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Abstract

A fundamental trait found in most organisms is the ability to register, process, and respond to external factors. Although such environmental sensitivity is critical for adapting successfully to contextual conditions, individuals tend to differ in their sensitivity to the environment, with some more sensitive than others. Such differences in environmental sensitivity can be seen across many species, including humans. Although the notion of variability in environmental sensitivity is reflected indirectly in many traditional concepts of human psychology, several new frameworks address individual differences in environmental sensitivity more directly and from a perspective of developmental and evolutionary theory. In this article, I integrate these perspectives into a broad meta-framework before proposing ideas for research on individual differences in environmental sensitivity. I also emphasize that inter-individual variability in environmental sensitivity be considered in both theoretical and applied work.
Individual Differences in Environmental Sensitivity
Michael Pluess
Queen Mary University of London
ABSTRACT—A fundamental trait found in most organisms is
the ability to register, process, and respond to external
factors. Although such environmental sensitivity is critical
for adapting successfully to contextual conditions, individ-
uals tend to differ in their sensitivity to the environment,
with some more sensitive than others. Such differences in
environmental sensitivity can be seen across many species,
including humans. Although the notion of variability in
environmental sensitivity is reflected indirectly in many
traditional concepts of human psychology, several new
frameworks address individual differences in environmen-
tal sensitivity more directly and from a perspective of
developmental and evolutionary theory. In this article, I
integrate these perspectives into a broad meta-framework
before proposing ideas for research on individual differ-
ences in environmental sensitivity. I also emphasize that
inter-individual variability in environmental sensitivity be
considered in both theoretical and applied work.
KEYWORDS—environmental sensitivity; developmental plas-
ticity; diathesis-stress; vulnerability; resilience; differential
susceptibility; vantage sensitivity
Human development is fundamentally contextual. Without the
specific and active support of a nurturing environment, no child
would thrive or even survive. Given this dependence on external
environmental resources, it is not surprising that humans regis-
ter, process, and respond to many different aspects of their
social and physical environment. However, individuals differ
substantially in such sensitivity and responsivity, with some
being more and others less responsive to the same environmen-
tal conditions.
In this article, I look at individual differences in environmen-
tal sensitivity, drawing from several theoretical perspectives and
emerging empirical evidence. Rather than discussing in detail
conceptual differences between the various frameworks, I pres-
ent an integrated view across concepts and perspectives.
Finally, I propose research on individual differences in environ-
mental sensitivity and suggest that we consider inter-individual
variability in environmental sensitivity in both theoretical and
applied work.
VARIABILITY IN ENVIRONMENTAL SENSITIVITY
Individual differences in the behavioral response to environmen-
tal factors can be seen across many species from pumpkinseed
fish, zebra finches, mice, and nonhuman primates to humans (for
review, see 1). The pattern that seems to emerge consistently is
that some of the members of each of these species tend to be
bold, aggressive, and impulsive when approaching new or
threatening situations, whereas others appear to avoid such situ-
ations, behaving less aggressively and more cautiously and fear-
fully. These two prototypical behavioral types have been
described as hawks and doves, reflecting two different behavioral
strategiesproactive versus reactive coping (2)that evolved
over time, each characterized by specific advantages and disad-
vantages for health and reproductive fitness (3). Similar behav-
ioral differences have been described in humans in many
psychological frameworks, including extra- and introversion,
behavioral activation and inhibition, high and low reactive tem-
perament, physiological stress reactivity, sensory sensitivity,
resilience and vulnerability, reaction norms, and developmental
plasticity (46). Although these established psychological con-
cepts differ from one another, they all seem to describe how
people vary in their response to contextual factors, with some
more affected than others, manifested in qualitatively different
psychological or behavioral response patterns. The notion that
individuals differ in how they perceive and process environmental
Michael Pluess, Queen Mary University of London.
I express my gratitude to Judy Stamps, Elaine Aron, Bruce Ellis,
and Jay Belsky for their comments and discussion of an earlier ver-
sion of this article.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to
Michael Pluess, Department of Biological and Experimental Psy-
chology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary
University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, United
Kingdom; e-mail: m.pluess@qmul.ac.uk.
©2015 The Authors
Child Development Perspectives ©2015 The Society for Research in Child Development
DOI: 10.1111/cdep.12120
Volume 0, Number 0, 2015, Pages 1–6
CHILD DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVES
features, with some being generally more and some generally
less sensitive, may represent the underlying common denomina-
tor linking these diverse concepts (4). This interpretation sug-
gests that environmental sensitivityand the variability thereof
is an important higher-order personality dimension whose dif-
ferent aspects are reflected, captured, and described in many
existing psychological concepts.
At least two important distinctions are worth considering when
discussing matters related to environmental sensitivity from such
a broad perspective. First, we should differentiate sensitivity
from responsivity.Whereassensitivity refers to aspects of percep-
tion and internal processing of external influences (i.e., the
input), responsivity refers to the resulting behavioral conse-
quences (i.e., the output). Although differences in environmental
sensitivity are largely responsible for the manifestation of differ-
ences in responsivity (7), sensitivity does not equate with re-
sponsivity. Given that behavioral responses are generally
influenced by many factors, depending on the specific circum-
stances, heightened sensitivity may not always be associated
with the same behavioral response. For example, while a highly
sensitive child may behave in a more introverted and shy man-
ner in a novel and unfamiliar social environment, the same child
may behave like less sensitive children in a well-known and
familiar setting.
