Stability of respiratory sinus arrhythmia in children and young adolescents: A longitudinal examination

Abstract

The stability of children's baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and RSA regulation were examined longitudinally, with a 2-year lag between each of two waves of data collection. Associations between baseline RSA and RSA regulation also were examined in this study. During two laboratory sessions, 2 years apart, children were exposed to two stressors: exposure to an audiotaped conflict between two adults and a problem-solving task in which the child had to trace a star while looking into a mirror. Measures of baseline RSA and RSA regulation during the two stressors were obtained. Baseline RSA and, to a lesser extent, RSA regulation to the star-tracing task were stable over time. Furthermore, baseline RSA was associated with increased RSA suppression to the laboratory stressors. These results augment the scant longitudinal literature on psychophysiological development in elementary-school-age children and young adolescents, and support the proposition that some aspects of RSA constitute stable individual differences at the ages examined.

Sex differences in the associations between vagal reactivity and oppositional defiant disorder symptoms

“…29 weeks), as opposed to preschool (Morales et al., 2015) and school‐aged children (Eisenberg et al., 1995; Hinnant & El‐Sheikh, 2013) in previous studies. Baseline vagal tone has been shown to be moderately stable from preschool or middle childhood onwards (Calkins & Keane, 2004; El‐Sheikh, 2005) but less so in the first years of life (Bornstein & Suess, 2000), which might also have an impact in the results.…”

Individual Differences in Behavioral, Physiological, and Genetic Sensitivities to Contexts: Implications for Development and Adaptation

“…Indeed, both sympathetic and parasympathetic reactivity have been associated with lower competence and lower mental and physical health in the context of high adversity, but higher competence and health in the context of low adversity. For example, high SCL reactivity to emotional and cognitive tasks was associated with high or increasing levels of internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms, and social and cognitive problems, but only in children who were exposed to high levels of paternal depression [53] or marital conflict [54,55] . Similarly, a recent study of kindergartners demonstrated that high RSA reactivity was associated with higher levels of externalizing problems and lower levels of prosocial behavior, school engagement, and academic competence in the context of high family adversity.…”

Toward a new biology of social adversity

“…Such individuals thus show either the least or most adaptive outcomes within the population, depending on the character of the proximal social contexts in which they are reared. Studies demonstrating this greater susceptibility of neurobiologically responsive children to both positive and negative aspects of their environments have implicated a wide variety of stressors and adversities, including paternal depression (67), marital conflict (68,69), parental psychopathology (70), and overall family distress (71); of positive environmental features, including parental warmth (72) and supportive interventions (73); and of defining biological parameters, including physiological reactivity (e.g., 74, 75), differences in brain circuitry (76), and gene polymorphisms (77,78). Most importantly, highly susceptible children show bidirectional effects on outcomes in contrasting low-and high-stress settings, not simply an attenuation of negative effects in low-stress circumstances.…”