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Although the Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDoC) framework proposes biological and environmental mechanisms intersect in the etiology of psychopathology, there is no guidance on how to define or measure experiences in the environment within the RDoC matrix. Interpersonal dynamics during caregiver-child interactions involve temporal coordination of interacting partners biobehavioral functioning; repeated experiences of signaling to caregivers and responding to caregivers signals shape childrens subsequent socioemotional and brain development. We begin with a review of the extant literature on caregiver-child dynamics, which reveals that RDoCs units of analysis (brain circuits, physiology, behavior, and self-report) are inextricably linked with moment-to-moment changes in the caregiving environment. We then offer a proof-of-concept for integrating biobehavioral RDoC units and environmental components via caregiver-child dynamics. Our approach uses dynamic structural equation models to estimate within-dyad dynamics involving arousal, social, cognitive, and negative or positive affective processes based on second-by-second changes in parasympathetic activity (RSA) during a conflict discussion and a positive event-planning task. Our results illustrate variation in parent-child RSA synchrony, suggesting differences depending on the driver (i.e., child- or parent-led) and on the unique and intersecting domains involved (e.g., positive or negative affect valence systems). We conclude with recommendations for conducting robust, methodologically rigorous studies of interpersonal dynamics that advance the RDoC framework and provide a summary of the clinical implications of this research. Examining caregiver-child dynamics during and across multiple dyadic interaction paradigms that differentially elicit key domains of functioning can deepen understanding of how caregiver- and child-led interpersonal dynamics contribute to child psychopathology risk.

Slow-paced breathing at an individual's resonance frequency (RF) is a common element of heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback training (Laborde et al. in Psychophysiology 59:e13952, 2022). Although there is strong empirical support for teaching clients to slow their respiration rate (RR) to the adult RF range between 4.5 and 6.5 bpm (Lehrer & Gevirtz, 2014), there have been no definitive findings regarding the best inhalation-to-exhalation (IE) ratio to increase HRV when breathing within this range. Three methodological challenges have frustrated previous studies: ensuring participants breathed at the target RR, IE ratio, and the same RR during each IE ratio. The reviewed studies disagreed regarding the effect of IE ratios. Three studies found no IE ratio effect (Cappo & Holmes in J Psychosom Res 28:265-273, 1984; Edmonds et al. in Biofeedback 37:141-146, 2009; Klintworth et al. in Physiol Meas 33:1717-1731, 2012). One reported an advantage for equal inhalations and exhalations (Lin et al. in Int J Psychophysiol 91:206?211, 2014). Four studies observed an advantage for longer exhalations than inhalations (Bae et al. in Psychophysiology 58:e13905, 2021; Laborde et al. in Sustainability 13:7775, 2021; Strauss-Blasche et al. in Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol 27:601?60, 2000; Van Diest et al. in Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback 39:171?180, 2014). One study reported an advantage for longer inhalations than exhalations (Paprika et al. in Acta Physiol Hung 101:273?281, 2014). We conducted original (N = 26) and replication (N = 16) studies to determine whether a 1:2 IE ratio produces different HRV time-domain, frequency-domain, or nonlinear metrics than a 1:1 ratio when breathing at 6 bpm. Our original study found that IE ratio did not affect HRV time- and frequency-domain metrics. The replication study confirmed these results and found no effect on HRV nonlinear measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Committee Report provides methodological, interpretive, and reporting guidance for researchers who use measures of heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) in psychophysiological research. We provide brief summaries of best practices in measuring HR and HRV via electrocardiographic and photoplethysmographic signals in laboratory, field (ambulatory), and brain‐imaging contexts to address research questions incorporating measures of HR and HRV. The Report emphasizes evidence for the strengths and weaknesses of different recording and derivation methods for measures of HR and HRV. Along with this guidance, the Report reviews what is known about the origin of the heartbeat and its neural control, including factors that produce and influence HRV metrics. The Report concludes with checklists to guide authors in study design and analysis considerations, as well as guidance on the reporting of key methodological details and characteristics of the samples under study. It is expected that rigorous and transparent recording and reporting of HR and HRV measures will strengthen inferences across the many applications of these metrics in psychophysiology. The prior Committee Reports on HR and HRV are several decades old. Since their appearance, technologies for human cardiac and vascular monitoring in laboratory and daily life (i.e., ambulatory) contexts have greatly expanded. This Committee Report was prepared for the Society for Psychophysiological Research to provide updated methodological and interpretive guidance, as well as to summarize best practices for reporting HR and HRV studies in humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Aims Discussion Wearable technology is increasingly used in clinical practice and research to monitor functional gastrointestinal symptoms and mental health.This article explores the potential of wearable sensors to enhance the understanding of the autonomic nervous system (ANS), particularly its role in linking psychological and gastrointestinal function. The ANS, facilitates brain‐gut communication and is responsive to psychosocial conditions. It is implicated in disorders related to psychological stress and gut‐brain interaction. Wearable technology enables tracking of the ANS in daily life, offering complementary and alternative methods from traditional lab‐based measures. This review places focus on autonomic metrics such as respiratory sinus arrhythmia, vagal efficiency, and electrodermal activity as well as self‐reports of autonomic symptoms.Potential applications include use of wearable sensors for tracking autonomic activity in disorder of gut‐brain interaction such as cyclic vomiting syndrome, in which ANS dysregulation may be triggered by psychosocial factors. Considerations for data interpretation and contextualization are addressed, acknowledging challenges such as situational confounders of ANS activity and accuracy of wearable devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family environment, emotion regulation and biological sensitivity have been shown to be associated with adolescents' externalizing problem behaviours. However, findings regarding respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) reactivity are mixed and sometimes contradictory. This study aims to clarify the roles of RSA reactivity and anger regulation in the relationship between negative family expressiveness (NFE) and adolescents' externalizing behaviour by measuring RSA reactivity during the Parent–Adolescent Interaction Task (PAIT), designed to simulate a naturalistic negative family environment. In this study, 125 Chinese adolescents (M = 13.95 years, SD = 0.95; 48% male) completed questionnaires assessing negative family expressiveness, anger regulation and externalizing problems. Additionally, we collected electrocardiogram and respiration data during both the resting period and a 10‐min PAIT. Results showed that anger regulation mediated the relationship between NFE and externalizing problem behaviours. Moreover, adolescents' RSA reactivity moderated this mediation effect, even after controlling for baseline RSA. Greater RSA suppression potentially indicated greater susceptibility, with the relationship between NFE and anger regulation being more pronounced in adolescents with greater RSA suppression compared to those with lesser RSA suppression. These findings highlight the importance of considering physiological systems, especially within the context of adverse family environments, when studying the relationships with externalizing problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both parasympathetic nervous system regulation and receipt of social support from close relationships contribute to prosocial development, although few studies have examined their combined influences in adolescence and particularly within racially and ethnically minoritized populations. In this longitudinal study of 229 U.S. Mexican-origin adolescents (48% female-identifying), youths reported on receipt of social support from family and friends from 10 to 16 years, had their baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) measured at 17 years, reported their prosocial behavior and completed the Mind in the Eyes test to assess cognitive empathy at 17 and 19 years, and reported their prosocial civic behavior (i.e., community activity) at 19 years. Family social support predicted prosocial behavior at 17 years, and friend social support predicted prosocial civic behavior at 19 years. Compared to youths with lower or higher baseline RSA, youths with moderate RSA reported more prosocial