Social Anxiety as a Moderator of the Association Between Autonomic Reactivity to Social Stress and Avoidant, Withdrawn, or Disengaged Responses

Abstract

Avoidant, withdrawn, and disengaged (AWD) responses orient a person away from a stressor or one’s own thoughts, emotions, or physiological responses and high levels of AWD responses are associated with negative psychosocial outcomes across several life domains. One aspect of AWD responses that remains understudied is the role that physiological reactivity to stressful situations plays in shaping or driving AWD responses. Findings from the extant literature are mixed and it is hypothesized that associations between physiological reactivity and AWD responses may be moderated by social anxiety. Accordingly, the present study built on previous research by examining direct associations between measures of autonomic nervous system (ANS) reactivity to social stress and AWD responses as well as testing the potential moderating effect of two measures of social anxiety (i.e., global and context-specific). Participants were a community sample of fifth and sixth graders (Mage = 12.03). Early adolescents completed questionnaires assessing social anxiety and AWD responses, and their physiological reactivity and AWD responses were measured in the context of a peer-evaluative laboratory stress protocol. Teachers also completed questionnaires assessing early adolescents’ withdrawn behavior. The present study found that measures of ANS reactivity to social stress were largely unrelated to AWD response measures. In addition, social anxiety moderated associations between ANS reactivity and AWD responses in some cases, such that ANS reactivity was either negatively associated with or unrelated to AWD responses among early adolescents who reported higher levels of social anxiety and positively associated with or unrelated to AWD responses among those who reported lower levels of social anxiety. If replicated, findings from the present study have significant clinical and intervention implications.