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Wagner, Caitlin R.

Psychology

2013

MA

This study examined the association between relational victimization (RV) and two domains of adjustment (social cognitions and internalizing symptoms), as well as whether respiratory sinus arrhythmia reactivity (RSA-R) moderated these associations, in two distinct female populations: youth (ages 8-16 years) and emerging adults (ages 18-22 years). Although evidence suggests that RSA-R moderates the associations between environmental stressors and adjustment (e.g., El-Sheikh & -Whitson, 2006; Obradović, Bush, & Boyce, 2011), there is an absence of research examining the moderating effects of RSA-R in the links between RV and adjustment. Youth (N=111) reported on hostile attribution biases and camp counselors reported on youth participants' internalizing symptoms and exposure to RV. Emerging adults (N=167) self-reported on RV, hostile attribution biases, and internalizing symptoms.
Participants' RSA-R was assessed in response to two relational stressors. Results indicate that RV was associated with hostile attribution bias among emerging adults, but not among youth participants. RV was associated with internalizing symptoms among both youth and emerging adult samples. In addition, results revealed that the links between RV and adjustment varied as a function of RSA-R among emerging adults, but not among youth participants. RV predicted poorer adjustment with the context of high RSA-R, but not within context of low RSA-R. Furthermore, the pattern of moderating effects differed across relational stressors. The current study extends previous research on RV and suggests that individual differences in RSA-R influence the relations between RV and adjustment amongst emerging adults.