civic behavior, had greater cognitive empathy, and tended to report more general prosocial behavior at 19 years. The quadratic association between baseline RSA and cognitive empathy was stronger for youths with greater family social support. These findings are the first to extend the evidence that moderate baseline parasympathetic nervous system activity supports prosocial development into late adolescence and with the U.S. Mexican-origin community, and these findings address calls for more integrative biopsychosocial studies of prosociality. Public Significance Statement: This study shows that physiological regulation and social support from family and friends support prosocial development for U.S. Mexican-origin youths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children's risk of poorer mental health due to the COVID-19 pandemic may depend on risk and protective factors heading into the pandemic. This study examined same-day associations between COVID-19 stressors and children's mental health using a daily diary design across 14 days, and considered the moderating roles of pre-pandemic peer victimization experiences and resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA; an indicator of cardiac regulatory capacity). Forty-nine Canadian children aged 8–13 years (Mage = 10.69, 29 girls) participated in the final wave of a longitudinal study just prior to the pandemic and a daily diary extension during the pandemic (N = 686 pandemic measurement occasions). Multilevel modeling indicated that children had poorer mental health on days when they experienced a COVID-19 stressor (e.g., virtual academic difficulties, social isolation). A three-way interaction indicated that this association was stronger for those with higher pre-pandemic peer victimization experiences and lower pre-pandemic resting RSA; however, highly victimized children with higher resting RSA did not experience poorer mental health on days with COVID-19 stressors. Findings offer preliminary insights into the preceding risk and protective factors for children's mental health amidst major subsequent stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Seabirds like penguins and petrels, living in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic regions, often feed hundreds or even thousands of kilometers away from the islands where they breed. They therefore adapted to endure prolonged fasting during egg incubation, enabling their partner to undertake foraging trips that can last up to two weeks. Aside from accumulating and consuming fat reserves, it is unclear whether seabirds have developed further adaptations to extended fasting periods. This lack of knowledge is in part due to their remote nesting location and their extreme sensitivity to manipulation. To overcome this lack of knowledge, we developed a non-invasive device to record the heart rate (HR) of burrow-nesting blue petrels (Halobaena caerulea) during egg incubation. For that, we encapsulated a small-size logger in a dummy egg to record electrocardiograms (ECGs) through the featherless incubation patch of the birds. Results: The blue petrels' HR (208 ± 15 beats per min [bpm]; n = 6) that we recorded during egg incubation was slower than the HR predicted by two different allometric functions regressing HR against body mass (242 and 250 bpm). Blue petrels' HR also presented cyclical variation correlated to respiration, resembling the physiological Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA) described in humans and other species, and that is mainly modulated by the vagal nerve. Moreover, the basal HR of incubating blue petrels increased about every minute during egg movements that presumably reflect egg turning, important for embryo survival and development. During these events, blue petrels' HR increased up to a maximum of 296 ± 27 bpm for 18 ± 2 s (n = 6). We estimated that those egg movements increased energy expenditure (EE) by 8.4 ± 1.3%, which is approximately 10 times less than the energy increase induced by the disturbance linked with the removal of the dummy egg at the end of the experiment. Interestingly, we noticed that the beginning of HR increase preceded egg movements by 4.3 ± 0.9 s (n = 6), as if birds needed to gradually increase their metabolism to achieve the following action. As well, blue petrels needed 9.1 ± 1.3 s (n = 6) to recover basal levels of HR after the end of egg movements. Conclusion: We recorded for the first time ECGs, HR and RSA in blue petrels in a completely non-invasive way. This allowed us to observe (1) slow basal HR during egg incubation, which could save energy for prolonged fasting and (2) temporal HR increase, possibly necessary to reposition the egg for proper embryonic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA; a measure of respiratory modulation of vagal control of heart rate) is a dynamic process. For mothers, RSA functioning has been associated with depressive symptoms and coincides with supportive parenting. However, research has largely focused on RSA suppression (i.e., difference score from rest to stress task). The present study examined depressive symptoms and supportive parenting with RSA instability—a dynamic measure of the magnitude of RSA change across a task. In two samples of mothers (N = 210), one with preschoolers (Study 1: n = 108, Mage = 30.68 years, SD = 6.06, 47.0% Black, 43.0% White) and one with adolescents (Study 2: n = 102, Mage = 35.51, SD = 6.51, 75.2% Black), RSA instability was calculated during an interaction task. In both studies, instrumental supportive parenting behaviors were negatively related to RSA instability. Findings provide preliminary support for RSA instability as an indicator of physiological dysregulation for mothers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Seabirds like penguins and petrels, living in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic regions, often feed hundreds or even thousands of kilometers away from the islands where they breed. They therefore adapted to endure prolonged fasting during egg incubation, enabling their partner to undertake foraging trips that can last up to two weeks. Aside from accumulating and consuming fat reserves, it is unclear whether seabirds have developed further adaptations to extended fasting periods. This lack of knowledge is in part due to their remote nesting location and their extreme sensitivity to manipulation. To overcome this lack of knowledge, we developed a non-invasive device to record the heart rate (HR) of burrow-nesting blue petrels (Halobaena caerulea) during egg incubation. For that, we encapsulated a small-size logger in a dummy egg to record electrocardiograms (ECGs) through the featherless incubation patch of the birds. Results The blue petrels’ HR (208 ± 15 beats per min [bpm]; n = 6) that we recorded during egg incubation was slower than the HR predicted by two different allometric functions regressing HR against body mass (242 and 250 bpm). Blue petrels’ HR also presented cyclical variation correlated to respiration, resembling the physiological Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA) described in humans and other species, and that is mainly modulated by the vagal nerve. Moreover, the basal HR of incubating blue petrels increased about every minute during egg movements that presumably reflect egg turning, important for embryo survival and development. During these events, blue petrels’ HR increased up to a maximum of 296 ± 27 bpm for 18 ± 2 s (n = 6). We estimated that those egg movements increased energy expenditure (EE) by 8.4 ± 1.3%, which is approximately 10 times less than the energy increase induced by the disturbance linked with the removal of the dummy egg at the end of the experiment. Interestingly, we noticed that the beginning of HR increase preceded egg movements by 4.3 ± 0.9 s (n = 6), as if birds needed to gradually increase their metabolism to achieve the following action. As well, blue petrels needed 9.1 ± 1.3 s (n = 6) to recover basal levels of HR after the end of egg movements. Conclusion We recorded for the first time ECGs, HR and RSA in blue petrels in a completely non-invasive way. This allowed us to observe (1) slow basal HR during egg incubation, which could save energy for prolonged fasting and (2) temporal HR increase, possibly necessary to reposition the egg for proper embryonic development.

Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA) manifests as cyclic fluctuations in heart rate in synchrony with breathing. Gaining insights into the dynamics of RSA within the cardiac muscle functioning is crucial for comprehending its physiological and clinical significance. This study presents an analytical framework employing Markov chains to probe RSA patterns, with a specific emphasis on individuals with hypertension and arachnophobia. We delve into the concept of RSA and its potential cardiovascular implications, particularly among populations characterized by hypertension or normotension and fear of spiders. This study utilizes Markov chain modeling, an innovative method used to scrutinize RSA dynamics across diverse cohorts, with the aim of unveiling underlying patterns and mechanisms. This research contributes to the advancement of our understanding of RSA and its correlation with cardiac function across varied demographics, potentially guiding tailored diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. Our findings highlight significant disparities between hypertensive and normotensive participants, as well as spider-fearful individuals employing techniques to confront their fear compared with those without such strategies.

Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA) manifests as cyclic fluctuations in heart rate in synchrony with breathing. Gaining insights into the dynamics of RSA within the cardiac muscle functioning is crucial for comprehending its physiological and clinical significance. This study presents an analytical framework employing Markov chains to probe RSA patterns, with a specific emphasis on individuals with hypertension and arachnophobia. We delve into the concept of RSA and its potential cardiovascular implications, particularly among populations characterized by hypertension or normotension and fear of spiders. This study utilizes Markov chain modeling, an innovative method used to scrutinize RSA dynamics across diverse cohorts, with the aim of unveiling underlying patterns and mechanisms. This research contributes to the advancement of our understanding of RSA and its correlation with cardiac function across varied demographics, potentially guiding tailored diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. Our findings highlight significant disparities between hypertensive and normotensive participants, as well as spider-fearful individuals employing techniques to confront their fear compared with those without such strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Slow paced breathing has been demonstrated to provide significant health benefits for a person's health, and, during breathing sessions, it is desirable to monitor that a person is actually compliant with the breath pacer. We explore the potential use of pulse rate variability to monitor compliance with a breath pacer during meditation sessions. The study involved 6 human subjects each participating in 2–3 trials, where they are asked to follow or not to follow the breath pacer, where we collected data on how the magnitude of pulse rate variability changed. Two methods, logistic regression and a running standard deviation technique, were developed to detect non-compliance with the breath pacer based on pulse rate variability metrics. Results indicate that using pulse rate variability alone may not reliably detect non-compliance with the breath pacer. Both models exhibited limitations in terms of false positives and false negatives, with accuracy ranging from 67 to 65%. Existing methods involving visual, audio, and motion signals currently perform better for monitoring compliance with the breath pacer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the stability of Attachment Script Assessment (ASA) deactivation, hyperactivation, and anomalous content and their significance for parenting outcomes in mothers (Mage = 31 years; 78% White/European American) and 6-month-old infants. Comparable to ASA secure base script knowledge (SBSK), mothers' ASA deactivation, hyperactivation, and anomalous content were significantly, moderately stable over two years (r's =.40 -.43). Mothers' ASA hyperactivation and anomalous content were associated with greater maternal intrusiveness, whereas ASA deactivation was associated with greater detachment and less intrusiveness. Only ASA anomalous content was associated with lower maternal sensitivity. Mothers' ASA deactivation was associated with less dynamic change in respiratory sinus arrhythmia during the Still-Face Procedure—reflective of limited mobilization of physiological resources to support responding to infants. Findings support the validity of ASA deactivation, hyperactivation, and anomalous content scripts, and demonstrate their utility in examining adult attachment stability and predictive significance for parent-child outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empirical inquiry has demonstrated the benefits of autonomy-supportive parenting practices and harms of parental psychological control for youth development and wellbeing, though specific sources of variation in use of these practices remains unclear. Individual differences in parenting practices may be related to physiological stress reactivity; more importantly, the coordination of stress responses across multiple physiological systems within the autonomic nervous system (ANS) may account for differences in parenting practices. Guided by the autonomic space model of ANS functioning, this study investigates the role of mothers' physiological stress response in relation to autonomy-supportive and controlling parenting practices. Sixty-eight mothers (Mage = 40.88, SD = 6.97) of young adolescents watched their children participate in a stressful laboratory-based public speaking task. Changes from baseline in mothers' skin conductance level (SCL reactivity) and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA reactivity) were calculated. Youth reported perceptions of mothers' promotion of volitional functioning, promotion of independence, and psychological control. Physiological measures interacted such that mothers who experienced higher SCL reactivity engaged in more youth-reported psychological control when RSA scores showed little to no change from baseline to stressful task, but less psychological control when RSA scores decreased from baseline to challenge. Thus, this asynchronous pattern of ANS activity was associated with a parenting practice that typically inhibits developmentally appropriate autonomy among young adolescents, suggesting that mothers' parenting behaviors are associated with the coordinated physiological stress response of the two ANS systems. Highlights: Mothers' parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system activity assessed while children participated in a stressful task. Uncoordinated activity of two physiological branches was associated with controlling parenting practices. Reactivity amongst multiple physiological branches should be tested to understand variation in parenting practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia Reactivity (RSA‐R) correlates both positively and negatively with externalizing behaviour in autistic individuals. These inconsistencies may result from task‐based differences. This pilot study measured RSA‐R in 4‐to 6‐year‐olds, across two timepoints, using four validated tasks with matched baseline and challenge periods. Social, cognitive, sensory and emotional tasks were employed to evaluate the use of a domain‐specific approach in measuring RSA‐R in young autistic children. RSA and parent‐reported externalizing behaviour were collected from 16 children (Mage = 5.60 years; 13 male; 12 White/Caucasian; 15 non‐Hispanic/Latine). RSA‐R was measured by the difference score of the challenge task minus its corresponding comparison task. Correlations were computed to evaluate associations between RSA‐R and behaviour. RSA was reliably measured for 3/4 tasks (0.694 ≤ intraclass correlation coefficients [ICCs] ≤ 0.896). Only RSA‐R during a social task correlated with externalizing behaviour. These results support using a battery that measures a range of challenges, differing in social demands, to characterize how arousal contributes to emotion regulation demands among young autistic children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To better understand biology by environment interactions in early temperament, we examined whether children's respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA; resting RSA and RSA reactivity) operated as a biological marker of differential susceptibility to maternal harsh parenting in predicting children's temperament. Participants were 133 mother–child dyads (53% male children) from families oversampled for lower income, higher life stress, and child maltreatment risk. Mothers reported harsh parenting at age 3 and children's temperament, including negative affectivity, effortful control, and surgency, at ages 3 and 4. Resting RSA was measured during a 3-min resting task. RSA reactivity was computed as a difference score between a 4-min toy cleanup task and the resting task. Results showed that the interaction between maternal harsh parenting and children's resting RSA significantly predicted negative affectivity, after controlling for sex, household income, and age 3 negative affectivity. Specifically, harsh parenting positively predicted negative affectivity among children with higher, but not lower, resting RSA. Similarly, maternal harsh parenting interacted with children's RSA reactivity to predict negative affectivity after adjusting for controls, such that harsh parenting positively predicted negative affectivity in children with higher, but not lower, RSA reactivity. These findings suggest that higher resting RSA and greater RSA reactivity may operate as markers of increased susceptibility to negative parenting in the development of negative affectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prenatal opioid exposure has been associated with developmental problems, including autonomic nervous system dysregulation. However, little is known about the effects of prenatal opioid exposure on the autonomic nervous system beyond the first days of life, particularly across both the parasympathetic and sympathetic branches, and when accounting for exposure to other substances. The present study examined the effects of prenatal exposure to opioid agonist therapy (OAT, e.g., methadone) and other opioids on infant autonomic nervous system activity at rest and in response to a social stressor (the Still‐Face Paradigm) at six months among 86 infants varying in prenatal opioid and other substance exposure. Results indicated that OAT and other opioids have unique effects on the developing autonomic nervous system that may further depend on subtype (i.e., methadone versus buprenorphine) and timing in gestation. Results are discussed in the context of theoretical models of the developing stress response system. Prenatal opioid exposure (POE) is a major public health concern and impacts the fetal and neonatal autonomic nervous system (ANS). However, little is known about POE effects on the ANS beyond the neonatal period and accounting for other substance exposure. The present study describes the effects of POE on infant respiratory sinus arrhythmia and pre‐ejection period at six months of age and the differential effects of type and timing of exposure in the context of