STRESS-RESPONSE IN ANXIOUS AND NONANXIOUS DISRUPTIVE BOYS

Autonomic reactivity to cognitive stress was assessed in 51 10-year-ol d boys who had been assigned, based on teacher-rated evaluations of di sruptive and anxious behavior, to one of three groups: Disruptive (n = 18), Anxious-Disruptive (n = 18), or Controls (n = 15). Socioeconomic status and familial disadvantageness were equivalent among the groups . Disruptive boys were more aggressive than Controls, although anxiety significantly moderated physical aggression. Autonomic parameters wer e examined during a mental arithmetic stress task that included perfor mance incentives and response costs. Electrodermal activity, cardiac r eactivity, and muscle tension were higher in the Anxious-Disruptive gr oup. The nonanxious disruptive boys (Disruptive group) were electroder mally underaroused during cognitive stress. Reward sensitivity to mone tary gain and loss was similar among the groups. The study supports th e use of psychophysiological assessments of stress adaptation to delin eate patterns of individual differences among children at risk for dev eloping behavioral disorders.