Moderate baseline vagal tone predicts greater prosociality in children.

Abstract

Vagal tone is widely believed to be an important physiological aspect of emotion regulation and associated positive behaviors. However, there is inconsistent evidence for relations between children’s baseline vagal tone and their helpful or prosocial responses to others (Hastings & Miller, 2014). Recent work in adults suggests a quadratic association (inverted U-shape curve) between baseline vagal tone and prosociality (Kogan et al., 2014). The present research examined whether this nonlinear association was evident in children. We found consistent evidence for a quadratic relation between vagal tone and prosociality across 3 samples of children using 6 different measures. Compared to low and high vagal tone, moderate vagal tone in early childhood concurrently predicted greater self-reported prosociality (Study 1), observed empathic concern in response to the distress of others and greater generosity toward less fortunate peers (Study 2), and longitudinally predicted greater self-, mother-, and teacher-reported prosociality 5.5 years later in middle childhood (Study 3). Taken together, our findings suggest that moderate vagal tone at rest represents a physiological preparedness or tendency to engage in different forms of prosociality across different contexts. Early moderate vagal tone may reflect an optimal balance of regulation and arousal that helps prepare children to sympathize, comfort, and share with others.

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia and prosociality in childhood: Evidence for a quadratic effect

“…Broadly, our research supports that resting RSA is quadratically related to prosociality. However, in contrast to Miller et al (), who found this association in a low‐risk sample of 3‐ to 4‐year‐olds, we did not find consistent relations between resting RSA and prosociality in our sample of 4‐year‐olds. One potential explanation for these divergent findings is that the Miller et al () study used observed behavior in lab‐based tasks to assess situation‐specific prosociality in their low‐risk sample of children.…”

“…However, in contrast to Miller et al (), who found this association in a low‐risk sample of 3‐ to 4‐year‐olds, we did not find consistent relations between resting RSA and prosociality in our sample of 4‐year‐olds. One potential explanation for these divergent findings is that the Miller et al () study used observed behavior in lab‐based tasks to assess situation‐specific prosociality in their low‐risk sample of children. We used dispositional child and caregiver reports that asked how the child generally acts and feels, and the associations between state and dispositional measures can be weak in childhood (e.g., Zuffiano, Sette, Colasante, Buchmann, & Malti, ).…”

“…In support of this quadratic approach to the resting RSA‐prosociality link, Miller et al () found that children with moderate resting RSA had higher prosociality than those with lower and higher levels. They found this quadratic relation in three different studies of samples with varying levels of externalizing and internalizing problems.…”

“…Miller et al () provides initial evidence for a quadratic relation between resting RSA and prosociality in children. However, the conclusions that can be drawn from their research are limited by only concurrently assessing a single group of typically developing 3‐ to 4‐year‐olds.…”

Children's physiological reactivity in emotion contexts and prosocial behavior

“…The obtained results supported prior assertions that (a) parasympathetic reactivity may be more relevant for understanding prosocial behavior than sympathetic reactivity (Porges, 1995(Porges, , 2007, (b) the nature of these relations may be nonlinear (Kogan et al, 2014;Miller et al, 2017), and (c) empathy-inducing stimuli, such as sadness, may be more relevant than other emotion contexts for understanding prosocial development (Eisenberg, 2010;Eisenberg & Fabes, 1990). The obtained results supported prior assertions that (a) parasympathetic reactivity may be more relevant for understanding prosocial behavior than sympathetic reactivity (Porges, 1995(Porges, , 2007, (b) the nature of these relations may be nonlinear (Kogan et al, 2014;Miller et al, 2017), and (c) empathy-inducing stimuli, such as sadness, may be more relevant than other emotion contexts for understanding prosocial development (Eisenberg, 2010;Eisenberg & Fabes, 1990).…”