The differential susceptibility model suggests that the same children who are more susceptible to peer rejection are also more susceptible to peer acceptance. Testing this within-child assumption, we examined whether a subgroup of children exists who are more reactive to both rejection and acceptance, and whether higher levels of sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) characterize this subgroup. We randomly assigned 455 preadolescents (Mage = 10.86, 49.5% boys) to receive either counterbalanced rejection and acceptance feedback (experimental group) or neutral feedback (control group) from online fictitious peers, and assessed their emotional, self-esteem, attributional, and behavioral responses. Results revealed two subgroups of children showing elevated emotional or self-esteem reactivity to both rejection and acceptance, supporting within-child differential susceptibility. However, SPS did not distinguish these subgroups or moderate children’s responses to peer feedback – suggesting limited support for SPS as a differential susceptibility marker to experimentally manipulated peer acceptance and rejection.

Sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) is a trait characterized by heightened responsiveness to external and internal stimuli. Past research suggests individuals high in SPS may exhibit depressive symptoms, possibly due to their highly sensitive nervous system. While the link between SPS and sleep quality remains unexplored, studies have established a strong association between depression and sleep. This study aimed to compare sensitivity groups concerning sleep quality and depression and to evaluate depression’s moderating effects on the SPS–sleep quality relationship. An online survey was administered to 1,122 Spanish participants (female 75.8%, n = 850), with a mean age of 24.5 (standard deviation [SD] = 11.2). Analyses of covariance (ANCOVAs) indicated that the high-sensitivity group experienced more sleep disturbances and severe symptoms of depression, considering gender, age, and monthly incomes as sociodemographic variables. Depression was found to significantly moderate the SPS–sleep quality relationship (F(2, 1116) = 5.717, p = .003), exacerbating the impact of SPS on sleep disturbances. The study findings suggest that highly sensitive people appear to indicate more severe depressive symptoms, as well as sleep quality disturbances, with the influence of gender, age, and monthly income. Also, depression seems to moderate the relationship between SPS and sleep quality, leading to greater sleep disturbances among highly sensitive individuals with severe depressive symptoms.

Children vary in environmental sensitivity, reflecting heightened responsiveness to positive and negative environments. It is commonly measured through the temperament trait of Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS). Currently, no instruments exist in the German language to assess SPS in children. The present study translated the 21-item Highly Sensitive Child Scale (HSC-21) into German and evaluated its psychometric properties using caregiver reports (n = 367) and child self-reports (n = 112). Confirmatory factor analyses supported a bifactor model with a general sensitivity factor and three specific subdimensions (i.e., Ease of Excitation, Low Sensory Threshold, Aesthetic Sensitivity). The German HSC-21 demonstrated full configural, metric and scalar measurement invariance across sex and age groups and good to excellent reliability (internal consistency, test-retest reliability, interrater agreement). HSC-21 scores moderately predicted internalizing problems but not externalizing problems. Consistent with environmental sensitivity theory, Ease of Excitation and Low Sensory Threshold were linked to internalizing problems, whereas Aesthetic Sensitivity predicted better school performance, fewer peer problems, and greater prosocial behavior. The HSC-21 demonstrated meaningful correlations with temperament and personality traits, including positive associations with neuroticism, behavioral inhibition, and sensory sensitivity, and negative associations with extraversion and activity level. Thus, the German HSC-21 represents a reliable and valid measure of SPS and environmental sensitivity.

Building on Ellis et al.’s theorization for potent dimensions of environmental adversity, the present work sought to evaluate how environmental harshness and unpredictability might function directly and in interaction with child sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) to shape the development of child socioemotional functioning. Participants were 235 young children (Mage = 2.97 at the first measurement occasion) and their parents, who were followed for two consecutive annual measurement occasions. Child SPS was measured through behavioral observation across multiple tasks within the laboratory setting. Greater environmental unpredictability was significantly associated with the development of children’s externalizing problems over a year only for children with high SPS. Follow-up analyses indicated that the unpredictability-x-SPS interaction was consistent with differential susceptibility, such that high SPS children showed greater increases in externalizing problems under high unpredictability, but also lower increases/greater decreases in externalizing problems under low unpredictability. Such association did not apply to children with low SPS.