Parenting stressors and young adolescents' depressive symptoms: Does high vagal suppression offer protection?

Childhood psychological maltreatment and social anxiety in college students: The roles of parasympathetic nervous system activity and parent-child separation experience

BACKGROUND

Childhood psychological maltreatment is a risk factor for social anxiety in adulthood. Parent-child separation, as one of the most serious adversities in early life, may exacerbate the risk of psychological maltreatment and influence the interactions between childhood psychological maltreatment and biological sensitivity to stress in relation to social anxiety. However, there has been a dearth of work on this issue.

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated the interactive effects between childhood psychological maltreatment and parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activity on social anxiety in college students by comparing those who experienced parent-child separation versus those who did not. Potential sex differences in the aforementioned associations were tested as an exploratory aim.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

Data were obtained from 264 college students (Mage = 18.45 years, SD = 0.69), including 156 students who experienced parent-child separation and 108 students without this experience.

METHODS

Participants completed measures of childhood psychological maltreatment and social anxiety and reported their parent-child separation experience. The data of PNS activity, measured by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) reactivity, were obtained during the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) in the lab.

RESULTS

Childhood psychological maltreatment was positively associated with college students' social anxiety. RSA reactivity moderated the relationship between childhood psychological maltreatment and college students' social anxiety, and the moderating role of RSA reactivity varied with parent-child separation experience and sex.

CONCLUSIONS

Parent-child separation experience influenced the biosocial interactions between childhood psychological maltreatment and PNS activity in relation to individuals' social anxiety, and this effect persisted in adulthood.

Vagally-mediated heart rate variability and depression in children and adolescents - A meta-analytic update

BACKGROUND

Depression is one of the most common mental disorders and a leading cause of disability worldwide. In adults, depression is characterized by decreased vagal activity (vagally-mediated heart rate variability; vmHRV), while vmHRV is inversely correlated with depressive symptoms. In children/adolescents, a 2016 synthesis (4 studies, 259 individuals) found similarly decreased vmHRV in clinical depression, but no significant association between depressive symptoms and vmHRV (6 studies, 2625 individuals). Given the small number of studies previously considered for synthesis and the rapidly growing evidence base in this area, a meta-analytic update was warranted.

METHOD

A previous review was updated by a systematic literature search to identify studies that (a) compared vmHRV in clinically depressed children/adolescents with non-depressed controls and (b) reported associations between vmHRV and depression severity.

RESULTS

The search update identified 5 additional studies for group comparison (k = 9 studies in total, n = 608 individuals in total) and 15 additional studies for correlational meta-analysis (k = 21 studies in total, n = 4224 individuals in total). Evidence was found for lower resting-state vmHRV in clinically depressed children/adolescents compared to healthy controls (SMD = -0.593, 95 % CI [-1.1760; -0.0101], I2 = 90.92 %) but not for a significant association between vmHRV and depressive symptoms (r = -0.053, 95 % CI [-0.118; 0.012], I2 = 65.77 %). Meta-regression revealed a significant association between depressive symptoms and vmHRV as a function of sex.

LIMITATIONS

The samples considered are highly heterogeneous. Data on the longitudinal association between vmHRV and depression are currently lacking.

CONCLUSION

The present findings support the use of vmHRV as a biomarker for clinical depression in children/adolescents.

Heart rate variability in children and adolescents with major depressive disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Although reduced heart rate variability (HRV) has been observed in adults with major depressive disorder (MDD), the correlation between HRV and MDD in children and adolescents remains uncertain and requires to be systematically reviewed. Our meta-analysis included ten articles comprising 410 MDD patients and 409 healthy controls. Adolescents with MDD showed significant reductions in most HRV measures, such as HF-HRV, RMSSD, and PNN50, and depressive symptom severity was statistically associated with RMSSD, HF-HRV, and LF/HF ratio. A large heterogeneity across studies was detected. Sensitivity analysis revealed that removal of a specific study would significantly decline the heterogeneity for measures of HF-HRV, LF-HRV, and SDNN, and meta-regression analysis found that sample size and year of publication substantially moderated the differences between depressed samples and controls in RMSSD. Compared with adults, depression-induced autonomic dysfunction was more detectable in children and adolescents with substantial effects. Moreover, excluded studies which reported both HRV and MDD or depression symptoms were summarized based on objectives. Findings indicate that it is promising for HRV to be an appropriate and objective candidate biomarker for clinically depressed children and adolescents.