polysubstance exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDoC) framework proposes biological and environmental mechanisms intersect in the etiology of psychopathology, there is no guidance on how to define or measure experiences in the environment within the RDoC matrix. Interpersonal dynamics during caregiver–child interactions involve temporal coordination of interacting partners' biobehavioral functioning; repeated experiences of signaling to caregivers and responding to caregivers' signals shape children's subsequent socioemotional and brain development. We begin with a review of the extant literature on caregiver-child dynamics, which reveals that RDoC's units of analysis (brain circuits, physiology, behavior, and self-report) are inextricably linked with moment-to-moment changes in the caregiving environment. We then offer a proof-of-concept for integrating biobehavioral RDoC units and environmental components via caregiver-child dynamics. Our approach uses dynamic structural equation models to estimate within-dyad dynamics involving arousal, social, cognitive, and negative or positive affective processes based on second-by-second changes in parasympathetic activity (RSA) during a conflict discussion and a positive event-planning task. Our results illustrate variation in parent–child RSA synchrony, suggesting differences depending on the driver (i.e., child- or parent-led) and on the unique and intersecting domains involved (e.g., positive or negative affect valence systems). We conclude with recommendations for conducting robust, methodologically rigorous studies of interpersonal dynamics that advance the RDoC framework and provide a summary of the clinical implications of this research. Examining caregiver-child dynamics during and across multiple dyadic interaction paradigms that differentially elicit key domains of functioning can deepen understanding of how caregiver- and child-led interpersonal dynamics contribute to child psychopathology risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emotion involves oneself in relation to a subject of attention; e.g., sadness is to be sad about something/someone. This study examined emotional responses to perceiving a loss of connection from oneself. Evidence suggests that Europeans tend to perceive salient objects in the foreground, while East Asians are more likely to perceive holistically, considering the interrelationships between the context and the object. We studied how this distinction affected European Americans’ (EA) and Chinese Americans’ (CA) sensitivity to perceiving the loss of connection. Both groups were exposed to loss by playing Cyberball, a ball-tossing video game, and then watched a film clip on grief. We hypothesized that EA would respond with increasing heart rate (HR) variance around the mean when perceiving loss. CA were predicted to show no difference from controls. We also hypothesized that EA would feel sadder, in terms of decreased HR and increased respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), earlier during the film clip. In total, 53 subjects were recruited, of which 40 were EA (47.5% women, age 21.08 ± 1.94 years) and 13 were CA (61.5% women, age 21.05 ± 1.74 years); 25 subjects (19 EA, 6 CA) received 2 out of 48 balls tossed in Cyberball and the controls received 10. ECG, respiration, and facial electromyography (fEMG) data were acquired. The results during Cyberball showed that EA’s HR variance relative to baseline (HR SDc/b) had an upward trend on perceiving loss. Contrary to prediction, CA also showed higher levels of HR variance relative to baseline. The ANOVA of HR SDc/b revealed that the interaction effect of two factors, time and condition, was statistically significant (p = 0.009). However, as predicted, EA in the experimental condition had decreased HR and increased RSA, a sign of withdrawal in sadness, 30 to 60 s into the sad clip. fEMG data at the corrugator muscle revealed that EA activated higher peak intensity 5.5 s earlier than CA (increased 1.571 vs. 0.844). This difference, however, was not statistically significant. The evidence suggests that increased exposure to loss automatically led to increased HR variance in both groups even when subjects were informed that players were computer-generated. However, the effect was stronger on EA to increase their arousal and sensitivity to grief thereafter.

We investigated whether parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) responses to social-evaluative threat at age 14 were related to the number of substances used between ages 14 and 16 among Mexican-origin adolescents (N = 243; 70.4% had never used substances by 14). Participants completed the Trier Social Stress Test, while cardiac measures of parasympathetic and SNS activity were measured continuously using respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and pre-ejection period (PEP), respectively. Participants reported whether they had ever used alcohol, marijuana, and cigarettes, and had ever vaped nicotine in their lifetime at ages 14 and 16. Multilevel models were used to test associations between RSA and PEP responses at age 14 and substance use at 16. Among youth who had not used substances by 14, dampened RSA and PEP responses, and profiles of greater coinhibition and lower reciprocal SNS activation between RSA and PEP, at age 14 were associated with using substances by 16. Among youth who used by 14, exaggerated PEP responses were associated with using more substances by age 16. Taken together, dampened autonomic responses to social-evaluative threat predicted initiation of substance use over two years, and difficulties with coordination of physiological responses may confer risk for substance use in adolescence.

BACKGROUND: Higher resting parasympathetic nervous system activity, as indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), has been considered a marker of emotion regulatory capacity and is consistently related to better mental health. However, it remains unclear how resting RSA relates to emotion reactivity to acute social-evaluative stress, a potent predictor of depression and other negative outcomes. METHOD: A sample of 89 participants (Mage = 18.36, SD = 0.51; 58.43 % female) provided measures of RSA at rest and then completed the Trier Social Stress Test, a standardized laboratory-based social-evaluative stress task that involves public speaking and mental arithmetic while being evaluated by two confederate judges. Participants reported a variety of emotions (e.g., negative emotion, positive emotion) at baseline and immediately after the stress task. RESULTS: Participants with higher resting RSA showed greater increases in negative emotion, guilt, depressive emotion, and anger, as well as greater decreases in positive emotion after the task. LIMITATION: Data were limited to a relatively small sample of late adolescents, who may be particularly responsive to social-evaluative stress compared to adults. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that higher resting RSA may enhance emotion responses to social-evaluative stress in adolescents, potentially due to active engagement and responding to rather than passively viewing stimuli. Higher resting RSA may promote flexible emotion responses to the social environment, which may account for associations between higher RSA and better mental health.

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), an index of parasympathetic nervous system activity, has been linked with sleep quality among children with neurotypical development. The current study extended examination of these processes to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a group at considerable risk for sleep problems. Participants included 54 children with ASD (aged 6-10 years, 43% Hispanic). RSA data were collected via a wired MindWare system during a 3-min baseline and a 3-min challenge task. Parents reported on their childrens sleep problems and sleep duration using the Childrens Sleep Habits Questionnaire, Abbreviated. Although no significant correlations emerged between RSA indices and parent-reported child sleep, baseline RSA and RSA reactivity interacted in the prediction of sleep problems. For children with higher RSA reactivity, higher baseline RSA was associated with fewer sleep problems, but for children with lower RSA reactivity, baseline RSA was not predictive. No main effects or interactions of RSA predicted sleep duration. Findings suggest resilience against sleep problems for children with ASD presenting with higher baseline RSA and higher RSA reactivity. Implications of these results center upon directly targeting psychophysiology (i.e., parasympathetic nervous system regulation) as a possible mechanism to improve sleep in children with ASD, and developing personalized interventions based on physiological markers of risk and resilience.

This study examined parental depression and parental reflective functioning (PRF) as predictors of parental proficiency in relational savoring (RS), the association between RS proficiency and a marker of children's physiological self-regulation, respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), during a stressor, and indirect effects of parental depression and PRF on children's RSA via parents' RS. At Time 1 (T1), parents of 8- to 12-year-old children (N = 139) reported on their depressive symptoms and completed a parenting interview, coded for PRF. After 1.5 years (Time 2; T2), parents savored a positive relational memory that involved their children, which was coded for savoring proficiency. Children's RSA was measured during a stressful task (a series of impossible puzzles). Depressive symptoms (inversely) and PRF (positively) were associated with RS proficiency. Higher parental RS proficiency was associated with children's higher mean levels of RSA during the stressor. Indirect effects models supported that T2 RS proficiency mediated the negative association between parental T1 depressive symptoms and children's T2 RSA, and between T1 PRF and children's T2 RSA. We discuss these findings in terms of implications for parents' emotion regulation, children's emotion regulation, children's mental health, and intervention.

