Respiratory sinus arrhythmia, shyness, and effortful control in preschool-age children

Purpose: This experimental cross-sectional research study examined the emotional reactivity and emotion regulation in preschool-age children who do (CWS) and do not stutter (CWNS) by assessing their psychophysiological response during rest and while viewing pictures from the International Affective Picture System (Lang et al., 2008).Method: Participants were 18 CWS (16 boys and two girls; mean age 4 years, 5 months) and 18 age- and gender-matched CWNS. Participants' psychophysiological responses were measured during two baselines and two picture viewing conditions. Skin conductance level (SCL) and heart rate were measured to assess emotional reactivity. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was measured to assess emotional regulation. Participants' shyness and executive function were assessed via parent report and considered for their effects on participants' psychophysiological responses.Results: First, CWNS and CWS did not differ in their initial baseline SCL, heart rate, or RSA, but all participants had higher SCL and lower RSA in the second baseline, subsequent to the first challenge condition, compared to the first baseline. Second, during the challenge conditions, CWS did not differ from CWNS in their SCL, but showed a significantly higher heart rate than CWNS. Third, CWS exhibited a significantly lower RSA during the challenge conditions compared to CWNS. Lastly, the temperamental quality of shyness was associated with preschool-age children's SCL, such that participants who were rated higher in shyness had a higher SCL during the challenge conditions. Participants' executive function had a marginally significant effect on the RSA, such that the participants who had higher executive function composite scores exhibited lower RSA during the challenge conditions.Conclusions: Our findings suggest that CWS and CWNS did not differ in their emotional reactivity and emotional regulation abilities at rest. During challenge conditions, however, CWS tended to be more emotionally reactive, as indicated by a higher heart rate, and also employed more emotional regulation, indexed by a greater decrease in RSA, compared to CWNS. Preschool-age children's behavior is largely dominated by reactivity, but there is the emergence of regulation, which can help children adjust to various contextual demands. For CWS who are more emotionally reactive, regulatory skills may be particularly critical to their prognosis and treatment.

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Multigenerational links between mothers' experiences of autonomy in childhood and preschoolers' respiratory sinus arrhythmia: Variations by maltreatment status

Development and Psychopathology ◽

10.1017/s0954579415000863 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 27 (4pt2) ◽

pp. 1443-1460 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Laura K. Noll ◽

Caron A. C. Clark ◽

Elizabeth A. Skowron

Keyword(s):

Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia ◽

Self Regulation ◽

Preschool Age ◽

Future Research ◽

Significant Heterogeneity ◽

Strange Situation ◽

Sinus Arrhythmia ◽

Social Exchanges ◽

Physiological Regulation ◽

Regulatory Capacity

AbstractDespite burgeoning evidence linking early exposure to child maltreatment (CM) to deficits in self-regulation, the pathways to strong regulatory development in these children are not well understood, and significant heterogeneity is observed in their outcomes. Experiences of autonomy may play a key role in transmitting self-regulatory capacity across generations and help explain individual differences in maltreatment outcomes. In this study, we investigated multigenerational associations between Generation 1 (G1)–Generation 2 (G2) mothers' early experience of warmth and autonomy in relation to their own mothers and their Generation 3 (G3) children's autonomic physiological regulation in CM (n= 85) and non-CM (n= 128) families. We found that G2 mothers who recalled greater autonomy in their childhood relationship with their G1 mothers had preschool-age G3 children with higher respiratory sinus arrhythmia at baseline when alone while engaged in individual challenge tasks, during social exchanges with their mother in joint challenge tasks, and during the portions of the strange situation procedure when the mother was present. Although no clear mediators of this association emerged, multigenerational links among G1–G2 relations, maternal representations of her child, child behavior, and child respiratory sinus arrhythmia differed by maltreatment status, thus possibly representing important targets for future research and intervention.