Second, environmental sensitivity features at least two differ-
ent perspectives, the first describing developmental processes
(i.e., change over time in response to past experience) and the
second, immediate reactivity (i.e., response to current experi-
ence). The developmental perspective refers to developmental or
phenotypic plasticity, the ability of an organism to adapt its phe-
notype over time to the conditions of the particular environment.
For example, children characterized with a more reactive tem-
perament in infancy develop into children with consistently
more or less aggression, depending on whether their early care
environment was less or more supportive (810). Developmental
plasticity is conceptually restricted to early developmental peri-
ods during which the direction of development is most likely to
be environmentally programmed, with additional adaptation in
response to environmental changes less likely (though not
impossible) in later periods. In contrast, the perspective of
immediate reactivity refers to environmental sensitivity as a rel-
atively stable trait, and implies continuity of environmental sen-
sitivity across life and across different contexts. For example, in
a study in which young adults rated perceived stress during
examination and nonexamination days, those with the short ver-
sion of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR), a gene vari-
ant consistently associated with heightened developmental
plasticity (11), reported both higher and lower stress, respec-
tively, than those carrying other versions of the same gene (12),
suggesting that the gene version associated with developmental
plasticity in early childhood may also predict immediate
reactivity in early adulthood. However, we need more research
on the potential overlap between developmental plasticity and
immediate reactivity to clarify the relationship between these
different aspects of environmental sensitivity (for a detailed
review and discussion of the various forms of behavioral
plasticity, see 13).
The notion of individual differences in environmental sensi-
tivity as implied in traditional psychological concepts has typi-
cally been framed within a diathesis-stress model, with
sensitivity seen primarily as vulnerability for developing prob-
lematic outcomes when faced with adversity (14, 15). As a
consequence, most research on environmental sensitivity is
biased toward psychopathology, often failing to consider the
possibility that environmental sensitivity may extend to positive
environments and adaptive outcomes (16). However, over the
last two decades, several frameworks emerged that describe
environmental sensitivity in a less biased mannerdrawing on
evolutionary and developmental theory rather than a perspec-
tive of psychopathology.
CONCEPTS FOR INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN
ENVIRONMENTAL SENSITIVITY
Since the late 1990s, researchershaveproposedatleastthree
theoretical frameworks related to variability in environmental
sensitivity. The first is sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) by
Aron (5, 17). SPS is based on a personality perspective, suggest-
ing that about 20% of people have a high-sensitive personality
trait defined by greater awareness of sensory stimulation, behav-
ioral inhibition, deeper cognitive processing of environmental
stimuli, and higher emotional and physiological reactivity (4).
Differences in SPS are evolutionarily adaptive, influenced by
genes, and associated with a more sensitive central nervous sys-
tem. Researchers also propose that SPS is a stable personality
trait that emerges in infancy and is shaped further by the envi-
ronmental conditions children experience while growing up (18).
The second concept is Belsky’s differential susceptibility the-
ory (DST; 1924). According to DST, individuals differ in their
environmental sensitivity, with some being generally more and
some generally less susceptible to both negative and positive
environmental influences. DST posits that such fundamental dif-
ferences in susceptibility represent two alternative developmen-
tal strategies that have been maintained by natural selection as a
form of bet-hedging, given that the future is inherently unpredict-
able: The plastic strategy is characterized by adaptation to the
environment (i.e., high susceptibility), whereas the fixed strategy
reflects relative inertia in response to environmental factors (i.e.,
low susceptibility). Originally, DST adopted the view that differ-
ences in susceptibility are genetically determined and manifested
in the sensitivity of the central nervous system. More recently,
researchers suggest that high susceptibility may also develop in
response to prenatal and early postnatal factors (25, 26).
Finally, Boyce and Ellis (6) concluded in their biological
sensitivity to context (BSC) theory that individuals differ in
bio-behavioral reactivity to the environment, inspired by the sur-
Child Development Perspectives, Volume 0, Number 0, 2015, Pages 1–6
2Michael Pluess
prising observation that both negative and positive aspects of
the environment affected children who were physiologically
highly reactive (27). In contrast to SPS and DST, BSC empha-
sizes the role of environmental influences in shaping differences
in environmental sensitivity over time (i.e., conditional adapta-
tion), with individuals exposed to especially adverse or support-
ive environments developing higher physiological reactivity and
consequently, higher sensitivity to both cost-inflicting and bene-
fit-conferring features of the environment than those growing up
in more moderate environments. Given that both BSC and DST
are rooted in evolutionary theory and describe similar develop-
mental dynamics, researchers have tried to integrate these two
frameworks (24).
Although each of these three concepts provides unique and
important theoretical insights into environmental sensitivity, per-
haps the most significant contribution shared across all three
frameworks is the notion that sensitive individuals differ not only
in their response to environmental adversity but also in response
to positive, supportive aspects of the environment. This positive
end of environmental sensitivity is summarized in the vantage
sensitivity (VS) framework (16). According to VS, people differ in
their response to positive influences as a function of inherent
characteristics, with some more sensitive and some more resistant
to the beneficial effects of positive experiences and exposures.
