Childhood parental warmth and heart rate variability in midlife: Implications for health

Abstract

The current study investigated high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) as a potential mediator between childhood parental warmth and later health and mortality outcomes. Participants were 1,255 adults (56.9% female). Childhood parental warmth was reported retrospectively at mean age 46; resting HF-HRV was measured at mean age 57; cardiovascular health and self-evaluated health were assessed at mean ages 57 and 63, and mortality records extracted at mean age 63. Results revealed a positive association between childhood parental warmth and resting HF-HRV, as well as associations between higher HF-HRV and reduced risk of having a later cardiovascular health problem and of mortality by age 63. Mediation analyses revealed a small significant indirect effect of parental warmth, through HF-HRV, on cardiovascular health.

A review of mental health disparities during COVID-19: Evidence, mechanisms, and policy recommendations for promoting societal resilience

“…In the psychobiological literature, social support has been identified as a buffer against stress and a key promoter of resilience (Gunnar & Hostinar, 2015;Hostinar, 2015;Parenteau et al, 2020;Perry et al, 2021). Decades of correlational studies and laboratory experiments with children and adults alike have shown that social and emotional support can reduce the reactivity of the HPA axis and other stress-response systems, resulting in healthier biological profiles (Alen et al, 2020;Hostinar, 2015). Social support can not only reduce measures of allostatic load (McEwen & Gianaros, 2011), but can protect against the development of mental health problems.…”

Advancing understanding of the mechanistic pathways underlying close relationships and physical health: Conclusion to the special issue

“…The 10 papers in the special issue highlighted the breadth of current mechanistic work on relationships and health. Although seven papers focused on romantic relationships and health, two examined parent–child relationships (Alen, Sloan, Seeman, & Hostinar, 2020; Woods, Roberson, & Priest, 2020), and one (Maki, 2020) considered the impact of romantic partners, friends, and family members on health outcomes. The samples included individuals at all stages of adulthood, ranging from emerging adulthood (Cortez, Lee, & Roberson, 2020) to older adults (Jaremka, Kane, Sunami, Lebed, & Austin, 2020).…”

“…Moreover, some examined unique samples at high risk for poor health, such as individuals who have recently lost a spouse (LeRoy et al, 2020) or couples with one partner who has cancer (Ramos et al, 2020). The papers also investigated the effects of relationship functioning on several different types of health outcomes, including biomarkers (Jaremka et al, 2020; Maki, 2020), perceived health (Ramos et al, 2020; Roddy & Doss, 2020; Stanton, Spence, Kähkönen, & Dobson, 2020; Woods et al, 2020), health behavior (Crowley, Burke, Denes, Allred, & Carberry, 2020), symptoms and diagnoses (Cortez et al, 2020; LeRoy et al, 2020; Woods et al, 2020), and mortality (Alen et al, 2020). Most of the papers documented significant associations between relationship functioning, mechanistic variables, and health outcomes.…”

“…In terms of psychological variables, Maki (2020) investigated the role of locus of control, whereas Stanton et al (2020) investigated positive and negative affect as potential mechanisms. Alen et al (2020), Jaremka et al (2020), and LeRoy et al (2020) all examined biological mechanisms by testing the mediating role of heart rate variability, inflammation, and Epstein–Barr virus antibody titers, respectively. The behavioral variables investigated include support marshaling (Crowley et al, 2020), communication behaviors (Ramos et al, 2020), and conflict frequency (Roddy & Doss, 2020).…”

“…Thus, certain psychological, biological, and behavioral variables may explain how positive features of relationships benefit health and how negative features of relationships can undermine it. For instance, Alen et al (2020) found that high‐frequency heart rate variability plays a protective role that explains how higher perceptions of parental warmth in childhood predict better cardiovascular health and lower mortality risk in midlife, and Stanton et al's (2020) findings suggest that self‐expansion potential—positive, optimistic beliefs about how relationships will help us grow in the future—is associated with more positive perceptions of health via greater positive affect. In contrast, Roddy and Doss (2020) found that psychological distress and insomnia predict poorer health outcomes.…”