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Biracial Testing: The Question of Clinicians' Influence on Children’s Test Performance

Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools ◽

10.1044/0161-1461.0801.05 ◽

1977 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 5-14 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

David L. Ratusnik ◽

Roy A. Koenigsknecht

Keyword(s):

Clinical Setting ◽

Test Performance ◽

Test Scores ◽

Preschool Age ◽

Speech And Language ◽

Black And White ◽

Drawing Test ◽

Lower Socioeconomic ◽

Preschool Age Children

Six speech and language clinicians, three black and three white, administered the Goodenough Drawing Test (1926) to 144 preschoolers. The four groups, lower socioeconomic black and white and middle socioeconomic black and white, were divided equally by sex. The biracial clinical setting was shown to influence test scores in black preschool-age children.

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A Systematic Review of Emergent Literacy Interventions for Preschool-Age Children With Cochlear Implants

Contemporary Issues in Communication Science and Disorders ◽

10.1044/cicsd_43_s_64 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 43 (Spring) ◽

pp. 64-76

Author(s):

Lavin K. Entwisle ◽

Kyle Brouwer ◽

Elizabeth Hanson ◽

Jessica Messersmith

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Emergent Literacy ◽

Cochlear Implants ◽

Preschool Age ◽

Literacy Interventions ◽

Preschool Age Children

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Factors Associated With Negative Attitudes Toward Speaking in Preschool-Age Children Who Do and Do Not Stutter

Contemporary Issues in Communication Science and Disorders ◽

10.1044/cicsd_43_f_255 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 43 (Fall) ◽

pp. 255-267 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Stephen Groner ◽

Tedra Walden ◽

Robin Jones

Keyword(s):

Preschool Age ◽

Negative Attitudes ◽

Factors Associated ◽

Preschool Age Children

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Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia During Sleep and Waking

Journal of Psychophysiology ◽

10.1027/0269-8803/a000200 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 33 (1) ◽

pp. 1-12 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Elizabeth M. Stoakley ◽

Karen J. Mathewson ◽

Louis A. Schmidt ◽

Kimberly A. Cote

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia ◽

Slow Wave Sleep ◽

Self Regulation ◽

Nrem Sleep ◽

Sinus Arrhythmia ◽

Affective Style ◽

Waking State ◽

Optimal Period ◽

The Stability

Abstract. Resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is related to individual differences in waking affective style and self-regulation. However, little is known about the stability of RSA between sleep/wake stages or the relations between RSA during sleep and waking affective style. We examined resting RSA in 25 healthy undergraduates during the waking state and one night of sleep. Stability of cardiac variables across sleep/wake states was highly reliable within participants. As predicted, greater approach behavior and lower impulsivity were associated with higher RSA; these relations were evident in early night Non-REM (NREM) sleep, particularly in slow wave sleep (SWS). The current research extends previous findings by establishing stability of RSA within individuals between wake and sleep states, and by identifying SWS as an optimal period of measurement for relations between waking affective style and RSA.

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Measures of RSA Suppression, Attentional Control, and Negative Affect Predict Self-Ratings of Executive Functions

Journal of Psychophysiology ◽

10.1027/0269-8803/a000053 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 25 (4) ◽

pp. 164-173 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Brian Healy ◽

Aaron Treadwell ◽

Mandy Reagan

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Heart Rate ◽

Regression Analysis ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Negative Affect ◽

Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia ◽

Attentional Control ◽

Executive Processes ◽

Sinus Arrhythmia ◽

Low Levels

The current study was an attempt to determine the degree to which the suppression of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and attentional control were influential in the ability to engage various executive processes under high and low levels of negative affect. Ninety-four college students completed the Stroop Test while heart rate was being recorded. Estimates of the suppression of RSA were calculated from each participant in response to this test. The participants then completed self-ratings of attentional control, negative affect, and executive functioning. Regression analysis indicated that individual differences in estimates of the suppression of RSA, and ratings of attentional control were associated with the ability to employ executive processes but only when self-ratings of negative affect were low. An increase in negative affect compromised the ability to employ these strategies in the majority of participants. The data also suggest that high attentional control in conjunction with attenuated estimates of RSA suppression may increase the ability to use executive processes as negative affect increases.

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