AN INTEGRATED MODEL OF ENVIRONMENTAL
SENSITIVITY
Although diathesis-stress, SPS, DST, BSC, and VS provide
unique perspectives on variability in environmental sensitivity,
integrating the different concepts into a single overarching
meta-framework of environmental sensitivity may prove valuable
for both research and practical application (e.g., 24). In this
section, I propose such an integrated perspective regarding the
determinants of environmental sensitivity, the hypothesized
existence of different sensitivity types, the basic mechanism of
sensitivity, and evolutionary considerations pertaining to differ-
ences in environmental sensitivity.
Determinants of Environmental Sensitivity
To what degree are individual differences in environmental sen-
sitivity determined by genetic factors versus shaped by environ-
mental influences? Many geneenvironment interaction studies
suggest that differences in environmental sensitivity are associ-
ated with genetic differences between individuals (22, 23, 28).
However, the observation that physiological and psychological
characteristics reflecting environmental sensitivity are also
shaped by the developmental context (6, 25) suggests that both
genetic and environmental forces contribute to individual differ-
ences in environmental sensitivity (for a general discussion of
the role of genes and environment in development, see 29). In
more detail, whether, to what degree, and in what way a genetic
potential for high sensitivity is actualized may depend on the
environmental conditions an individual experiences, particularly
in early development. For example, the quality of the prenatal
environment predicts increased environmental sensitivity, but
only in children who carry sensitivity genes (25, 30). Similar
findings related to genetic moderation emerged in relation to the
effects of the postnatal environment on environmental sensitivity
(31). Such interplay between genetic and environmental factors
most likely involves the regulation of gene expression through
environmentally induced epigenetic changes (32, 33).
Sensitivity Types
Are there distinct types of environmental sensitivity (e.g., general
susceptibility, vulnerability, and VS), or are all these manifesta-
tions of the same basic propensity for environmental sensitivity?
The observation that increased vulnerability is often associated
with the same individual characteristics (e.g., gene variants,
infant temperament, and cortisol stress reactivity) that predict
sensitivity to positive features of the environment suggests that
both diathesis-stress and VS reflect the same general propensity
for environmental sensitivity (16, 22; see Figure 1). However,
given the significant role of environmental factors in the develop-
ment of environmental sensitivity, individuals with a genetic pre-
disposition for environmental sensitivity may get sensitized to
specific aspects of environmental quality. That is, an initial neu-
tral genetically based propensity for sensitivity may develop into
abiased sensitivity toward contextual adversity (i.e., vulnerabil-
ity) or contextual support (i.e., VS) depending on the specific
environmental conditions encountered in early development (see
Figure 2). Some studies suggest that early adversity increases
sensitivity toward adversity in those carrying sensitivity genes.
For example, adolescents carrying the 5-HTTLPR short allele
were more likely to respond with emotional problems to recent
stressful life events than others, but only if they had a history of
Figure 1. Illustration of three patterns of environmental sensitivity. Diath-
esis-stress describes individual differences in response to exclusively negative
influences, whereas vantage sensitivity (VS) refers to variability regarding
positive influences only. Differential susceptibility represents the combina-
tion of diathesis-stress and VS as a function of the same sensitivity factor.
Child Development Perspectives, Volume 0, Number 0, 2015, Pages 1–6
Environmental Sensitivity 3
early institutional care (34). In the absence of early adversity, 5-
HTTLPR did not moderate the effects of stressful life events.
Similarly, men homozygous for the 5-HTTLPR short allele
showed elevated cortisol reactivity in a psychosocial stress con-
dition, but only if they also reported many stressful life events
(35). However, researchers have not yet tested whether growing
up in very supportive conditions also leads to the development of
pronounced VS in those carrying sensitivity genes.
The notion of sensitivity types is not unrelated to predictions
made by the adaptive calibration model (36), according to which
differences in the quality of the developmental context shape an
individual’s pattern of stress responsivity: A safe environment
produces heightened general sensitivity (i.e., DST), moderate
stress leads to a more buffered general sensitivity (i.e., moderate
susceptibility), a dangerous environment results in a high sensi-
tive vigilant pattern (i.e., vulnerability), and traumatic stress in a
general lack of responsivity.
Mechanism of Environmental Sensitivity
Empirical studies of environmental sensitivity include those that
focus on genetic, psychological, or physiological sensitivity fac-
tors (22), which seems to suggest that environmental sensitivity
may be driven by many mechanisms. However, these different
sensitivity factors most likely reflect different levels of analysis
across various biological mechanisms that jointly influence neu-
robiological susceptibility as the underlying central mechanism
of environmental sensitivity (16, 17, 20, 24, 37). In other words,
heightened environmental sensitivity most likely reflects specific
features of the central nervous system (e.g., amygdala and
hippocampus structure and function), which cause environmen-
tal influences to register more easily and more deeply. Accord-
ing to this neurosensitivity hypothesis, sensitivity of the central
nervoussystemisdeterminedby both direct and interactive
effects of genetic and environmental factors (16, 37). The result-
ing heightened central nervous sensitivity is then reflected in
physiological (e.g., high stress reactivity) and psychological/
behavioral outcomes (e.g., negative emotionality) elicited in
response to environmental factors (see Figure 3).
