Assessment of sensory processing sensitivity across the lifespan

Markers of an increased sensitivity to environmental influences have been observed and investigated across several domains, phenotypically and endophenotypically. Currently, the most direct measures for capturing sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) are a series of questionnaires that cover the lifespan from middle childhood to adulthood; and more recently, an observational measure for preschoolers has also been proposed. This chapter provides an overview of theoretical perspectives of SPS within the environmental sensitivity framework and it introduces investigated phenotypic SPS markers and measures for assessing SPS in children and adults. It also provides the measures’ psychometric properties across cultures, their associations with other temperament and personality traits, and the interaction with environmental quality in predicting developmental outcomes and adjustment across the lifespan. Finally, the existence of sensitivity groups and how to assess group differences is discussed, together with new directions of research.