Adolescents' Personality Development - A Question of Psychosocial Stress

Diana Raufelder; Frances Hoferichter; Stefan Kulakow; Sabrina Golde; Tobias Gleich; Lydia Romund; Robert C Lorenz; Patricia Pelz; Anne Beck

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.785610

Adolescents' Personality Development - A Question of Psychosocial Stress

Front Psychol. 2021 Dec 17:12:785610. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.785610. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Diana Raufelder¹, Frances Hoferichter¹, Stefan Kulakow¹, Sabrina Golde², Tobias Gleich³, Lydia Romund³, Robert C Lorenz⁴, Patricia Pelz³, Anne Beck^{3

5}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Educational Science, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
² Department of Education and Psychology, Free University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
³ Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
⁴ Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.
⁵ HMU Health and Medical University Potsdam, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.

Abstract

Following the relational-developmental systems approach, this three-wave study examines whether acute stress (T2) mediates the relationship between the development of personality traits from the beginning of 8th grade (T1, M _age = 15.63, SD = 0.59; 22 girls) to the end of 9th grade (T3). Using the Montréal Imaging Stress Task, which is a task that provokes acute social stress by negative social feedback, this study combined the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), heart rate, and longitudinal survey data of 41 adolescents. Mediation analysis revealed that stress-induced left insula activation partially mediates the longitudinal stability of conscientiousness. These results highlight the impact of negative social feedback during stress on students' personality development.

Keywords: adolescence; fMRI; personality; psychosocial stress; stress.