Children’s altruism following acute stress: The role of autonomic nervous system activity and social support

Abstract

Altruistic behavior after stress exposure may have important health and psychological benefits, in addition to broader societal consequences. However, so far experimental research on altruism following acute stress has been limited to adult populations. The current study utilized an experimental design to investigate how altruistic donation behavior among children may be influenced by (a) exposure to an acute social stressor, the Trier Social Stress Test modified for use with children (TSST‐M), (b) individual differences in stress physiology, and (c) social support from a parent. The sample consisted of 180 children (54.9% male, 45.1% female; mean age = 9.92 years, SD = 0.56 years) randomly assigned to one of three conditions involving the TSST‐M: (a) prepare for the TSST‐M alone, (b) prepare for the TSST‐M with a parent, and (c) no‐stress control group. Results revealed that children made larger donations post‐stressor if they were alone before the acute stressor, if they had moderate cardiac autonomic balance, reflecting both parasympathetic and sympathetic influence, and if they were older. Children who prepared for the TSST‐M with social support from a parent made comparable donations as children in the no‐stress control group, in accord with stress buffering models. Increased altruism following acute stress among children suggests that a comprehensive understanding of the human stress response needs to incorporate “tend‐and‐befriend” behavior—the tendency for humans to show increased altruistic behavior during times of distress.

Fight Alone or Together? The Influence of Risk Perception on Helping Behavior

“…Levy et al (2019) compared other reactions by men and women under stress and found that women and men were both more likely to demonstrate caring and make friends under stress. Not only adults but also children donate more money under stress than the non-stress group (Alen et al 2021).…”

A systematic review and meta-analysis of the association between parenting and child autonomic nervous system activity

“…In addition, the focus on the activity of single branches of the ANS may limit the ability to detect associations, if parenting shapes the overall balance of sympathetic versus parasympathetic activity (Quigley & Moore, 2018). We could not identify any studies that used indices of autonomic balance, but measures of autonomic balance (e.g., cardiac autonomic balance) have been implicated in both behavioral (Alen et al, 2021) and health-related outcomes (Alen, Deer, & Hostinar, 2020;Berntson et al, 2008;Thayer et al, 2010). A clearer understanding of the relation between parenting and autonomic balance is an important future direction for research into the biological underpinnings of parental socialization of affect and self-regulation in children (Quigley & Moore, 2018).…”

Giving social support at work may reduce inflammation on employees themselves: a participatory workplace intervention study among Japanese hospital nurses

“…studies reported the existence of positive associations between receiving/perceived social support and inflammatory markers and autonomic nervous activities (ANA) [4][5][6] . These studies mainly focused on receiving social support at work rather than giving social support.…”

“…It is well documented that social support acts as a stress buffer, which contributes to improving mental and physical health 3 ) . With regard to physiological markers, a number of studies reported the existence of positive associations between receiving/perceived social support and inflammatory markers and autonomic nervous activities (ANA) 4 – 6 ) . These studies mainly focused on receiving social support at work rather than giving social support.…”