Short-term memory (STM) impairments are common among youth with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but not inherent to the disorder. Little is known about predictors driving heterogeneity in STM among youth with ADHD. Prior work (i.e., Ward et al., 2015) has shown that parasympathetic nervous system functioning may play a role explaining this heterogeneity. The current study sought to replicate and extend this study with a diverse sample of 285 children (N = 143 clinically recruited with ADHD) ages 6 to 12 years. Parents reported on child psychopathology and youth completed a visual spatial STM task while psychophysiological data (i.e., heart rate, respiration rate, skin conductance) were recorded, then derived to relevant parasympathetic (i.e., respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]) and sympathetic (i.e., electrodermal activity [EDA]) indexes. Youth with ADHD exhibited lower STM, lower resting RSA, and task-based RSA increase from baseline compared to typically developing peers. RSA moderated the association between STM and ADHD, such that low STM was associated with ADHD in the context of RSA increase from baseline. This was in contrast to Ward and colleagues (2015), which reported that low STM was associated with ADHD in the context of RSA withdrawal from baseline. When analyses were limited to youth with ADHD only, EDA moderated the association between STM and ADHD symptoms, such that low STM performance was associated with elevated symptoms in the context of EDA augmentation from baseline. Findings are discussed in comparison to the original study, and possible explanations for discrepancies in results are explored. Future research directions are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this study was to characterize the cardiorespiratory patterns of male South American sea lions (SASLs, Otaria flavescens) resting on land. We recorded respiratory and heart rate (n = 360 individuals studied) by observing the nostrils, chest movements and the impact of the heart on the thoracic wall. The sea lions breathe apneustically with a pause on inspiration, representing 74% of the respiratory cycle. The mean breathing frequency was 3.2 ± 1.0 breaths min−1, with a breathing cycle presenting periods of bradypneas, tachypneas, and long-term post-inspiratory pauses. The normal heart rate (nHR) was 73.4 ± 14.5 beats min−1 and no significant differences were observed between age classes. All animals showed variability in HR in relation to respiratory phases (Inspiration: 101.2 ± 18.4 beats min−1; post-inspiratory pause: 73.4 ± 14.5 beats min−1; expiration: 64.6 ± 17.7 beats min−1), consistent with respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). The mean HR (measured during all respiratory phases) was 79.9 ± 22.7 beats min−1, and was significantly different between age classes. The total duration of respiratory cycle, and duration of both inspiration and expiration, decreased with an increment in ambient temperature, with no variation in the pause duration. Heart rate during pause and expiration was significantly higher during high temperatures. Similar changes in cardiorespiratory patterns have been reported in other pinnipeds. Our results showed ontogenetic differences in development and typical variations with environmental and behavioral variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined parental depression and parental reflective functioning (PRF) as predictors of parental proficiency in relational savoring (RS), the association between RS proficiency and a marker of children's physiological self-regulation, respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), during a stressor, and indirect effects of parental depression and PRF on children's RSA via parents' RS. At Time 1 (T1), parents of 8- to 12-year-old children (N = 139) reported on their depressive symptoms and completed a parenting interview, coded for PRF. After 1.5 years (Time 2; T2), parents savored a positive relational memory that involved their children, which was coded for savoring proficiency. Children's RSA was measured during a stressful task (a series of impossible puzzles). Depressive symptoms (inversely) and PRF (positively) were associated with RS proficiency. Higher parental RS proficiency was associated with children's higher mean levels of RSA during the stressor. Indirect effects models supported that T2 RS proficiency mediated the negative association between parental T1 depressive symptoms and children's T2 RSA, and between T1 PRF and children's T2 RSA. We discuss these findings in terms of implications for parents' emotion regulation, children's emotion regulation, children's mental health, and intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empathy, sympathy, and emotion regulation are core components of social–emotional development. Regulating vicariously induced negative emotions is thought to support feeling empathy and sympathy for others in need, but empirical evidence for such effects is mixed. Moreover, despite the longstanding conceptual distinction between empathy and sympathy, most researchers refer to and measure these constructs interchangeably. This meta-analysis examined associations between emotion regulation and empathy and/or sympathy in childhood and adolescence, as well as potential methodological, study, and sample moderators. Analyses were conducted on 58 studies (75 effect sizes; N = 25,831). There was a significant and positive overall association between emotion regulation and empathy/sympathy (r =.19, p <.001); however, most scales assessing empathy were conflated with other constructs. Accounting for conflation, emotion regulation was related to sympathy (r =.24, p <.001) but not empathy (r =.04, p =.38). Moreover, the association between emotion regulation and empathy/sympathy was not significant when baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and RSA reactivity were examined as proxies of emotion regulation. Results were largely similar across sample characteristics (e.g., age group, sex, and culture). Conceptual implications for differentiating empathy and sympathy are discussed, as well as methodological considerations to maximize the quality and clarity of research on emotion regulation, empathy, and sympathy. Public Significance Statement: Empathy, sympathy, and emotion regulation are regarded as interrelated cornerstones of social–emotional development. This meta-analysis shows that higher emotion regulation is associated with more sympathy for others in need but not with more empathic sharing of others' emotions. It provides substantial empirical support for differentiating empathy from sympathy to better understand and promote social–emotional capacities in children and adolescents. Overall, the results imply that the two pillars of social–emotional development (emotion regulation and sympathy) are interrelated, and emotion regulation might be a key factor to promote sympathy (instead of empathy) in childhood and adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Non‐suicidal self‐injury (NSSI) is a significant public health concern that is thought to increase risk for future self‐injurious behaviors, including suicide attempts. Notably, NSSI is especially prevalent among adolescents, which underscores a critical need to identify modifiable risk factors that could be targeted to reduce future risk. The current study examined self‐ and co‐regulation of physiological responses during mother‐daughter interactions in adolescent girls with and without a history of NSSI. Methods: Participants were 60 girls aged 13–17 with (n = 27) and without (n = 33) a history of NSSI and their mothers. Adolescents and their mothers completed positive and negative interaction tasks during which physiological reactivity was assessed via respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). Results: Using Actor‐Partner Interdependence Modeling (APIM), we found that adolescents with an NSSI history demonstrated a higher RSA setpoint than adolescents without this history during the negative, but not positive, interaction task. In addition, there were differences in co‐regulation during the negatively valenced interaction, such that mothers of daughters with NSSI were more reactive to fluctuations in their daughters' RSA than mothers of daughters without an NSSI history. Conclusions: These findings highlight intra‐ and interpersonal aspects of physiological dysregulation associated with NSSI that could provide promising targets of intervention to reduce future risk in adolescent girls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study employed two key dynamic indicators (i.e., inertia and instability) to the psychophysiological research of child emotion regulation (ER) and examined whether respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) dynamics were associated with child ER during a stress task. Eighty‐nine Chinese school‐age children (Mage = 8.77 years, SD = 1.80 years; 46.1% girls) and their primary caregivers participated in the study. After controlling for RSA static reactivity, multiple regression analyses indicated that lower RSA inertia was related to fewer in‐task negative emotions rated by children and their caregivers, and higher RSA instability was associated with better child trait ER. This study introduces physiological indicators of the dynamic aspects of parasympathetic activity to the study of child ER. