Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia as a Transdiagnostic Biomarker of Emotion Dysregulation

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is a biomarker of physiological functioning that has been implicated in self‐regulatory processes and shown to relate to children's socioemotional health. RSA is a dynamic process reflecting an individual's response to their environment; thus, temporally sensitive methods are critical to better understanding this self‐regulatory process in different contexts. Prior work has studied young children's RSA change in the context of emotion clips and interactions with a stranger. The present study meaningfully expanded upon this work by examining: (a) preschoolers’ dynamic RSA change during a challenging task with their mothers, and (b) factors that may explain variability in children's dynamic RSA change. Preschoolers (N = 108; Mage = 3.56 years) and their mothers from diverse backgrounds completed a challenging activity together while children's physiological activity was monitored. Mothers reported on children's positive affect, parent emotional support, and family cohesion and indicators of socioemotional health. Children's positive affect and family cohesion explained variability in children's dynamic RSA change, which concurrently related to better socioemotional health. This study advances research and theory on biological correlates implicated in the development of children's self‐regulation and furthers our understanding of factors that may support children's developing self‐regulation at the physiological level.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preschoolers’ dynamic respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) change during a challenging parent‐child interactive task: Relations with preschoolers’ socioemotional health

West

Shaffer

Wickrama

et al. 2020

“…RSA is an index of prefrontal cortex‐modulated high‐frequency heart rate variability, reflecting variation in the R‐R interval heart rate time series that is related to the respiration rate (Beauchaine & Bell, 2020; Thayer & Lane, 2000). It is generally thought of as a biomarker that represents the ability to maintain physiological homeostasis, respond to stress, and regulate emotion (Beauchaine & Bell, 2020; Porges, 2007). Polyvagal theory (Porges, 2007) suggests RSA acts as a biomarker of the engagement and stress involved in socially demanding interactions with others.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in mother–child and father–child RSA synchrony: Moderation by child self‐regulation and dyadic affect

Lunkenheimer

Brown

Fuchs

2021

Parents and preschoolers show respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) synchrony, but it is unclear how child self‐regulation and the dyadic affective climate shape RSA synchrony and how synchrony differs for mothers and fathers. We examined child average RSA, externalizing problems, and dyadic positive affect as moderators of the synchrony of dynamic, within‐epoch child and parent RSA reactivity during a challenging task. Mothers (N = 82) and fathers (N = 60) oversampled for familial risk participated with their 3‐year‐olds. For mothers, when children showed either higher externalizing or lower average RSA, negative RSA synchrony was observed as dynamic coupling of maternal RSA augmentation and child RSA withdrawal, suggesting inadequate support of the child during challenge. However, when children showed both higher externalizing and lower average RSA, indicating greater regulatory difficulties overall, positive synchrony was observed as joint RSA withdrawal. The same patterns were found for father–child RSA synchrony but instead with respect to the moderators of higher externalizing and lower dyadic positive affect. Findings suggest moderators of RSA synchrony differ by parent and shared positive affect plays a robust role in fathers’ RSA reactivity and synchrony. Mothers may be more attuned to children's regulatory capacities, whereas fathers may be more influenced by the immediate behavioral context.

“…Research suggests both heritable and environmental effects on RSA, which, as outlined above, serves as a biomarker of self‐ and emotion regulation (Beauchaine et al., 2007; Beauchaine & Thayer, 2015). Children who are reared in emotionally labile, coercive families show poor emotion regulation and altered RSA (Beauchaine & Bell, 2020). Reducing negative parenting through intervention improves children's emotion regulation and normalizes their RSA (Bell et al., 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paternal antisociality and growth in child delinquent behaviors: Moderating effects of child sex and respiratory sinus arrhythmia

Yan

Schoppe‐Sullivan

Beauchaine

2020

Self Cite

Children of fathers with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) are at risk for developing delinquency, and both biological and environmental mechanisms contribute. In this study, we test parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) function as a vulnerability/sensitivity attribute in predicting intergenerational associations between fathers' antisociality and children's delinquency scores. We followed 207 children (ages 8–12 years at intake; 139 boys) across three annual assessments. Fathers' antisociality was measured via maternal reports on the Family Interview for Genetic Studies (FIGS). At Year 1, children's resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was measured. At Years 1, 2, and 3, child delinquent behaviors were assessed using the delinquency subscale of the Youth Self‐Report. At age 8, boys' delinquency scores were associated weakly with paternal antisocial behaviors. However, boys' delinquency scores increased steeply thereafter specifically for those who had fathers with higher antisocial symptoms. In addition, associations between delinquency and paternal antisociality were largest for boys with higher resting RSA. For girls, growth in delinquency was unrelated to both father antisociality and resting RSA. These findings (a) suggest moderating effects of children's age, sex, and PNS function on associations between father antisocial behavior and offspring delinquency; and (b) provide insights into differential vulnerability among children of fathers with ASPD.