The Relationship Between Stressful Life Events and the Error-related Negativity in Children and Adolescents

Overview

Journal Dev Cogn Neurosci

Publisher Elsevier

Specialties Neurology
Psychiatry

Date 2022 Apr 22

PMID 35453078

Authors

Lushna M Mehra

Greg Hajcak

Alexandria Meyer

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The error-related negativity (ERN) has been cited as a neural marker that indexes risk for anxiety in children and across development. Environmental factors, such as punishment in the lab and parenting styles, have been shown to impact the ERN. However, little is known about how other environmental factors may shape this neural risk marker. The current study examines how the environmental factor of stressful life events may relate to the ERN in children and adolescents. In a sample of 176 females, ages 8-15 years, we examined associations between the frequency of recent stressful life events and the ERN. We also investigated whether interpersonal dependent life events or non-interpersonal life events uniquely relate to the ERN. Finally, we explored whether recent stressors differentially relate to the ERN based on age. Results suggest that youth who have experienced more frequent stressful life events have an increased (i.e., more negative) ERN. Moreover, more frequent interpersonal dependent stressors uniquely predicted the magnitude of the ERN. Lastly, results supported a moderation model wherein the relationship between the frequency of interpersonal dependent stressors and the ERN was moderated by age, such that the relationship between stressors and the ERN was significant only for younger children.

Citing Articles

Sex Differences in the Associations Among Parenting, Socioeconomic Status, and Error Monitoring Among Adolescents.

Pirzada S, Valadez E Dev Psychobiol. 2025; 67(2):e70023.

PMID: 39935245 PMC: 11814918. DOI: 10.1002/dev.70023.

A network analysis of affective and motivational individual differences and error monitoring in a non-clinical sample.

Grabowska A, Sondej F, Senderecka M Cereb Cortex. 2024; 34(10).

PMID: 39462813 PMC: 11513196. DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhae397.

Childhood anhedonia symptoms and stressful life events predict the development of reward-related brain activity across adolescence.

Szenczy A, Adams E, Hawes M, Anatala J, Gair K, Klein D Dev Psychopathol. 2024; :1-11.

PMID: 38757405 PMC: 11569272. DOI: 10.1017/S0954579424000701.

The associations among sleep-related difficulties, anxiety, and error-related brain activity in youth.

Mehra L, Hajcak G, Meyer A Biol Psychol. 2024; 188:108790.

PMID: 38580098 PMC: 11162828. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2024.108790.

Childhood Adversity and Youth Suicide Risk: The Mediating Role of Intolerance of Uncertainty.

Jones E, Blandl F, Kreutzer K, Bryan C, Allan N, Gorka S Pers Individ Dif. 2023; 216.

PMID: 37860784 PMC: 10583806. DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2023.112405.

References

Casline E, Ginsburg G, Piacentini J, Compton S, Kendall P . Negative Life Events as Predictors of Anxiety Outcomes: An Examination of Event Type. Res Child Adolesc Psychopathol. 2020; 49(1):91-102. PMC: 7856832. DOI: 10.1007/s10802-020-00711-x. View

Auerbach R, Eberhart N, Abela J . Cognitive vulnerability to depression in Canadian and Chinese adolescents. J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2009; 38(1):57-68. PMC: 2809945. DOI: 10.1007/s10802-009-9344-y. View

Silvers J, McRae K, Gabrieli J, Gross J, Remy K, Ochsner K . Age-related differences in emotional reactivity, regulation, and rejection sensitivity in adolescence. Emotion. 2012; 12(6):1235-47. PMC: 4131311. DOI: 10.1037/a0028297. View

Olvet D, Hajcak G . The stability of error-related brain activity with increasing trials. Psychophysiology. 2009; 46(5):957-61. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2009.00848.x. View

Brooker R, Buss K . Harsh parenting and fearfulness in toddlerhood interact to predict amplitudes of preschool error-related negativity. Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2014; 9:148-59. PMC: 4061243. DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2014.03.001. View