Evolutionary Considerations
Do differences in environmental sensitivity reflect conditional
adaptation or a bet-hedging strategy? Observations across many
species suggest that high and low sensitivity types reflect differ-
ent developmental strategies, each with specific advantages and
disadvantages (1, 4). Given that differences in environmental
sensitivity are neither exclusively based on genes nor exclu-
sively the result of conditional adaptation processes, environ-
mental sensitivity most likely reflects the combination of bet-
hedging and conditional adaptation rather than one or the other:
Environmental sensitivity facilitates conditional adaptation to
the environment, but an individual’s degree of adaptation
depends on the presence of genetic factors that have been main-
tained by natural selection. Consistent with this view, most gene
Figure 2. Graphical illustration of the development of sensitivity types.Intheabsenceofsensitivitygenes,environmental sensitivity will be low regardless
of environmental quality. If sensitivity genes are present, the quality of the early environment shapes the sensitivity type: In response to a neutralenviron-
ment, sensitivity will reflect heightened susceptibility to both negative and positive influences. However, a predominately adverse environment increases sen-
sitivity toward threats, whereas a predominately supportive environment increases vantage sensitivity.
Figure 3. Illustration of the neurosensitivity hypothesis. Direct and inter-
active effects between sensitivity genes and environmental factors shape the
sensitivity of the central nervous system. Heightened central nervous system
sensitivity is then manifested in psychological/behavioral and physiological
responsivity.
Child Development Perspectives, Volume 0, Number 0, 2015, Pages 1–6
4Michael Pluess
variants associated with environmental sensitivity are common
in the population and have been positively selected for (for
DRD4, see 38). However, empirical and computer simulation
studies suggest that high sensitivity is most advantageous if
characterizing only a minority of the population, usually between
20 and 30% (1). In summary, differences in environmental sen-
sitivity are beneficial from an evolutionary perspectiveas long
as high sensitivity is only found in a minorityand reflect vari-
ability in the propensity for conditional adaptation to the envi-
ronment (6, 24, 36, 39).
LOOKING AHEAD
Much empirical evidence across many disciplines supports dif-
ferent components of the proposed integrated framework of envi-
ronmental sensitivity (4, 40). Nevertheless, researchers should
focus on the following questions to understand variability in
environmental sensitivity more deeply.
First, investigators should focus on the hypothesized general
neurocognitive mechanism underlying individual differences in
environmental sensitivity (i.e., neurosensitivity). A promising
approach is combining structural and functional brain imaging
data with genetic, epigenetic, and behavioral measures (e.g., 41).
Second, it remains to be determined whether an individual’s
environmental sensitivity varies across different domains of
functioning (e.g., cognitive, emotional, social) or whether differ-
ences in sensitivity affect all domains equally (13).
Third, researchers should illuminate developmental aspects of
environmental sensitivity to understand more thoroughly how
genetic and environmental factors interact in developing envi-
ronmental sensitivity. Specifically, they should investigate to
what extent environmentally programmed sensitivity remains
malleable across life.
Fourth, researchers should test empirically the proposition
that environmental factors shape an initially neutral propensity
for sensitivity into specific and distinct sensitivity types (i.e.,
general sensitivity, vulnerability, VS). And they should investi-
gate whether the different types of environmental sensitivity fit
more effectively with a categorical or dimensional model.
Fifth, investigators should develop precise and reliable psy-
chological and biological measures of environmental sensitivity.
Although some self-report measures predict environmental sen-
sitivity (e.g., sensory-processing sensitivity; 17, 42), we need
more specific measures.
IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSION
The notion that people vary in the extent to which they are
affected by exogenous factors has important implications for
both theoretical and applied work in any discipline that deals
with human functioning. Most psychological research tests
hypotheses by comparing average effects across the sample,
ignoring that effects may vary between people as a function of
their specific degree of environmental sensitivity. Hence, such
studies may underestimate effects for highly sensitive individu-
als and overestimate effects for less sensitive ones, particularly
in intervention studies. To get more adequate and precise esti-
mates for the effects of environmental influences, including psy-
chological intervention, studies should consider the
heterogeneity of people’s environmental sensitivity. Similarly,
inter-individual variability in environmental sensitivity suggests
that just as some people will be affected more negatively by
adverse experiences, some people will benefit more from posi-
tive, supportive ones. Such heterogeneity requires a more per-
sonalized approach in applied work, whether the focus is
preventing or treating problematic outcomes or promoting com-
petence and well-being. In short, considering individual differ-
ences in environmental sensitivity is fundamentally important
for both theoretical and applied psychology.
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Child Development Perspectives, Volume 0, Number 0, 2015, Pages 1–6
6Michael Pluess
... 2 Bu durumda, çevresel hassasiyeti yüksek olan kişilerin, hassasiyeti düşük olan kişilerle karşılaştırıldığında, aynı çevresel faktörlerden daha fazla etkilenmesi beklenmektedir. 3 Çevreyi algılama ve işlemleme bakımından bireysel farklılıkların olduğunu öne süren bu görüş, 3,4 son yıllarda özellikle benzer çevresel koşullarda farklı gelişimsel sonuçların elde edildiği çalışmaları açıklamakta sıklıkla kullanılmaktadır. 5,6 Çevresel hassasiyet teorisi, hassasiyeti yüksek bireylerin yaşam koşullarındaki hem destekleyici etmenlere hem de risk etmenlerine daha açık olduğunu öne sürmektedir. ...
... 2 Bu durumda, çevresel hassasiyeti yüksek olan kişilerin, hassasiyeti düşük olan kişilerle karşılaştırıldığında, aynı çevresel faktörlerden daha fazla etkilenmesi beklenmektedir. 3 Çevreyi algılama ve işlemleme bakımından bireysel farklılıkların olduğunu öne süren bu görüş, 3,4 son yıllarda özellikle benzer çevresel koşullarda farklı gelişimsel sonuçların elde edildiği çalışmaları açıklamakta sıklıkla kullanılmaktadır. 5,6 Çevresel hassasiyet teorisi, hassasiyeti yüksek bireylerin yaşam koşullarındaki hem destekleyici etmenlere hem de risk etmenlerine daha açık olduğunu öne sürmektedir. ...
