Preliminary evidence for increased parasympathetic activity during social inclusion and exclusion in adolescents with functional abdominal pain

- Adolescents with FAP had increased activation during social in-and exclusion.
- Parasympathetic activation may reflect enhanced processing of social information.
- Further studies should combine cognitive (non-social) and social tasks.

ObjectivePeer victimization (e.g. social exclusion) has been shown to be associated with physical health problems such as functional somatic complaints and especially symptoms of pain. To date, no study has investigated the mechanisms underlying this association in clinical pediatric samples. The aim of this study was to evaluate the parasympathetic activity during a social exclusion experience in adolescents with functional abdominal pain (FAP).MethodsTwenty adolecents with FAP and 21 matched healthy participants were compared regarding parameters of parasympathetic activation before, during, and after participating in the Cyberball-game, a well-established paradigm to induce social exclusion.ResultsAdolescents with FAP showed an increase in parasympathetic activation during both consecutive phases of the Cyberball game (inclusion as well as exclusion condition) whereas the healthy control group remained stable. There were no differences in subjective experience of in- and exclusion between the groups.ConclusionThe parasympathetic activation pattern may indicate altered processing of social stimuli in adolescents with FAP.