Neural Sensitivity to Ambiguous Social Exclusion Reflects Information Processing Bias in Midadolescents With Higher Levels of Aggression

Bibliographic Data

ID9686004
AuthorsElise Riggle (0009-0004-8013-5665, Department of Psychology University of Texas at Dallas Richardson Texas USA), Louis A Schmidt (0000-0003-4346-7260), Louis Schmidt (0000-0001-7954-0664, Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour McMaster University Hamilton Ontario Canada), Ayelet Lahat (0000-0001-6919-258X, Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour McMaster University Hamilton Ontario Canada), Michael J Crowley (0000-0001-7146-4660, Child Study Center Yale University New Haven Connecticut USA), Alva Tang (0000-0003-2552-0419, Department of Psychology University of Texas at Dallas Richardson Texas USA, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume67
Issue1
Pagese70019-e70019
Publication date2025-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDevelopmental Psychobiology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0012-1630 • E-ISSN: 1098-2302
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/dev.70019
PMID39878477
OpenAlexW4406958128
LanguageEN
References cited92

Aggression is commonly associated with increased experiences of peer rejection and maladaptive social information processing biases throughout development. Little is known about the neural correlates of peer rejection that might underlie social information processing biases, and whether these neural correlates are common or different across early‐ and mid‐adolescents on a continuum of aggression. Using the Cyberball task, we examined mediofrontal theta (4–7 Hz) event‐related EEG spectral power during conditions of explicit and ambiguous social exclusion in 117 participants (57 early adolescents, ages 10–12 years, and 60 mid‐adolescents, ages 14–16 years). Participants with at least 10 artifact‐free trials per condition were included in further EEG analysis. In total, 95 participants (42 early adolescents, 53 mid‐adolescents) were included for further analyses of EEG spectral theta power. Results examining moderation effects between aggression level and age groups showed that mid‐adolescents, but not early adolescents, with higher levels of aggression displayed enhanced theta power during the early processing (200–400 ms) of ambiguous (“not my turn”) exclusion events. The pattern of heightened neural sensitivity to ambiguous exclusion events reflects early detection and inclusion monitoring which might facilitate processing biases that are more prominent among mid‐adolescents with higher levels of aggression

Aggression · Cognition · Developmental psychology · Electroencephalography · Event-related potential · Moderation · Neural correlates of consciousness · Social exclusion · Social information processing · Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion · Neuroscience · Psychology · Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments · Social Psychology · Suicide and Self-Harm Studies

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