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Positive and Negative Affect and Adolescent Adjustment: Moderation Effects of Prefrontal Functioning
Alexis Brieant1, Christopher J Holmes2, Dominique Maciejewski3
1Virginia Tech.
Summary
Positive affect benefits adolescents with poor neural cognitive control by reducing externalizing symptoms. This effect was observed in a longitudinal study, highlighting the role of prefrontal function.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
Background:
- Adolescent mental health is a significant concern, with internalizing and externalizing symptoms being common.
- Cognitive control plays a crucial role in emotional regulation and behavioral outcomes.
- The interplay between emotion, cognitive control, and adolescent psychopathology requires further longitudinal investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the moderating role of cognitive control on the relationship between emotion (positive affect) and adolescent symptomatology.
- To examine both behavioral and neural indicators of cognitive control.
- To understand the longitudinal impact of positive affect on internalizing and externalizing symptoms.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study with 138 adolescents.
- Collected self-reported positive affect, negative affect, and internalizing/externalizing symptomatology.
- Assessed cognitive control using behavioral performance and prefrontal hemodynamic response during a cognitive interference task.
Main Results:
- Higher positive affect predicted decreases in externalizing symptomatology.
- This protective effect of positive affect was significant only for adolescents with poor neural indicators of cognitive control (prefrontal functioning).
- Behavioral measures of cognitive control did not show a moderating effect.
Conclusions:
- Neural cognitive control, specifically prefrontal functioning, is a critical factor in mediating the benefits of positive affect.
- Positive affect may buffer against the development of externalizing problems in adolescents with compromised neural cognitive control.
- Findings underscore the importance of targeting neural mechanisms of cognitive control in interventions for adolescent externalizing behaviors.
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