Alternate Cardiovascular Baseline Assessment Techniques: Vanilla or Resting Baseline

Abstract

The accurate evaluation of cardiovascular reactions to psychological challenge requires stable baselines against which change can be evaluated. When more than one challenge is employed, the recovery of this baseline becomes important in order to avoid carryover effects. Resting periods, even those of 20 min or more, do not guarantee baseline stability. We compared a 20‐min resting condition and a new form of baseline condition in 48 college men using video tasks as the psychological challenges. The new form was a minimally demanding color detection task, termed the “vanilla”baseline condition. A 10‐min version and a 20‐min version of this condition were tested. Comparisons to 10‐min resting baselines were made using our prior work and values from the literature. Vanilla baseline conditions were shown to be equal to or better than resting baseline conditions using criteria of between‐ and within‐baseline stability, amplitude and significance of responsivity, and generalizability between sessions on separate days. Ten‐minute resting baselines also showed acceptable stability, questioning the value of lengthy baselines. The good performance of the 10‐min vanilla baseline in initial and replication samples supported its utility for estimating baselines for many purposes.

Future Directions in Emotion Dysregulation and Youth Psychopathology

“…Baselines of 10-20 min may be needed to attain a true resting state (see Hastrup, 1986;Jennings, Kamarck, Stewart, Eddy, & Johnson, 1992). This has led many researchers, especially those who conduct research on children with psychopathology, to use alternatives, such as vanilla baselines, to assess tonic function.…”

“…This has led many researchers, especially those who conduct research on children with psychopathology, to use alternatives, such as vanilla baselines, to assess tonic function. With vanilla baselines, participants either engage in a nominally demanding task, such as color detection (Jennings et al, 1992), or watch a calm, age-appropriate video (e.g., Sulik, Eisenberg, Silva, Spinrad, & Kupfer, 2013). In child psychopathology research, use of vanilla baselines usually follows from the assumption that young children, regardless of their level of functioning, cannot tolerate true baselines, or that children with a particular trait being studied (e.g., impulsivity), cannot tolerate true baselines (see e.g., Gavin & Davies, 2008).…”

Detecting correlation changes in multivariate time series: A comparison of four non-parametric change point detection methods

“…Heart rate, for instance, was hypothesized to decrease during the vanilla baseline and to increase during the multiple task while readjustments were expected for the recovery period (Jennings et al, 1992). Regarding correlation changes, we expect an increase in the correlation of cardiorespiratory variables in the vanilla baseline, as it requires focused attention and low cognitive activity (Wu & Lo, 2010).…”

“…During the resting baseline, participants were instructed to fix their eyes on a cross that was presented on the screen. In the vanilla baseline, they were asked to complete a minimally demanding vigilance task which was intended to reduce anticipatory arousal, hence improving the validity of baseline measures (see Jennings, Kamarck, Stewart, Eddy, & Johnson, 1992). In the multiple task period, participants had to perform three tasks simultaneously, tapping perceptual speed, spatial orientation and working memory (for a detailed description see Grassmann et al, in press).…”

Autonomic characteristics of defensive hostility: Reactivity and recovery to active and passive stressors

“…Numerous studies have cited that resting baseline measurements may be contaminated by recent exercise, metabolic activity, and/or emotional excitement (eg., Jennings, Kamarck, Stewart, Eddy, & Johnson, 1992). Moreover, there is evidence to suggest that resting baseline measurements are less stable than that of task levels (Murphy, Alpert, & Walker, 1991).…”