Meyer A, Hajcak G, Torpey-Newman D, Kujawa A, Klein D . Enhanced error-related brain activity in children predicts the onset of anxiety disorders between the ages of 6 and 9. J Abnorm Psychol. 2015; 124(2):266-74. PMC: 4428914. DOI: 10.1037/abn0000044. View

Young C, Dietrich M . Stressful life events, worry, and rumination predict depressive and anxiety symptoms in young adolescents. J Child Adolesc Psychiatr Nurs. 2015; 28(1):35-42. DOI: 10.1111/jcap.12102. View

Kendler K, Hettema J, Butera F, Gardner C, Prescott C . Life event dimensions of loss, humiliation, entrapment, and danger in the prediction of onsets of major depression and generalized anxiety. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2003; 60(8):789-96. DOI: 10.1001/archpsyc.60.8.789. View

Farmer A, Kashdan T . Stress sensitivity and stress generation in social anxiety disorder: a temporal process approach. J Abnorm Psychol. 2015; 124(1):102-14. PMC: 4376480. DOI: 10.1037/abn0000036. View

10.

Siegel R, La Greca A, Harrison H . Peer victimization and social anxiety in adolescents: prospective and reciprocal relationships. J Youth Adolesc. 2009; 38(8):1096-109. DOI: 10.1007/s10964-009-9392-1. View

11.

Hamilton J, Potter C, Olino T, Abramson L, Heimberg R, Alloy L . The Temporal Sequence of Social Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms Following Interpersonal Stressors During Adolescence. J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2015; 44(3):495-509. PMC: 4701637. DOI: 10.1007/s10802-015-0049-0. View

12.

Shackman A, Salomons T, Slagter H, Fox A, Winter J, Davidson R . The integration of negative affect, pain and cognitive control in the cingulate cortex. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2011; 12(3):154-67. PMC: 3044650. DOI: 10.1038/nrn2994. View

13.

Falkenstein M, Hohnsbein J, Hoormann J, Blanke L . Effects of crossmodal divided attention on late ERP components. II. Error processing in choice reaction tasks. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1991; 78(6):447-55. DOI: 10.1016/0013-4694(91)90062-9. View

14.

Gorday J, Meyer A . Linking puberty and error-monitoring: Relationships between self-reported pubertal stages, pubertal hormones, and the error-related negativity in a large sample of children and adolescents. Dev Psychobiol. 2018; 60(4):483-490. DOI: 10.1002/dev.21625. View

15.

Lackner C, Santesso D, Dywan J, OLeary D, Wade T, Segalowitz S . Adverse childhood experiences are associated with self-regulation and the magnitude of the error-related negativity difference. Biol Psychol. 2018; 132:244-251. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2018.01.006. View

16.

Meyer A, Proudfit G, Bufferd S, Kujawa A, Laptook R, Torpey D . Self-Reported and Observed Punitive Parenting Prospectively Predicts Increased Error-Related Brain Activity in Six-Year-Old Children. J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2014; 43(5):821-9. PMC: 5302091. DOI: 10.1007/s10802-014-9918-1. View

17.

Green J, McLaughlin K, Berglund P, Gruber M, Sampson N, Zaslavsky A . Childhood adversities and adult psychiatric disorders in the national comorbidity survey replication I: associations with first onset of DSM-IV disorders. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2010; 67(2):113-23. PMC: 2822662. DOI: 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2009.186. View

18.

Meyer A, Danielson C, Danzig A, Bhatia V, Black S, Bromet E . Neural Biomarker and Early Temperament Predict Increased Internalizing Symptoms After a Natural Disaster. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2017; 56(5):410-416. PMC: 5523656. DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2017.02.005. View

19.

Weinberg A, Olvet D, Hajcak G . Increased error-related brain activity in generalized anxiety disorder. Biol Psychol. 2010; 85(3):472-80. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2010.09.011. View

20.

Weinberg A, Meyer A, Hale-Rude E, Perlman G, Kotov R, Klein D . Error-related negativity (ERN) and sustained threat: Conceptual framework and empirical evaluation in an adolescent sample. Psychophysiology. 2016; 53(3):372-85. PMC: 4756390. DOI: 10.1111/psyp.12538. View