AbstractDeveloping the ability to regulate one's emotions in accordance with
contextual demands (i.e., emotion regulation) is a central developmental task of
early childhood. These processes are supported by the engagement of the
autonomic nervous system (ANS), a physiological hub of a vast network tasked
with dynamically integrating real-time experiential inputs with internal
motivational and goal states. To date, much of what is known about the ANS and
emotion regulation has been based on measures of respiratory sinus arrhythmia, a
cardiac indicator of parasympathetic activity. In the present study, we draw
from dynamical systems models to introduce two nonlinear indices of cardiac
complexity (fractality and sample entropy) as potential indicators of these
broader ANS dynamics. Using data from a stratified sample of preschoolers living
in high- (i.e., emergency homeless shelter) and low-risk contexts
(N = 115), we show that, in conjunction with
respiratory sinus arrhythmia, these nonlinear indices may help to clarify
important differences in the behavioral manifestations of emotion regulation. In
particular, our results suggest that cardiac complexity may be especially useful
for discerning active, effortful emotion regulation from less effortful
regulation and dysregulation.
Otitis media and respiratory sinus arrhythmia across infancy and early childhood: Polyvagal processes?
