Untitled

Social Stress, Affect, and Neural Function 225panic disorder, adolescents at risk for panic disorder, by virtue of parental historyof the condition, exhibit a normal response to CO 2 . Thus, abnormal response toCO 2 clearly can be conceptualized as a core psychological process implicated inpanic disorder and separation anxiety disorder. However, the term endophenotypehas less clear applicability. Regardless of the nature of a given disorder-linkedinformation processing perturbation, however, a conceptualization that ties itclearly to patterns of brain functioning has many clear advantages.Social Factors, Risk for Anxiety, and Perturbationsin Brain FunctionA growing body of evidence suggests that multiple pressures, both biological andenvironmental, converge during childhood and adolescence to precipitate elevatedrisk for psychopathology (C. A. Nelson et al., 2002; E. E. Nelson et al., 2005;Steinberg, 2005; Walker et al., 2004). Research that integrates biological and socialperspectives, therefore, appears critical if we are to understand the paths alongwhich psychological disorders emerge and the factors that increase vulnerabilityfor these disorders at particular developmental stages. In a recent review, E. E.Nelson and colleagues (2005) proposed an integrative model that might guide suchresearch, particularly studies aiming to elucidate why adolescence is such a riskyperiod for the onset of anxiety and mood disorders.This model rests on two basic tenets. First, it sets forth that adolescence is characterizedby a number of potentially stressful social transitions. These social transitionshave been noted to occur across cultures and throughout a relatively longhistorical time period. Moreover, studies in nonhuman primates suggest that stressfulsocial transitions represent a core feature of development in groups of highlysocial, intelligent organisms. The nature of such social stress during human developmenthas been delineated with some specificity.During the adolescent transition period, youth become increasingly autonomous(Larson et al., 1996; Meeus et al., 2005) and seek different types and amounts ofsupport and companionship from peers and family members (Furman & Buhrmester,1992; Smetana et al., 2005). As sexual maturation progresses, opposite-sex peersprogressively gain importance in adolescents’ social spheres (Furman, 1989; M. H.Richards et al., 1998), and romantic and sexual relationships become more common(Kuttler & La Greca, 2004). Additionally, social stimuli and events assumegrowing salience for adolescents (Larson & Richards, 1994; Steinberg & Morris,2001), who are highly attuned to social nuances and who tend to report prominentsocial-evaluative concerns (Weems & Costa, 2005; Weems et al., 2000; West &Sweeting, 2003). Although many youth negotiate these changes in patterns of socialfunctioning without notable difficulty, others find them to be a source of considerableconcern and discomfort.