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a study of three methods for estimating the respiratory wave (RW) and respiratory rate (RR) using the electrocardiogram (ECG). There were applied methods from different groups: amplitude modulation ECG-Derived Respiration (EDR), frequency modulation Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA) and Baseline Wander (BW) processing with the Savitzky-Golay filter (S-G). The theoretical aspects of the methods were presented in the Part 1 of the publication which was entitled: "Three Methods for the Determination of the Respiratory Waves from ECG Part I". RR parameter estimation was performed for all the three methods for 12 subjects. The research concerning the influence of the parameters: Body Mass Index (BMI), Tidal Volume (TV) -, Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second (FEV1) and - Forced Vital Capacity (FVC) on the errors of the estimated parameter RR. Moreover, all 12 signals, which were acquired with the help of a 12-lead Holter ECG were taken into consideration. The results indicate a preliminary dependence of respiratory parameters and BMI on the Respiratory Wave and, further, on the RR estimation errors. Consequently, the type of method and ECG Holter leads depend on the BMI and respiratory parameters. Studies with larger numbers of objects to definitively confirm these relationships are planned. In addition, an optimal selection of S-G filter parameters was carried out. Finally, a proprietary reference embedded system for recording RW and calculating RR was demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is an index of parasympathetic nervous system activity reflecting respiratory influences on heart rate. This influence is typically measured as high frequency heart rate variability (HF‐HRV) or root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD) of adjacent inter‐beat intervals. Examining the long‐term stability of its measurement is important as levels of resting RSA have been conceptualized as a marker of individual differences; in particular, of an individual's autonomic regulation and affect‐related processes, including emotion regulation. At present, it is not known if resting RSA levels reflect stable differences over a long‐term period (i.e., >1 year). Even less is known about how RSA stability differs as a function of depression history and whether it relates to depression risk trajectories. In the present study, we examined the 1.5‐year test–retest reliability of resting RSA using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) in 82 adults: n = 41 with a history of depression (ever‐depressed); n = 41 controls with no depression history (never‐depressed). HF‐HRV was fairly stable in both groups (ever‐depressed ICC = 0.55, never‐depressed ICC = 0.54). RMSSD was also fairly stable in ever‐depressed adults (ICC = 0.57) and never‐depressed controls (ICC = 0.40). ICC values for both indices did not differ between groups per overlapping 95% confidence intervals. Therefore, RSA stability as assessed by both frequency (HF‐HRV) and time domain (RMSSD) measures was not attenuated by a depression history. Implications and the need for future research are discussed. Researchers commonly utilize resting levels of parasympathetically‐mediated heart rate variability (e.g., HF‐HRV, RMSSD) to assess emotion regulation in healthy and clinical samples, particularly depression. However, little is known about its long‐term stability, and even less so in the presence of psychopathology. Our findings indicate that resting HF‐HRV and RMMSD are fairly stable indices of RSA over a period of 1.5 years, on average, among adults with and without a history of depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aging ushers in numerous disruptions to autonomic nervous system (ANS) function. Although the effects of aging on ANS function at rest are well characterized, there is surprising variation in reports of age‐related differences in ANS reactivity to psychosocial stressors, with some reports of decreases and other reports of increases in reactivity with age. The sources of variation in age‐related differences are largely unknown. Nonhuman primate models of socioaffective aging may help to uncover sources of this variation as nonhuman primates share key features of human ANS structure and function and researchers have precise control over the environments in which they age. In this report, we assess how response patterns to dynamic socioaffective stimuli in the parasympathetic and sympathetic branches of rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) ANS differ in aged compared to middle‐aged monkeys. We find that respiratory sinus arrhythmia, a cardiac indicator of activity in the parasympathetic branch of the ANS, exhibits age‐related disruptions in responding while monkeys view videos of conspecifics. This suggests that there are evolutionarily conserved mechanisms responsible for the patterns of affective aging observed in humans and that aged rhesus monkeys are a robust translational model for human affective aging. Understanding the socioemotional consequences of age‐related changes to people's physiological function is necessary for promoting wellbeing in aging populations. Such investigations in humans are difficult due to their protracted lifespans and the presence of confounds between age, health, and wellbeing. Here, we adopt a monkey model to evaluate how aging impacts autonomic reactivity to socioaffective stimuli and uncover phylogenetically shared features of psychophysiological aging between monkeys and humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extant research on physiological dysregulation in children has focused on point-in-time measures and absolute mean levels of physiology. However, these methods do not capture dynamic fluctuations in physiology that characterize dysregulation. In the present work, we aimed to assess whether physiological dysregulation as captured by fluctuations rather than mean levels would differentiate between children with and without clinically elevated levels of externalizing behavior. As an exploratory approach, we examined fluctuations in children's physiological responses (i.e., root mean square of successive differences [RMSSD] in beat-to-beat heart rate intervals) to social transgression scenarios across 15 short-term measurement occasions (5-second bins). Controlling for mean RMSSD, as well as emotional and cognitive correlates of externalizing behavior (i.e., sympathy and inhibitory control), children with externalizing difficulties exhibited greater within-person fluctuations in RMSSD (i.e., physiological dysregulation) compared to children without externalizing difficulties. The present findings provide preliminary support for using intensive longitudinal data comprised of short-term physiological measurements and point to the centrality of within-child physiological variability as a marker of dysregulation, particularly amongst children with externalizing disorders for whom self-regulation is a core challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maternal substance use may interfere with optimal parenting, lowering maternal responsiveness during interactions with their children. Previous work has identified maternal autonomic nervous system (ANS) reactivity to parenting‐relevant stressors as a promising indicator of real‐world parenting behaviors. However, less is known about the extent to which individual differences in emotion dysregulation and reward processing, two mechanisms of substance use, relate to maternal ANS reactivity in substance‐using populations. The current study examined associations among emotion dysregulation, reward responsiveness, and ANS reactivity to an infant cry task among 77 low‐income and substance‐using women who were either pregnant (n = 63) or postpartum (n = 14). Two indicators of ANS functioning were collected during a 9 min computerized infant cry task (Crybaby task): respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and pre‐ejection period. Mothers also completed self‐reported measures of emotion dysregulation and reward responsiveness. Analyses revealed that trait emotion regulation was associated with RSA reactivity to the Crybaby task, such that greater emotion dysregulation was associated with greater RSA reduction during the infant cry task than lower emotion dysregulation. Reward responsiveness was not significantly associated with either indicator of ANS reactivity to the task. Findings revealed distinct patterns of associations linking emotion dysregulation with ANS reactivity during a parenting‐related computerized task, suggesting that emotion regulation may be a key intervention target for substance‐using mothers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have shown that Trait Emotional Awareness (TEA) – the ability to recognize one's emotions – and Heart Rate Variability (HRV) are both negatively associated with psychological disorders. Although these studies imply that TEA is related to HRV and may explain the association between HRV and psychological disorders, there is limited research investigating this implication. Such investigation is essential to illuminate the psychophysiological processes linked to psychological disorders. The present study aims to investigate a) the association between TEA and HRV, b) the association between HRV and psychological disorders, and c) whether TEA explains the association between HRV and psychological disorders. A sample of 41 German students completed self-report questionnaires as indicators of psychological disorders, including the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS; Snaith & Zigmond, 1983) for anxiousness and depressiveness, as well as the somatization scale of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL; Derogatis et al., 1976) for physical complaints. HRV was measured at baseline (resting HRV) and during exposure to a fear-provoking movie clip (reactive HRV). As hypothesized, a) TEA showed a positive association with reactive HRV, b) HRV showed negative associations with anxiousness and physical complaints, and c) TEA explained the relationships between reactive HRV and anxiousness, as well as physical complaints. Contrary to our hypothesis, we did not find any association between HRV and depressiveness. We discussed the contribution of TEA to psychophysiological health, limited generalizability of the current study, and direct future research to explore the underlying mechanisms linking TEA to health.