... Bireylerin içinde bulundukları çevre koşullarından, sahip oldukları hassasiyet düzeylerine göre farklı şekillerde etkilendikleri bilinmektedir. 3 Bu nedenle, bireylerin hassasiyet düzeylerinin güvenilir ve geçerli bir ölçek kullanılarak değerlendirilmesi, gelişimsel çıktıları doğru şekilde yordamada oldukça önemli görülmektedir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, 12 maddelik HYÇ ölçeğinin 28 Türkçe uyarlamasının yapılmasıdır. ...
... The Environmental Sensitivity Theory (Greven et al., 2019;Pluess, 2015) is known as an evolutionary-developmental theory, which explains that humans differ in their sensitivity to contextual factors. Several studies conducted under the umbrella of Environmental Sensitivity Theory have reported gender differences in favor of females in Sensory Processing Sensitivity (Benham, 2006;Chacón et al., 2021;Konrad and Herzberg, 2017). ...
... Several studies conducted under the umbrella of Environmental Sensitivity Theory have reported gender differences in favor of females in Sensory Processing Sensitivity (Benham, 2006;Chacón et al., 2021;Konrad and Herzberg, 2017). Sensory Processing Sensitivity has been defined as a genetic-based personality trait characterized by an ability to respond to external factors and process sensory information more deeply (Assary et al., 2021;Pluess, 2015). This personality trait involves a higher sensitivity to various stimuli, such as environmental influences from groups, families, schools, etc. (Aron et al., 2012;Aron and Aron, 1997;Jagiellowicz et al., 2011;Pluess, 2015). ...
... Sensory Processing Sensitivity has been defined as a genetic-based personality trait characterized by an ability to respond to external factors and process sensory information more deeply (Assary et al., 2021;Pluess, 2015). This personality trait involves a higher sensitivity to various stimuli, such as environmental influences from groups, families, schools, etc. (Aron et al., 2012;Aron and Aron, 1997;Jagiellowicz et al., 2011;Pluess, 2015). ...
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This study aims to investigate (a) the mediating role of overparenting between father’s educational level and children’s school problems, and (b) the joint moderating role of children’s gender and surgency in the indirect relationship between father’s educational level and school problems. Participants were 203 school children, 96 boys (47.3%) and 107 girls (52.7%), aged 7–8 years (M = 92.42 months, SD = 3.52). Fathers reported their educational level, age and employment status and their children’s gender and number of siblings, as well as their overparenting behaviors by Anticipatory Problem Solving (APS) scale. Teachers informed children’s school problems by the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC T-2). Parents together informed their children’s surgency levels by a subscale of Children’s Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ). Results showed that, in girls, the father’s educational level was negatively related to the child’s school problems via overparenting behaviors, controlling the number of siblings and father’s age and employment status. However, among boys, fathers’ overparenting protect their shy sons from the risk of a low educational level for school problems. These findings highlight the relevance of considering the gender and surgency to a better understanding of the effects of contextual factors on children’s outcomes.
... Extensive research on related concepts of differential susceptibility, differential sensitivity to environmental influences, or child plasticity has substantially transformed and informed our understanding of children's adaptive and maladaptive development and pathways of risk and resilience. Multiple reviews summarize this important work (e.g., Belsky & Pluess, 2009;Belsky et al., 2007;Ellis & Del Giudice, 2014Kiff et al., 2011;Pluess, 2015;Slagt et al., 2016). ...
... Additionally, previous studies (and the current study) have often focused on either adaptive or maladaptive child outcomes as outcome variables. In the future, it would be useful to include both positive and negative outcomes when testing differential susceptibility versus diathesisstress and possibly versus vantage sensitivity (Pluess, 2015). ...
Article
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The importance of interactions between child temperament and parenting has been accepted ever since Thomas and Chess (1977) proposed their “goodness-of-fit” construct, but over the last three decades, pertinent research has grown exponentially. Researchers examining child characteristics that can moderate the effects of socialization have tested increasingly complex, nuanced, and sophisticated models, largely inspired by the highly influential frameworks of child plasticity or differential susceptibility (Belsky & Pluess, 2009). Yet, multiple questions remain unsettled. We addressed four such questions as applied to predicting children’s observed disregard for rules at age 4.5 in a study of 200 community families from the US Midwest. (a) We examined children’s observed negative emotionality at 16 months, most commonly seen as a plasticity “trait,” but separating anger and fear proneness, which may differently moderate effects of socialization. (b) We examined two separate aspects of observed parental socialization at age 3, mutually responsive orientation and power assertion. (c) We distinguished analytically diathesis-stress from differential susceptibility. (d) We examined all effects in mother– and father–child relationships. We supported both diathesis-stress and differential susceptibility, depending on the facet of negative emotionality, the aspect of socialization considered, and parental gender, highlighting the nuanced nature of the processes involved.