Resilience to stress across the lifespan: Childhood maltreatment, heart rate variability, and bereavement

Following a stressful life event, there is considerable variation in how individuals respond and adapt. Multiple models of risk and resilience show that adverse childhood experiences may be associated with an individual's response to stress later in life. While there is considerable support that early adversity can sensitize the stress response system and lead to adverse outcomes later in life, there is mounting evidence that in adolescence and young adulthood, certain biological predispositions to stress may be associated with resilience in the context of subsequent stressors. In this study, we evaluated how individual differences in vagally mediated heart rate variability moderated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and grief among a sample of individuals experiencing a stressful life event (i.e., spousal bereavement) over time. Data were collected at approximately 3, 4.5, and 6.5 months after the death of a spouse (n = 130). Heart rate variability moderated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and grief symptoms over time (b = -0.03, p < .001), such that among individuals with more severe experiences of childhood maltreatment, those with higher heart rate variability had a faster recovery from grief than those with low heart rate variability. This research highlights an overall pattern of resilience among older adult's following spousal bereavement, as well as the relationships between childhood maltreatment, heart rate variability, and differential responses to grief following the loss of a spouse. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

A systematic review and meta-analysis of the association between parenting and child autonomic nervous system activity

Parental socialization may influence the development of children's autonomic nervous system (ANS), a key stress-response system. However, to date no quantitative synthesis of the literature linking parenting and child ANS physiology has been conducted. To address this gap, we conducted a pre-registered meta-analysis. A systematic review of the literature identified 103 studies (n = 13,044 participants) with available effect sizes describing the association between parenting and either parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) or sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity in children. The overall analysis revealed non-significant associations between parenting and child ANS physiology on average. However, moderation analyses revealed a positive association between more positive parenting and higher resting PNS activity that was stronger when a study was experimental rather than correlational, and when the sample included children with a clinical condition. In conclusion, well-controlled experimental studies show that positive parenting is associated with the development of higher resting PNS activity, an effect that may be stronger among children who are at elevated developmental risk.

Parental Self-Efficacy and Physiological Responses to Stress among Mothers of Early Adolescents

Little research addresses how parental self-efficacy is related to stress responses, and no research does so among parents of early adolescents. To fill this research gap, the current study examined the association between maternal self-efficacy and physiological stress responses during early adolescence. Participants were 68 mother-early adolescent dyads with youth in the 6th grade (M = 11 years; 56% female). Physiological responses (i.e., skin conductance, respiratory sinus arrythmia, cortisol) were measured before and after mothers observed their children engage in a modified Trier Social Stress Test for Children. Mothers reported on parental self-efficacy. Mothers with higher parental self-efficacy exhibited a more moderate skin conductance response to the speech portion of the task, and a smaller increase in cortisol, compared to mothers with lower parental self-efficacy. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia change was not related to parental self-efficacy. The findings are consistent with a "caring but confident" physiological profile among mothers with high parental self-efficacy, suggesting that greater confidence about parental influence might reduce parents' experience of stress/anxiety as they observe children face certain challenges.

Interactive effects of childhood maltreatment and tonic respiratory sinus arrhythmia on young adults' depressive symptoms

The goal of the current study was to investigate the moderating effect of tonic respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) in the relation between childhood maltreatment and depression symptoms among young adults. A total of 98 participants (70 women) aged 17-22 years completed questionnaires on childhood maltreatment and depressive symptoms. RSA data were obtained during a resting condition in the laboratory. Results indicated that childhood maltreatment interacted with tonic RSA to predict depressive symptoms, even after controlling for age and body mass index (BMI) of each participant. Specifically, higher levels of childhood maltreatment were associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms, but only among young adults who exhibited lower tonic RSA. The results indicated that the association between childhood maltreatment and depressive symptoms depends on young adults' physiological functioning/flexibility. Findings suggest that consideration of external environmental factors in combination with internal physiological factors is critical to understand young adults' mental health.

Childhood abuse and social anxiety symptoms among young adults: Moderating role of respiratory sinus arrhythmia suppression to social stress

BACKGROUND

Childhood abuse (CA) has been considered as an environmental risk factor for the development of social anxiety symptoms. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is a biomarker that has been found to interact with environmental stressors to affect psychopathological symptoms. However, little is known whether RSA moderates the relationship between CA and social anxiety symptoms.

OBJECTIVE

The current study aimed to examine the relationships between CA and two forms of social anxiety symptoms including social performance anxiety symptoms (SPAS) and social interaction anxiety symptoms (SIAS), and the moderating role of baseline RSA and/or RSA suppression to a social-evaluative stress in these links.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

A total of 157 Chinese undergraduate students (Mage = 18.96, SD = 0.85, 85 % females) participated in this study.

METHOD

Participants completed the short form of Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Social Phobia Scale and Social Interaction Anxiety Scale to assess CA, SPAS and SIAS, and then underwent a social stress protocol (a public speech task) during which their baseline RSA and stress induced RSA were obtained.

