accumulating that inhibitory control may play an important
role in secure interpersonal relationship quality, including peer
problems and social competence. In this prospective longitudinal study,
we examine whether changes in inhibitory control, measured at both
behavioral and neural levels, mediate the association between stress and
changes in secure relationship quality with parents and peers. The
sample included 167 adolescents (53% males) who were first recruited at
age 13 or 14 years and assessed annually three times. Adolescents'
inhibitory control was measured by their behavioral performance and
brain activities, and adolescents self-reported perceived stress levels
and relationship quality with mothers, fathers, and peers. Results
suggest that behavioral inhibitory control mediates the association
between perceived stress and adolescent's secure relationship quality
with their mothers and fathers, but not their peers. In contrast, given
that stress was not significantly correlated with neural inhibitory
control, we did not further test the mediation path. Our results
highlight the role of inhibitory control as a process through which
stressful life experiences are related to impaired secure relationship
quality between adolescents and their mothers and fathers.
AB - Past research has demonstrated negative associations between exposure to
stressors and quality of interpersonal relationships among children and
adolescents. Nevertheless, underlying mechanisms of this association
remain unclear. Chronic stress has been shown to disrupt prefrontal
functioning in the brain, including inhibitory control abilities, and
evidence is accumulating that inhibitory control may play an important
role in secure interpersonal relationship quality, including peer
problems and social competence. In this prospective longitudinal study,
we examine whether changes in inhibitory control, measured at both
behavioral and neural levels, mediate the association between stress and
changes in secure relationship quality with parents and peers. The
sample included 167 adolescents (53% males) who were first recruited at
age 13 or 14 years and assessed annually three times. Adolescents'
inhibitory control was measured by their behavioral performance and
brain activities, and adolescents self-reported perceived stress levels
and relationship quality with mothers, fathers, and peers. Results
suggest that behavioral inhibitory control mediates the association
between perceived stress and adolescent's secure relationship quality
with their mothers and fathers, but not their peers. In contrast, given
that stress was not significantly correlated with neural inhibitory
control, we did not further test the mediation path. Our results
highlight the role of inhibitory control as a process through which
stressful life experiences are related to impaired secure relationship
quality between adolescents and their mothers and fathers.
KW - Adolescence
KW - Functional magnetic resonance imaging
KW - Inhibitory control
KW - Perceived stress
KW - Relationship quality
U2 - 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00217
DO - 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00217
M3 - Article
C2 - 29535664
VL - 9
JO - Frontiers in Psychology
JF - Frontiers in Psychology
SN - 1664-1078
IS - FEB
ER -