... Equally important to the moderation of divorce/separation is the environmental sensitivity framework (Pluess, 2015), which provides a comprehensive overview of individuals' sensitivity to their environment through integrating the diathesis-stress model (Monroe & Simons, 1991), the differential susceptibility model (Belsky & Pluess, 2009), and the vantage sensitivity model (Pluess & Belsky, 2013). The bioecological and environmental sensitivity frameworks are complementary in that while the first supports the importance of moderators at multiple levels, the second focuses on specific interaction patterns within individual-level genotypic, endophenotypic, and phenotypic moderators. ...
... The bioecological and environmental sensitivity frameworks are complementary in that while the first supports the importance of moderators at multiple levels, the second focuses on specific interaction patterns within individual-level genotypic, endophenotypic, and phenotypic moderators. Environmental sensitivity is centered around how individuals vary in their response to contextual and environmental variables based on gene variants, physiological reactivity, temperament, and personality (Pluess, 2015). Accordingly, individuals differ in their degree of sensitivity as some may be more sensitive to certain environments than others. ...
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While parental divorce/separation is a risk factor for adolescent externalizing behaviors—including substance use—properly understanding the effects of divorce/separation requires considering the biopsychosocial factors that contribute to heterogenous adolescent developmental processes. To better understand for which adolescents’ parental divorce/separation predicts externalizing behaviors, the present review aimed to examine the moderators of this association. 34 cross-sectional (20) and longitudinal (14) studies were identified through a systematic search in PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. Narrative synthesis was used to interpret the results across the individual, family, and broader contextual levels. The strongest evidence suggests that divorce/separation occurring earlier in an adolescent’s lifetime is more strongly related to externalizing behaviors and that positive family relationships could be protective after divorce/separation. Further evidence suggests that it is important to consider broader contextual factors (e.g., country-level diversity of family structures, availability of psychosocial school programs, cultural background) when examining the impact of divorce/separation on adolescents. Conclusions are limited by each moderator having been examined in few studies and a lack of recent literature, with a majority of studies being over 20 years old, despite evidence suggesting that family transitions remain relevant to adolescent development.
... Beside contextual variables, such as the specific job and work conditions, individual variables are also likely to play a role in the subjective experience of distress and burnout. Recent empirical studies (Golonka & Gulla, 2021;Redfearn et al., 2020;Vieregge et al., 2023) specifically suggest that the individual trait of environmental sensitivity (ES; Pluess, 2015), capturing an increased reactivity and responsivity to internal feelings and environmental experiences, is associated with more frequent negative emotions in less than optimal working environments (Golonka & Gulla, 2021;Redfearn et al., 2020). Yet, in line with a Differential Susceptibility effect (Belsky et al., 2007;Belsky & Pluess, 2009), ES has been also reported to contribute to flourishing when the environment is more supportive and less stressful (Vieregge et al., 2023). ...
... Individuals high in SPS are more vulnerable to the negative effect of stress-related and unfavourable conditions, and we anticipate that this association would be stronger in a more stressful context and when teachers were exposed to a less-thanoptimal school climate. Additionally, given that high SPS has been considered a marker of Environmental Sensitivity (Pluess, 2015), we also expected that higher levels of SPS would predict greater responsiveness to positive and supportive school environments. In other words, we anticipate school teachers scoring high on SPS to benefit more than others of a high-quality school climate, decreasing their levels of burnout when the environment is perceived as supporting. ...
Article
School teachers are among workers most exposed to stress and burnout—a relevant occupational phenomenon leading to psychological and economic costs. The Environmental Sensitivity individual trait—as captured by the psychological marker of sensory processing sensitivity (SPS)—has been found to have a relevant role in stress and emotional exhaustion at work. Yet, little is still known about heightened SPS in the educational field and on underlying mechanisms occurring in the relationship between SPS, stress and burnout. The current work aimed to explore the association between SPS and burnout among teachers as well as the moderating role of perceived stress and school climate in this association. One hundred and ninety eight teachers (44.3 years; SD = 9.7, 94% F) reported on their levels of SPS, occupational burnout, perceived stress and school climate quality. In line with a vulnerability effect, we found heightened SPS largely associated with burnout. This was particularly evident in a context of high‐perceived stress, suggesting that teachers high on SPS may experience more challenges in the face of elevated stress with the need of more support. When exposed to positive and supportive school climate, highly sensitive teachers showed a decrease in burnout, suggesting high SPS as a valuable strength for benefiting from positive experiences. Findings have the potential to inform the customisation of support programs, assisting both schools and work agencies in increasing their awareness of the role of individual differences in responding to both work‐demand‐related stress and to positive work environments.
... Questa sensibilità differenziata è stata oggetto negli anni di diversi studi, condotti principalmente nell'ambito della psicologia dello sviluppo, della personalità e delle neuroscienze, studi che hanno portato all'elaborazione di diversi modelli teorici, fra cui quelli della Differential susceptibility (Belsky & Pluess, 2009), della Biological Sensitivity to Context (Boyce & Ellis, 2005) e della Sensory processing sensitivity (Aron & Aron, 1997). I diversi approcci sono stati integrati in un modello generale della Environmental Sensitivity (Pluess, 2015), tradotta in italiano in "Sensibilità ambientale". È stato osservato come questa caratteristica non si limiti esclusivamente agli esseri umani, ma sia presente anche in diverse altre specie animali (Wolf et al., 2008), mettendone in evidenza la funzione adattiva. ...
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Il progetto di ricerca-formazione BASS – Bambini altamente sensibili a scuola si ha permesso di sviluppare e valutare l’efficacia di specifiche pratiche pedagogico-didattiche per supportare lo sviluppo, l’adattamento e l’apprendimento dei bambini altamente sensibili nei primi anni di scuola elementare.