RESULTS

CA was positively correlated with SPAS but was not correlated with SIAS. RSA suppression to social stress moderated the associations between CA and two forms of social anxiety symptoms, such that CA was positively associated with SPAS and SIAS among individuals with blunted RSA suppression, but not among those with greater RSA suppression.

CONCLUSIONS

Greater social stress RSA suppression as a better physiological regulation marker might ameliorate the negative effect of CA on social anxiety symptoms.

Linking autonomic nervous system reactivity with sleep in adolescence: Sex as a moderator

The purpose of the present study was to investigate relations between autonomic nervous system (ANS) reactivity across the parasympathetic and sympathetic branches and multiple sleep parameters in adolescence. Participants were 244 adolescents (Mage  = 15.79 years old, SD = 9.56 months; 67.2% White/European-American, 32.8% Black/African-American). Parasympathetic activity was indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) withdrawal and sympathetic activity was indexed by skin conductance level reactivity (SCL-r), which were examined in response to a laboratory-based stressor (star-tracing task). Sleep was assessed with actigraphs in adolescents' homes for seven consecutive nights. Two sleep parameters were examined: sleep duration indexed by actual sleep minutes and sleep quality indexed by sleep efficiency from sleep onset to wake time. Regression analyses showed that more RSA withdrawal (lower RSA during task than baseline) was associated with shorter sleep, and more SCL-r (higher SCL during task than baseline) was associated with poorer sleep efficiency. Moderation analyses showed that associations linking RSA withdrawal with fewer sleep minutes and poorer sleep efficiency, and SCL-r with fewer sleep minutes were significant only for boys. Results illustrate that higher daytime physiological reactivity (increased RSA withdrawal and SCL-r) is negatively associated with sleep duration and efficiency for adolescents, especially boys.

Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous System Functioning and Experiences of Peer Exclusion: Links to Internalizing Problems in Early Adolescence

This study examines the moderating effect of both branches of the autonomic nervous system (sympathetic and parasympathetic) on associations between peer exclusion and internalizing behaviors. Young adolescents (N = 68) self-reported their perceptions of peer exclusion and internalizing problems and participated in stress-inducing public speaking tasks. Skin conductance and respiratory sinus arrhythmia were assessed at baseline (skin conductance baseline, SCLB; respiratory sinus arrhythmia baseline, RSAB) and during the challenge task to provide measures of physiological reactivity (skin conductance reactivity, SCLR; respiratory sinus arrhythmia reactivity, delta RSA). Youth with high delta RSA (low vagal suppression) had higher levels of internalizing problems when they perceived more peer exclusion in their social environments. The combination of low SCLR and high delta RSA (reciprocal parasympathetic) predicted higher levels of internalizing problems, whereas the combination of high SCLR and high delta RSA (coactivation) predicted lower levels of internalizing problems. The association between peer exclusion and youth internalizing problems was not moderated by ANS reactivity profiles which reflected combinations of SCLR and delta RSA.

Interactive effects of family instability and adolescent stress reactivity on socioemotional functioning

This study investigated whether adolescent vagal stress reactivity to parent-adolescent conflict moderates the effects of family instability on the development of adolescent behavioral problems. Participants were 192 adolescents (M age = 12.4) and their parents across 2 measurement occasions. Results indicated that the interaction between family instability and vagal stress reactivity significantly predicted change in externalizing problems. Greater family instability was associated with increases in externalizing problems only for adolescents showing greater vagal suppression (i.e., higher vagal reactivity) during a laboratory triadic family conflict discussion. Further tests suggested the interaction was consistent with diathesis stress, such that adolescents with higher vagal stress reactivity show higher increases in externalizing problems under high instability but not lower increases in externalizing symptoms with low family instability. Findings indicate disruptions in the proximal rearing contexts may differentially influence development for adolescents, but the impact may differ as a function of stress reactivity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

The role of stress response in the association between autonomy and adjustment in adolescents

Developing autonomy is an important developmental task that has implications for adolescent adjustment and may be impacted by adolescents' response to stress. This study examined whether stress reactivity (i.e., cortisol and heart rate reactivity) to a parent-adolescent conflict interaction moderates the effect of autonomy on adjustment assessed one year later in 100 adolescents (M age = 15.09; 68% girls). Multiple group models suggested that youth who evidenced higher stress reactivity when compared to those with lower stress reactivity were more likely to report decreased externalizing problems and internalizing problems when their parents granted more autonomy. In contrast, youth who evidenced higher stress reactivity who experienced undermining of autonomy were more likely to report increased externalizing and internalizing problems than youth who evidenced lower stress reactivity. Results support biological sensitivity to context theory and highlight the importance of considering individual differences in the effect of developmental milestones on adolescents' adjustment.