Children's dynamic RSA change during anger and its relations with parenting, temperament, and control of aggression

Abstract

This study examined the moderating effects of child temperament on the association between maternal socialization and 4–6-year-old children’s dynamic respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) change in response to anger-themed emotional materials (N = 180). We used latent growth curve modeling to explore adaptive patterns of dynamic RSA change in response to anger. Greater change in RSA during anger-induction, characterized by more initial RSA suppression and a subsequent return to baseline, was related to children’s better regulation of aggression. For anger-themed materials, low levels of authoritarian parenting predicted more RSA suppression and recovery for more anger-prone children, whereas more authoritative parenting predicted more RSA suppression and recovery for less anger-prone children. These findings suggest that children’s adaptive patterns of dynamic RSA change can be characterized by latent growth curve modeling, and that these patterns may be differentially shaped by parent socialization experiences as a function of child temperament.

Mother–infant dyadic reparation and individual differences in vagal tone affect 4-month-old infants’ social stress regulation

“…Findings from the current study corroborate previous research identifying that both environmental factors and individual differences in vagal tone have a protective role in infants' emotional development (El-Sheikh et al, 2013;Miller et al, 2013). Dyadic reparation and RSA individual differences jointly contributed to infants' reactivity to and recovery from the social stress elicited through the FFSF procedure.…”

Helping from the heart: Voluntary upregulation of heart rate variability predicts altruistic behavior

“…Secondly, based on the theorized role of the vagus in social engagement (Bazhenova et al, 2001;Hastings et al, 2008;Miller et al, 2013;Porges, 2003) and the motivational systems of care and affiliation (Depue & Morrone-Strupinsky, 2005;Feldman & Eidelman, 2003;Kemp et al, 2012;Norman et al, 2011;Panksepp, 2011;Tribollet et al, 1989;Uvnäs-Moberg, 1994, 1998, as well as earlier studies which had linked incidental upregulation of HF-HRV to altruistic feelings and behaviors (Barraza et al, 2015;Miller et al, 2015;Stellar et al, 2015) we hypothesized that individual differences in the ability to deliberately up-regulate LP would be linked to individual differences in altruistic behavior. We operationalized altruistic behavior through a multi-method approach that identified a latent construct called Altruistically Motivated Behavior (AMB) which includes several commonly-used behavioral measures of altruistic behavior (Böckler et al, 2016).…”

“…Some behaviors, such as solving a cognitively demanding task or coping with a stressful situation, are accompanied by reductions in HF-HRV, indicative of vagal withdrawal (Duschek, Muckenthaler, Werner, & del Paso, 2009;Graziano & Derefinko, 2013;LuqueCasado, Perales, Cárdenas, & Sanabria, 2015). Other behaviors, such as positive social engagement, have been linked to increases in HF-HRV, indicative of vagal upregulation (Bazhenova, Plonskaia, & Porges, 2001;Hastings et al, 2008;Miller et al, 2013;Porges, 2003). The degree to which people show these situation-dependent adaptations in HF-HRV, termed vagal flexibility (Muhtadie, Koslov, Akinola, & Mendes, 2014), has been hypothesized to relate to psychological health (Beauchaine, 2001).…”

Roots and Benefits of Costly Giving

“…RSA values were computed in 15-s epochs over the course of the altruism task. This is a common epoch length for computing RSA in developmental studies using shorter tasks (Huffman et al, 1998; Miller et al, 2013). …”