... Most contemporary research on adult sensitivity is owed to university students-especially those studying psychology. From the earliest investigations (Aron and Aron, 1997;Aron et al., 2005;Jagiellowicz et al., 2011;Liss et al., 2005Liss et al., , 2008 onwards, most experimental tasks, ranging from visual experiments to brain scanning, personality tests, and social surveys concerning sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) and environmental sensitivity (ES; see Pluess, 2015;Greven et al., 2019) have been mainly based on the involvement of this specific population. Yet, the perspectives of university students scoring high in SPS-broadly speaking, highly sensitive university students-remain largely underexplored. ...
Article
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Introduction While much of the worldwide contemporary research on sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) and environmental sensitivity (ES) has relied on the participation of university students, there remains a significant gap in understanding the academic social experiences of those scoring high in SPS (i.e., highly sensitive individuals). Methods To address this gap, this exploratory study aimed to investigate in detail students’ academic socialization through their narratives. We conducted nine interviews with Italian university students who self-identified as highly sensitive. Results Through thematic reflexive analysis, we identified and analyzed 6 themes (with subthemes and versions of subthemes) concerning their self-definitions, their university experience (in classroom, before, during, and after exams), and socialization with peers and teachers. Discussion After 20 years of research on SPS, this study integrates the relevant literature into the field of social psychology and academic socialization, emphasizing the importance of understanding SPS within real-life educational contexts and considering highly sensitive students’ perspectives on their resources and challenges in attending university. By contributing to the emerging qualitative literature on SPS and ES, this study provides practical implications for educators and policymakers seeking to foster inclusive learning environments for all students.
... The use of self-report instruments enabled the subjective assessments of an individual's traits within the context of their experiences and environment. This approach captures environmental sensitivity, indicating context-dependent individual reactions 41,42 . Environmental sensitivity is bidirectionally influenced by both biological and psychosocial factors. ...
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In this double-blind placebo-controlled randomised intervention we investigated the potential benefits of a prebiotic supplement on children's well-being in a home setting. The primary aim was to determine if this supplement could effectively reduce anxiety, improve mood, and enhance cognitive function, similar to findings in young adults. Fifty-three healthy children, aged 6 to 14, participated in an 8-week trial. The trial consisted of three testing time points; day zero marked the baseline measurement (T1) followed by a 28-day supplement intervention period during which they consumed 5.5 grams of galactooligosaccharides (GOS) daily under parental guidance. Endline measures (T2) were conducted on the last day of supplement consumption, with a final follow-up testing session (T3) on day 56. Primary outcomes were trait anxiety using a questionnaire and emotional behavior in a dot-probe task on responses to positive and negative images. Secondary outcomes encompassed depression levels, cognitive function tests, and dietary intake recorded in a 4-day food diary. Additionally, we explored whether parents' emotional behavior had an impact on children's responses. While our statistical analysis did not reveal significant effects of GOS, there were noteworthy trends. Trait anxiety levels decreased over time in both groups, with a more pronounced decrease in the GOS group. The GOS group exhibited reduced negative emotional responses compared to the placebo group, and post-trial depression levels decreased in the GOS group over time. Although parental emotional responses correlated with various emotional outcomes in children, they did not influence the intervention effects. In conclusion, these findings suggest positive trends in line with our hypotheses however further investigation with greater statistical power would be beneficial.
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Investigating the role of individual differences in Environmental Sensitivity for well-being and stress at work is an emerging area of research with significant potential for practical implications in organizational management and human resources. Recent studies have begun to explore how individuals with high sensory-processing sensitivity (SPS) may be more vulnerable to work-related stress than their less sensitive peers, but may also derive greater benefits from positive job resources when available. The present study aims to investigate the role of leadership style in the complex interplay between individual differences in sensitivity, stress at work, and general well-being. A questionnaire was administered through Qualtrics to a total of 317 workers from two medium–large–sized Italian companies, across two waves between May and July 2022. Findings provided support for a three-way interaction effect, with job stressors exerting an adverse effect on participants’ well-being, mitigated by democratic and let-it-be leadership styles at the team level, particularly among highly sensitive individuals. Thus, our findings suggest a vantage sensitivity effect and underscore the importance of cultivating positive work climates to enhance workers’ ability to cope with stressors and improve their global well-being, with particular relevance for highly sensitive individuals.
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Evidence that adverse rearing environments exert negative effects particularly on children and adults presumed “vulnerable” for temperamental or genetic reasons may actually reflect something else: heightened susceptibility to the negative effects of risky environments and to the beneficial effects of supportive environments. Building on Belsky’s (1997, 2005; Belsky & Pluess, 2009) evolutionary-inspired differential susceptibility hypothesis stipulating that some individuals, including children, are more affected—both for better and for worse—by their environmental exposures and developmental experiences, recent research consistent with this claim is reviewed. It reveals that in many cases, including both observational field studies and experimental intervention ones, putatively vulnerable children and adults are especially susceptible to both positive and negative environmental effects. In addition to reviewing relevant evidence, unknowns in the differential-susceptibility equation are highlighted.