Background: Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and biofeedback therapy are commonly regarded as effective treatment modalities for panic disorder. The aim of this study was to establish a Taiwanese version of an integrated cognitive-behavioral and biofeedback therapy (ICB) and examine its effects on panic disorder using psychological and physiological indicators. Methods: Thirty patients with panic disorder were enrolled in this study. They were randomly assigned to either the ICB group (n = 15) or the treatment as usual (TAU) group (n = 15). The intervention consisted of six sessions, conducted once a week. Psychological indicators were measured at baseline (prior to intervention), week 3, and week 6, while physiological indicators were measured at baseline and week 6. The psychological indicators included five scales, with the Panic Disorder Severity Scale (PDSS) being the primary measure. The physiological indicators included respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and skin conductance, which respectively represent parasympathetic and sympathetic activity. Results: Considering all participants, PDSS scores significantly decreased over time, but the difference between the ICB and TAU groups did not reach statistical significance. Among the physiological indicators, resting-state RSA and RSA under relaxation showed significant between-group differences over time, with the ICB group demonstrating a more pronounced improvement in RSA. Conclusion: In the context of existing pharmacological treatments, the benefits of ICB for panic disorder may not be observable through psychological indicators. However, it can lead to enhancement of parasympathetic activity as evidenced by the physiological indicators.

In the diagnosis of many disease entities directly or indirectly related to disorders of respiratory parameters and heart disease, an important support would be to estimate the temporal changes in these parameters (most often respiratory wave (RW) and respiratory rate (RR)) on the basis the results of measurements of other physiological parameters of the patient. Such a possibility exists during ECG examination. The paper presents three methods for estimating RWand RR using ECG signal processing. The three procedures developed are shown: using Savitzky–Golay filtering (S-G), the ECG-Derived Respiration method (EDR) and the Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia Analysis method (RSA). It must be clearly stated that the proposed methods are not designed to fully diagnose the patient’s respiratory function, but they can be applied to detect some conditions that are difficult to diagnose when performing an ECG, such as sleep-disordered breathing. The obtained results of the analysis were compared with those obtained from a dedicated measurement system developed by the authors. The second part of the paper will show the results of preliminary clinical verification of the developed analysis methods, taking into account the physiological parameters of the patient.

ObjectiveMaternal health and wellness during pregnancy are associated with long-term health outcomes in children. The current study examined whether infants of women who participated in a mindfulness-based intervention during pregnancy that reduced levels of stress and depression, increased physical activity, and improved glucose tolerance differed on biobehavioral markers of psychopathological and physical health risk compared with infants of women who did not.MethodsParticipants were 135 mother-infant dyads drawn from a racially and ethnically diverse, low-income sample experiencing high stress. The women participated in an intervention trial during pregnancy that involved assignment to either mindfulness-based intervention or treatment-as-usual (TAU). Infants of women from both groups were assessed at 6 months of age on sympathetic (preejection period), parasympathetic (respiratory sinus arrhythmia), and observed behavioral (negativity and object engagement) reactivity and regulation during the still face paradigm. Linear mixed-effects and generalized linear mixed-effects models were used to examine treatment group differences in infant outcomes.ResultsRelative to those in the intervention group, infants in the TAU group showed a delay in sympathetic activation and subsequent recovery across the still face paradigm. In addition, infants in the intervention group engaged in higher proportions of self-regulatory behavior during the paradigm, compared with the TAU group. No significant effect of intervention was found for parasympathetic response or for behavioral negativity during the still face paradigm.ConclusionsFindings provide evidence that maternal participation in a short-term, group mindfulness-based intervention during pregnancy is associated with the early development of salutary profiles of biobehavioral reactivity and regulation in their infants. Because these systems are relevant for psychopathology and physical health, prenatal behavioral interventions may benefit two generations.

Deficits in self-regulatory control (SRC) represent a core characteristic of externalizing (EXT) symptoms (e.g., rule-breaking behavior or aggressive behaviors) in adolescents. This review aims to specify the added value of ecologically valid assessments at a micro-level when examining the associations between SRC and EXT symptoms in adolescents. This systematic review was reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) 2020. The search strategy addressed the added value of (1) naturalistic assessment for the understanding of the relationship between (2) SRC and (3) EXT symptoms in (4) adolescents. We conducted comprehensive searches in bibliographic databases. An additional search was conducted in Google Scholar and supplementary studies were identified through backward and forward citation tracking. Twenty-four studies (n = 4071 adolescents) met the inclusion criteria. The methods used to assess naturalistic aspects included the experience sampling method (ecological momentary- or ambulatory assessment) and the time-course approach (i.e., real-time assessment of SRC processes referring to situations approximating real-life experience where SRC are to be engaged such as in frustrating situations). Micro-level ecological assessments, when mapping the intra-individual relationships between SRC processes and EXT symptoms over time in adolescents within their natural context (i.e., real world) of expression in real time, added a finer-grained observation alongside with a higher ecological validity. Micro-level approaches may enhance the understanding of the complex interplay between SRC and EXT symptoms in adolescence, especially in interventional studies, allowing for the acquisition of endpoints with a higher relevance for everyday functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concordance between physiological and emotional responses is central to models of emotion and has been shown to correspond to effective responses and well‐being in adults. A deeper understanding of physiological‐emotional concordance during ecologically relevant scenarios is essential to then determine if these associations predict mental health problems or can serve as a helpful biomarker of risk or resilience in adults and youth. The present study assessed the minute‐to‐minute associations between sympathetic (i.e., skin conductance level [SCL]) and parasympathetic (i.e., respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]) nervous system activity and self‐reported emotions, assessed via video‐mediated recall procedures, during a parent–adolescent conflict discussion task. Associations between emotion ratings and physiological activity were assessed in adolescents (N = 97; ages 10–15) and their adult caregivers (N = 97). Utilizing a multilevel modeling approach, findings demonstrated a significant positive association between SCL and emotion ratings for youth, suggesting that increased engagement and alertness contributed to more positive emotion. RSA was unrelated to emotion ratings. The presence of significant variability in associations indicated the presence of potential moderators. This could include clinically relevant processes (e.g., emotion regulation, relationship quality, and mental health). Future research should continue to build on findings to determine if, when, and for whom, physiological‐emotional concordance occurs, and whether the degree of concordance predicts risk for mental and physical health problems. Concordance between physiological and emotional responses is central to emotion models. Findings demonstrated momentary associations between increased SNS activity and more positive emotions for youth during an ecologically relevant parent–child conflict discussion, suggesting that increased engagement and alertness contributed to a more positive emotional experience. Results suggest significant individual differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Positive associations have been found between cortical thickness and measures of parasympathetic cardiac control (e.g., respiratory sinus arrhythmia, RSA) in adults, which may indicate mechanistic integration between neural and physiological indicators of stress regulation. However, it is unknown when in development this brain–body association arises and whether the direction of association and neuroanatomical localization vary across development. To investigate this, we collected structural magnetic resonance imaging and resting‐state respiratory sinus arrhythmia data from children in middle childhood (N = 62, Mage = 10.09, range: 8.28–12.14 years). Whole‐brain and exploratory ROI analyses revealed positive associations between RSA and cortical thickness in four frontal and parietal clusters in the left hemisphere and one cluster in the right. Exploratory ROI analyses revealed a similar positive association between cortical thickness and RSA, with two regions surviving multiple comparison correction, including the inferior frontal orbital gyrus and the Sylvian fissure. Prior work has identified these cortical areas as part of the central autonomic network that supports integrative regulation of stress response (e.g., autonomic, endocrine, and behavioral) and emotional expression. Our results suggest that the association between cortical thickness and resting RSA is present in middle childhood and is similar to the associations seen during adulthood. Future studies should investigate associations between RSA and cortical thickness among young children and adolescents. Positive correlations have been found between cortical thickness and parasympathetic nervous system functioning in adults. We show that these