Self-Esteem Moderates the Relationship Between Secure Attachment and Internalizing and Externalizing Problems in Preadolescence.

This longitudinal study examined the interactive effects of secure attachment and self-esteem on change in internalizing and externalizing problems in a sample of preadolescents. 407 youth ( = 11.1 years) completed measures of self-esteem, secure attachment style, and peer nomination inventories tapping internalizing and externalizing problems at the beginning of the fourth and fifth grades.

Child sex and respiratory sinus arrhythmia reactivity as moderators of the relation between internalizing symptoms and aggression.

Previous studies have examined sex differences in physiological responding, including respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) reactivity in response to changing stimulus conditions involving situation specific or gender related cues, in children and adolescents. The present study examined whether RSA reactivity moderates the relation between aggression and internalizing symptoms and whether there are sex differences in this effect. Participants were 82 adolescents (M age = 12.