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Interest in individual differences in animal behavioural plasticities has surged in recent years, but research in this area has been hampered by semantic confusion as different investigators use the same terms (e.g. plasticity, flexibility, responsiveness) to refer to different phenomena. The first goal of this review is to suggest a framework for categorizing the many different types of behavioural plasticities, describe examples of each, and indicate why using reversibility as a criterion for categorizing behavioural plasticities is problematic. This framework is then used to address a number of timely questions about individual differences in behavioural plasticities. One set of questions concerns the experimental designs that can be used to study individual differences in various types of behavioural plasticities. Although within-individual designs are the default option for empirical studies of many types of behavioural plasticities, in some situations (e.g. when experience at an early age affects the behaviour expressed at subsequent ages), 'replicate individual' designs can provide useful insights into individual differences in behavioural plasticities. To date, researchers using within-individual and replicate individual designs have documented individual differences in all of the major categories of behavioural plasticities described herein. Another important question is whether and how different types of behavioural plasticities are related to one another. Currently there is empirical evidence that many behavioural plasticities [e.g. contextual plasticity, learning rates, IIV (intra-individual variability), endogenous plasticities, ontogenetic plasticities) can themselves vary as a function of experiences earlier in life, that is, many types of behavioural plasticity are themselves developmentally plastic. These findings support the assumption that differences among individuals in prior experiences may contribute to individual differences in behavioural plasticities observed at a given age. Several authors have predicted correlations across individuals between different types of behavioural plasticities, i.e. that some individuals will be generally more plastic than others. However, empirical support for most of these predictions, including indirect evidence from studies of relationships between personality traits and plasticities, is currently sparse and equivocal. The final section of this review suggests how an appreciation of the similarities and differences between different types of behavioural plasticities may help theoreticians formulate testable models to explain the evolution of individual differences in behavioural plasticities and the evolutionary and ecological consequences of individual differences in behavioural plasticities. © 2015 Cambridge Philosophical Society.
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Treatment effects of preventative mental health interventions for adolescents tend to be relatively small. One reason for the small effects may be individual differences in the response to psychological treatment as a function of inherent characteristics, a notion proposed in the concept of Vantage Sensitivity. The current study investigated whether the personality trait Sensory-Processing Sensitivity moderated the efficacy of a new school-based intervention aimed at the prevention of depression.
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This paper presents the Adaptive Calibration Model (ACM), an evolutionary-developmental theory of individual differences in the functioning of the stress response system. The stress response system has three main biological functions: (1) to coordinate the organism's allostatic response to physical and psychosocial challenges; (2) to encode and filter information about the organism's social and physical environment, mediating the organism's openness to environmental inputs; and (3) to regulate the organism's physiology and behavior in a broad range of fitness-relevant areas including defensive behaviors, competitive risk-taking, learning, attachment, affiliation and reproductive functioning. The information encoded by the system during development feeds back on the long-term calibration of the system itself, resulting in adaptive patterns of responsivity and individual differences in behavior. Drawing on evolutionary life history theory, we build a model of the development of stress responsivity across life stages, describe four prototypical responsivity patterns, and discuss the emergence and meaning of sex differences. The ACM extends the theory of biological sensitivity to context (BSC) and provides an integrative framework for future research in the field.
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We provide a theoretical and empirical basis for the claim that individual differences exist in developmental plasticity and that phenotypic plasticity should be a subject of study in its own right. To advance this argument, we begin by highlighting challenges that evolutionary thinking poses for a science of development and psychopathology, including for the diathesis-stress framework that has (fruitfully) guided so much empirical inquiry on developmental risk, resilience, and dysregulation. With this foundation laid, we raise a series of issues that the differential-susceptibility hypothesis calls attention to, while highlighting findings that have emerged over just the past several years and are pertinent to some of the questions posed. Even though it is clear that this new perspective on Person × Environment interaction is stimulating research and influencing how hypotheses are framed and data interpreted, a great many topics remain that need empirical attention. Our intention is to encourage students of development and psychopathology to treat phenotypic plasticity as an individual-difference construct while exploring unknowns in the differential-susceptibility equation.
Chapter
The notion that developmental experiences and environmental exposures shape individual development is central to most theorizing about human development and implies that humans are generally characterized by developmental plasticity. Evolutionary-biological reasoning suggests that such plasticity in development carries substantial costs and in some cases increases the risk for maladaptive developmental outcomes. Consequently, application of evolutionary thinking to the phenomenon of developmental plasticity leads to the conclusion that individuals should vary in their degree of plasticity to balance associated risks and benefits. This notion has been conceptualized in the framework of differential susceptibility, which posits that some people are generally more susceptible to environmental influences than others. After presenting a detailed evolutionary rational for differential susceptibility, the latest empirical evidence for the hypothesized variability in developmental plasticity is reviewed before discussing new research questions stimulated by the application of differential susceptibility reasoning to human development. Keywords: developmental plasticity; differential susceptibility; diathesis–stress; vantage sensitivity; evolutionary psychology; vulnerability; GxE interaction
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Evidence that adverse rearing environments exert negative effects particularly on children presumed "vulnerable" for temperamental or genetic reasons may actually reflect something else: heightened susceptibility to the negative effects of risky environments and to the beneficial effects of supportive environments. Building on Belsky's (1997, 2005) evolutionary-inspired proposition that some children are more affected-both for better and for worse-by their rearing experiences than are others, we consider recent work on child vulnerability, including that involving measured genes, along with evidence showing that putatively vulnerable children are especially susceptible to both positive and negative rearing effects. We also consider methodological issues and unanswered questions in the differential-susceptibility equation.