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.

中文翻译：

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急性压力后儿童的利他主义：自主神经系统活动和社会支持的作用

除了更广泛的社会后果外，压力暴露后的利他行为可能具有重要的健康和心理益处。然而，到目前为止，关于急性压力后利他主义的实验研究仅限于成年人群。目前的研究利用实验设计来调查儿童的利他捐赠行为如何受到以下因素的影响：(a) 暴露于急性社会压力源、针对儿童使用的特里尔社会压力测试 (TSST-M)、(b) 个体差异在压力生理学方面，以及（c）来自父母的社会支持。样本包括 180 名儿童（54.9% 男性，45.1% 女性；平均年龄 = 9.92 岁，SD = 0.56 岁）随机分配到涉及 TSST-M 的三个条件之一：（a）单独准备 TSST-M，（b）与父母一起准备 TSST-M，以及（c）无压力对照组. 结果显示，如果儿童在急性压力源之前独自一人，如果他们有中度的心脏自主神经平衡，反映副交感神经和交感神经的影响，并且年龄较大，则儿童在压力源后捐赠更多。根据压力缓冲模型，在父母的社会支持下为 TSST-M 做准备的孩子与无压力对照组的孩子进行了相当的捐赠。