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`%aS.)#&*%+Z)*?$#./%#/%A#--*+)"#*-"..-2%L+[+)(#./%+6+/($Q%$*.,R,&6+%/+?'&*%&)(#6#(1Q%&/-%.$('&)#$A%-#$('+$$aQ%S.)#&*%O+?'.$)#+/)+Q%E2%EQ%DbC%c%DBEQ%^#'$(@?0*#$"+-%./2%;F%8)(.0+'%;<9<%_#^#'$(`!.%*#/d%(.%("#$%='(#)*+2%>8I2%9<W9<b<V9FDF<B9BW;<9<WE<<9eB5LK2%"((@2VV-ZW-.#W.'HV9<W9<b<V9FDF<B9BW;<9<WE<<9eBFull terms and conditions of use: http://www.informaworld.com/terms-and-conditions-of-access.pdfThis article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. 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The publisher shall not be liable for any loss,actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directlyor indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.SOCIAL NEUROSCIENCE, 2010, 5 (5–6), 483–495© 2010 Psychology Press, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa businesswww.psypress.com/socialneuroscience DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2010.500169PSNSSocial exclusion in middle childhood: Rejection events, slow-wave neural activity, and ostracism distressSocial Exclusion In Middle Ch ildhoodMichael J. Crowley, Jia Wu, Peter J. Molfese, and Linda C. MayesChild Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USAThis study examined neural activity with event-related potentials (ERPs) in middle childhood during a computer-simulated ball-toss game, Cyberball. After experiencing fair play initially, children were ultimately excluded bythe other players. We focused specifically on “not my turn” events within fair play and rejection events withinsocial exclusion. Dense-array ERPs revealed that rejection events are perceived rapidly. Condition differences(“not my turn” vs. rejection) were evident in a posterior ERP peaking at 420 ms consistent, with a larger P3 effectfor rejection events indicating that in middle childhood rejection events are differentiated in <500 ms. Conditiondifferences were evident for slow-wave activity (500–900 ms) in the medial frontal cortical region and the poste-rior occipital–parietal region, with rejection events more negative frontally and more positive posteriorly. Distressfrom the rejection experience was associated with a more negative frontal slow wave and a larger late positiveslow wave, but only for rejection events. Source modeling with Geosouce software suggested that slow-waveneural activity in cortical regions previously identified in functional imaging studies of ostracism, including sub-genual cortex, ventral anterior cingulate cortex, and insula, was greater for rejection events vs. “not my turn”events.Keywords: Social exclusion; Social rejection; Middle childhood; Event-related potentials (ERPs); Source modeling.INTRODUCTIONThe importance of social affiliation in middle child-hood can be inferred from how children spend theirtime, with nearly half spent in social activities amongpeers (Grusec & Lytton, 1988). Interaction with peersin childhood serves as an opportunity for the develop-ment of social cognitive and social perceptive abili-ties. At the same time, peer interactions can be asource of stress as in peer rejection and social exclusion,with some children faring better or worse than others.Peer rejection and exclusion have a broad scopeof effects, directly impacting a child’s academicand social functioning (Buhs & Ladd, 2001; Ladd,Herald-Brown, & Reiser, 2008; Ladd & Troop-Gordon,2003). As well, peer rejection figures prominently inthe emergence and maintenance of mental health con-cerns including disruptive behavior problems (Dodge etal., 2003), interpersonal difficulties (Downey, Lebolt,Rincón, & Freitas, 1998), lowered self-esteem, andincreased levels of internalizing problems such asanxiety and depression (Deater-Deckard, 2001; Ladd,2006). At the extreme, the experience of social exclu-sion and rejection has been associated with violence.For instance, in an analysis of 15 school shootingsbetween 1995 and 2001, acute or chronic peer rejec-tion was present in all but two of the cases (Leary,Kowalski, Smith, & Phillips, 2003). While the effectsCorrespondence should be addressed to: Michael J. Crowley, Yale Child Study Center, 230 South Frontage Road, New Haven, CT 06473,USA. E-mail: [email protected] research was supported by the Bial Foundation and a NARSAD Young Investigator Award ( both MJC), NIDA grants RO1-DA-06025,DA-017863, and KO5, and a grant from the Gustavus and Louise Pfeiffer Research Foundation (all LCM). This publication was also madepossible by CTSA Grant Number UL1 RR024139 from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a component of the NationalInstitutes of Health (NIH), and NIH Roadmap for Medical Research. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarilyrepresent the official view of NCRR or NIH. The authors thank David Reiss and Max Greger-Moser for their thoughtful comments on themanuscript.Downloaded By: [Yale University] At: 16:43 11 May 2011484 CROWLEY ET AL.of peer rejection can be diverse, as a process is tendsto be stable and difficult for the child to overcome(Jiang & Cillessen, 2005).THE NEUROSCIENCE OF SOCIAL EXCLUSIONA growing