Interpretation biases and depressive symptoms among anxiety‐disordered children: The role of individual differences in respiratory sinus arrhythmia

Abstract

Individual differences in interpretation biases—the tendency to interpret ambiguous stimuli as threatening—partially explain the presence of comorbid depressive symptoms among anxious youth. Increasing efforts have examined physiological processes that influence the association between interpretation biases and depressive symptoms in this population, and potential gender differences in this relationship. This study examined the moderating role of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) suppression (i.e., decrease from baseline)—an index of parasympathetic nervous system reactivity—in the association between interpretation biases and depressive symptoms in clinically anxious youth. One‐hundred‐and‐five clinically anxious children (Mage = 10.09 years, SD = 1.22; 56.7% female; 61.9% racial/ethnic minority) completed measures of self‐reported and behaviorally indexed interpretation biases, reported anxiety/depression symptom severity, and participated in a speech task. RSA suppression during the task moderated the association between interpretation biases and depressive symptom severity in the total sample. Separate exploratory moderation analyses were conducted among girls and boys. Among girls, RSA suppression moderated the association between behaviorally indexed interpretation biases and depressive symptoms, and marginally moderated (p = .067) the association between self‐reported interpretation biases and depressive symptoms. Among boys, RSA suppression was not a significant moderator. These findings may help identify clinically anxious youth most at‐risk for comorbid depressive symptoms.

Analysis of Early Warning Diagnostic Indexes and Influencing Factors of Anxiety and Depression in Patients with Arrhythmia

“…Various arrhythmias can be detected by Holter. Holter is a method that can continuously record and compile ECG changes of the human heart in an active and quiet state for a long time [ 21 ]. This technology was first applied to the study of monitoring cardiac electrical activity by Holter in 1947, so it is also called the Holter monitoring electrocardiograph, and it has become one of the important diagnostic methods of nontraumatic examination in the clinical cardiovascular field.…”

“…Various arrhythmias can be detected by Holter. Holter is a method that can continuously record and compile ECG changes of the human heart in an active and quiet state for a long time [21].…”