correlations between neural and physiological markers of emotional health may already be established during middle childhood, suggesting potential mechanistic pathways underlying emotional health development during middle childhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research suggests that women's autonomic nervous system responses to infant cries capture processes that affect their parenting behaviors. The aim of this study was to build on prior work by testing whether pregnant women's autonomic responses to an unfamiliar infant crying also predict their infants' emerging regulation abilities. Participants included 97 women in their third trimester of pregnancy, located in the United States. Most participants identified as White/non-Hispanic (48%) or Hispanic (30%), their mean age was approximately 30 years, and the modal family income was $40,000–$79,999. Pregnant women's respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and skin conductance levels (SCL)—which are thought to capture emotional engagement and behavioral inhibition, respectively—were measured while the women watched a relaxing video and a video of an unfamiliar infant crying. Approximately 7 months later, women and their infants completed the still-face paradigm (SFP). Infants' avoidance and resistance behaviors during the SFP reunions were rated. Pregnant women's RSA and SCL responses to the infant cry video uniquely predicted infants' avoidance (but not resistance) during the SFP. Infants displayed higher levels of avoidance when their mothers exhibited lower levels of RSA reactivity or when their mothers exhibited higher levels of SCL activity in response to the infant cry video. Maternal sensitivity during mother–infant free-play interactions did not mediate the associations between pregnant women's autonomic responses to the cry video and infants' avoidant behavior during the SFP. Discussion focuses on potential mechanisms underlying associations between pregnant women's autonomic responses to infant distress and infants' socioemotional development. Public Significance Statement: Autonomic markers of pregnant women's emotional responses to an unfamiliar infant crying collected before the birth of their child could predict their young infants' later socioemotional behaviors. Because infant development provides a foundation for later social and emotional development, these findings suggest that interventions targeting pregnant women's emotional responses to infants' distress cues may lead to improvements in children's socioemotional outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and biofeedback therapy are commonly regarded as effective treatment modalities for panic disorder. The aim of this study was to establish a Taiwanese version of an integrated cognitive-behavioral and biofeedback therapy (ICB) and examine its effects on panic disorder using psychological and physiological indicators. Thirty patients with panic disorder were enrolled in this study. They were randomly assigned to either the ICB group (n = 15) or the treatment as usual (TAU) group (n = 15). The intervention consisted of six sessions, conducted once a week. Psychological indicators were measured at baseline (prior to intervention), week 3, and week 6, while physiological indicators were measured at baseline and week 6. The psychological indicators included five scales, with the Panic Disorder Severity Scale (PDSS) being the primary measure. The physiological indicators included respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and skin conductance, which respectively represent parasympathetic and sympathetic activity. Considering all participants, PDSS scores significantly decreased over time, but the difference between the ICB and TAU groups did not reach statistical significance. Among the physiological indicators, resting-state RSA and RSA under relaxation showed significant between-group differences over time, with the ICB group demonstrating a more pronounced improvement in RSA. In the context of existing pharmacological treatments, the benefits of ICB for panic disorder may not be observable through psychological indicators. However, it can lead to enhancement of parasympathetic activity as evidenced by the physiological indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose : Exposure to aggressive parenting is a well-established environmental risk factor for anxiety symptoms. Moreover, autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity, including activity in both parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems (PNS and SNS), may moderate the effects of aggressive parenting on anxiety. This study aims to examine the interactive effects of aggressive parenting and ANS activity (both PNS and SNS) in accounting for trait anxiety among emerging adults. Methods: Participants (n = 190, mean age = 19.29, 56% females) reported retrospectively on childhood aggressive parenting and trait anxiety. In addition, we measured resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), an index of PNS, and resting skin conductance level (SCL), an index of SNS. Results: Regression analyses revealed that the three-way interaction between resting SCL, RSA, and aggressive parenting significantly accounted for trait anxiety. Simple slope analyses suggest that the relation between aggressive parenting and trait anxiety is stronger at lower conditional values of resting RSA and lower conditional values of resting SCL. Conclusion: Coinhibition, or relatively low activity across both systems, may exacerbate the link between aggressive parenting and trait anxiety. This study highlights the importance of considering the interaction effects of multiple physiological systems and environmental context on later psychological functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: A high prevalence of major depressive disorder (MDD) among Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) patients has been observed in both community and clinical populations. Due to the overlapping symptoms between both disorders, depression is usually misdiagnosed when correlated with OSA. Phase coherence between respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and respiration (λ RSA-RESP) has been proposed as an alternative measure for assessing vagal activity. Therefore, this study aims to investigate if there is any difference in λ RSA-RESP in OSA patients with and without MDD. Methods: Electrocardiograms (ECG) and breathing signals using overnight polysomnography were collected from 40 OSA subjects with MDD (OSAD+), 40 OSA subjects without MDD (OSAD-), and 38 control subjects (Controls) without MDD and OSA. The interbeat intervals (RRI) and respiratory movement were extracted from 5-min segments of ECG signals with a single apneic event during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) [353 segments] and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep stages [298 segments]. RR intervals (RRI) and respiration were resampled at 10 Hz, and the band passed filtered (0.10-0.4 Hz) before the Hilbert transform was used to extract instantaneous phases of the RSA and respiration. Subsequently, the λ RSA-RESP between RSA and Respiration and Heart Rate Variability (HRV) features were computed. Results: Our results showed that λ RSA-RESP was significantly increased in the OSAD+ group compared to OSAD-group during NREM and REM sleep. This increase was accompanied by a decrease in the low frequency (LF) component of HRV. Discussion: We report that the phase synchronization index between RSA and respiratory movement could provide a useful measure for evaluating depression in OSA patients. Our findings suggest that depression has lowered sympathetic activity when accompanied by OSA, allowing for stronger synchronization between RSA and respiration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the diagnosis of many disease entities directly or indirectly related to disorders of respiratory parameters and heart disease, an important support would be to estimate the temporal changes in these parameters (most often respiratory wave (RW) and respiratory rate (RR)) on the basis the results of measurements of other physiological parameters of the patient. Such a possibility exists during ECG examination. The paper presents three methods for estimating RWand RR using ECG signal processing. The three procedures developed are shown: using Savitzky-Golay filtering (S-G), the ECG-Derived Respiration method (EDR) and the Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia Analysis method (RSA). It must be clearly stated that the proposed methods are not designed to fully diagnose the patient's respiratory function, but they can be applied to detect some conditions that are difficult to diagnose when performing an ECG, such as sleep-disordered breathing. The obtained results of the analysis were compared with those obtained from a dedicated measurement system developed by the authors. The second part of the paper will show the results of preliminary clinical verification of the developed analysis methods, taking into account the physiological parameters of the patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical discipline increases children's risk of showing externalizing problems, whereas inductive discipline is negatively associated with children's risk of externalizing problems. Studies of parenting infrequently examine both positive and negative discipline techniques despite use of inductive and physical discipline being inversely related to each other and to child externalizing problems. A burgeoning literature on the biopsychosocial determinants of parenting is identifying cognitive and physiological mechanisms underlying the initiation and regulation of positive and negative parenting techniques. This cross-sectional study of parents of preschool-aged children (N = 70; 89% mothers, 43% racial–ethnic minorities) advances the parenting literature by examining predictors of parents' inductive and physical discipline use across their cognitive functioning, cardiovascular psychophysiology, children's externalizing behavior, and their interactions with one another. No main effects or interactions predicted inductive discipline, but the interaction between parents' inhibitory control and nonverbal intelligence predicted physical discipline, such that parents who scored low in both domains endorsed the most use of physical discipline in response to child misbehavior. Another interaction between parents' sympathetic activity and child externalizing behavior also predicted physical discipline. These findings are discussed in relation to parenting interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]