Peer Victimization Predicts Neural Response to Simulated Social Feedback from Peers

Abstract

Peer victimization has been found to relate to internalizing problems, including depression and anxiety (Reijntjes et al., 2010). Research has also shown that peer victimization relates to neural response to social feedback, such as increased activation in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and anterior prefrontal cortex to social exclusion (Rudolph et al., 2016; Will et al., 2015). The current study aims to examine the impact of peer victimization on neural response to social feedback using the Chatroom Task. It is hypothesized that higher levels of peer victimization will be associated with increased neural response to social feedback. Fifty-two adults (Mage = 17.32, SD = 1.00) recruited from the Adolescent Cognition and Emotion Project at Temple University participated in the current study. The Social Experiences Questionnaire (SEQ) was administered to measure levels of peer victimization, and the Chatroom Task was completed in the scanner to examine neural response to social feedback. Multiple regressions will be run with level of peer victimization as the predictor variable and neural response as the outcome variable using Statistical Parametric Mapping 12. These findings will contribute to the understanding of the impact of peer victimization on response to social feedback and the associated internalizing symptoms.