Investigation of the Stability of Human Freezing-Like Responses to Social Threat From Mid to Late Adolescence.

ABSTRACT: Freezing behavior, a commonly observed defensive stress response, shows relatively high stability over time in animals. Given the relevance of freezing for stress-coping and human psychopathology, it is relevant to know whether freezing behavior is also stable in humans, particularly during adolescence, when most affective symptoms develop. In a prospective longitudinal study, we investigated freezing-like behavior in response to social threat in 75 adolescents at age 14, repeated 3 years later at age 17. We used a well-established method combining electrocardiography (ECG; heart rate) and posturography (body sway) in response to emotional picture-viewing of angry, happy, and neutral faces. We hypothesized that individual differences in freezing-like behavior in response to social threat-o

SUBMITTER: Niermann HCM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5964744 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature