Viewing Harmful Material Online and Children’s Stress |
When a potentially threatening situation is perceived, it triggers a series of neural and hormonal events allowing us to deal with that perceived threat. This complex response involves multiple neural, behavioural, and physiological systems, ultimately producing the physical and psychological feelings of being stressed1. Many find some social media content has such triggering effects on stress, as most obviously seen in content related to emotive topics, like suicide and self-harm2. The impact of such content on younger people is a focus of debate, and evidence from behavioural neuroscience may help to explain why this content is differentially damaging for youngsters.
Automatic Stress-Driven Behaviors
Sometimes the behaviours resulting from stressor stimuli can feel like they are not entirely under our conscious control3. This is a perfectly natural, and indeed essential, rapid and unthinking response that helps to keep us safe. For most of us, these feelings and behaviours last only a relatively short time, until we deal with the situation, or the situation resolves. As part of gaining control over the stress response, the limbic regions of the brain that are involved in initially triggering the peripheral, hormonal, and behavioural responses, are brought back under the control of the cortical regions4. Once this happens, we function in a rational and regulated way.
As we leave adolescence, it becomes easier for the cortex to control these stress responses5. However, cortical control is not so well established for children, and they are not always as emotionally regulated in the face of stressors as older individuals6. The development and interconnection of the various brain regions involved in the stress response occur at different rates. The prefrontal cortex, which helps to regulate the limbic system, develops at a slower rate than the limbic system (including the amygdala). Initially, the amygdala and striatal structures of the limbic system have a relatively greater volume than the cortex which develops most between the ages of 7 and 18.6 A relatively greater limbic volume, compared to the cortex, may make emotional regulation harder for children.
Impact of Hormones and Neurotransmitters
Regulation of stress responses is also impacted by the effects of hormones........