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Published on: April 22, 2015
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Sensory processing sensitivity behavior moderates the association between environmental harshness, unpredictability,
Zhi Li1, Melissa L Sturge-Apple2, Hannah R Jones-Gordils2
1School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, China.
Development and Psychopathology
|January 18, 2022
Summary
Environmental unpredictability impacts child externalizing problems, but only for children with high sensory processing sensitivity (SPS). High SPS children show worse outcomes in harsh environments and better outcomes in supportive ones.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Child Psychology
- Environmental Psychology
Background:
- Environmental adversity significantly impacts child socioemotional development.
- Child sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) is a trait influencing how children respond to their environment.
- Understanding the interplay between environmental factors and individual child characteristics is crucial for targeted interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the direct and interactive effects of environmental harshness and unpredictability on child socioemotional functioning.
- To examine how child sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) moderates the relationship between environmental adversity and socioemotional development.
- To test the differential susceptibility hypothesis in the context of environmental unpredictability and child SPS.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study of 235 young children and their parents over two annual measurement occasions.
- Assessment of environmental harshness and unpredictability.
- Measurement of child sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) via behavioral observation in laboratory settings.
- Evaluation of child socioemotional functioning, focusing on externalizing problems.
Main Results:
- Environmental unpredictability was linked to increased child externalizing problems over one year, specifically for children with high SPS.
- The interaction between unpredictability and SPS supported the differential susceptibility model.
- Children with high SPS exhibited greater increases in externalizing problems under high unpredictability but greater decreases under low unpredictability.
- No significant association was found for children with low SPS.
Conclusions:
- Child sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) plays a critical role in moderating the impact of environmental unpredictability on socioemotional development.
- The findings support a differential susceptibility model, highlighting that children with high SPS are more vulnerable to negative environmental influences but also more responsive to positive ones.
- These results underscore the importance of considering individual child characteristics, like SPS, when addressing environmental adversity and promoting healthy socioemotional development.
Keywords:
childenvironmental unpredictabilityevolutionary perspectivesensory processing sensitivitysocioemotional functioningMore Related Videos
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