One-Month Stability of Cyberball Post-Exclusion Ostracism Distress in Adolescents

Abstract

We examined one-month reliability, internal consistency, and validity of ostracism distress (Need Threat Scale) to simulated social exclusion during Cyberball. Thirty adolescents (13–18 yrs.) completed the Cyberball task, ostracism distress ratings, and measures of related clinical symptoms, repeated over one month. Need Threat Scale ratings of ostracism distress showed adequate test-retest reliability and internal consistency at both occasions. Construct validity was demonstrated via relationships with closely related constructs of anxiety, anxiety sensitivity, and emotion dysregulation, and weaker associations with more distal constructs of state paranoia and subclinical psychosis-like experiences. While ratings of ostracism distress and anxiety were significantly attenuated at retest, most participants continued to experience post-Cyberball ostracism distress at one-month follow-up, which indicates that the social exclusion induction of Cyberball persisted despite participants’ familiarity with the paradigm. Overall, results suggest that the primary construct of ostracism distress is preserved over repeated administration of Cyberball, with reliability sufficient for usage in longitudinal research. These findings have important implications for translating this laboratory simulation of social distress into developmental and clinical intervention studies.