The implications of sympathetic and parasympathetic regulatory coordination for understanding child adjustment

Abstract

The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is comprised of sympathetic and parasympathetic branches that control core adaptive systems, including cardiac regulation, across periods of rest, reactivity, and recovery. Despite their heavily intertwined functions, research examining the coordination of parasympathetic and sympathetic ANS regulation is limited. This study examined the effects of 6‐year‐olds’ (N = 198; 49.5% female; 46% Latinx) capacity for ANS reactivity and recovery in both sympathetic (i.e., pre‐ejection period [PEP]) and parasympathetic (i.e., respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]) systems on their caregiver‐ and examiner‐reported adaptability and attention problems at age 8. Results indicated that children's later adaptation was better accounted for by the coordination of their PEP and RSA activity than by either system in isolation. Children who evidenced optimal reactivity and recovery patterns, which entail reciprocal sympathetic and parasympathetic activity, evidenced more adaptability and fewer attention problems at age 8. In contrast, children who displayed discoordinated ANS reactivity patterns (e.g., high activation of both systems) or a total failure to recover (e.g., short PEP connoting high sympathetic activity and low RSA connoting low parasympathetic activity) evidenced poorer adjustment. These findings illustrate the incremental knowledge afforded by the joint consideration of both sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of ANS regulation in concert, as well as the importance of considering both ANS reactivity and recovery capacities for understanding adaptation.

Children's physiological reactivity in emotion contexts and prosocial behavior

“…Kogan et al (2014) documented a negative quadratic relation between RSA activity during film clips of a person in distress and adults' self-reported prosocial behaviors such that moderate, but not extreme, levels of RSA activity during the film were positively associated with self-reported prosocial behavior, but this study did not examine reactivity in terms of the residualized change from baseline to challenge (El-Sheikh, Harger, & Whitson, 2001;Manuck, Kasprowicz, & Muldoon, 1990;Rudd & Yates, 2018). Kogan et al (2014) documented a negative quadratic relation between RSA activity during film clips of a person in distress and adults' self-reported prosocial behaviors such that moderate, but not extreme, levels of RSA activity during the film were positively associated with self-reported prosocial behavior, but this study did not examine reactivity in terms of the residualized change from baseline to challenge (El-Sheikh, Harger, & Whitson, 2001;Manuck, Kasprowicz, & Muldoon, 1990;Rudd & Yates, 2018).…”

“…Although several studies have documented quadratic associations between baseline RSA and prosocial behavior, very few have examined nonlinear relations between physiological reactivity to environmental challenges and prosocial behavior. Kogan et al (2014) documented a negative quadratic relation between RSA activity during film clips of a person in distress and adults' self-reported prosocial behaviors such that moderate, but not extreme, levels of RSA activity during the film were positively associated with self-reported prosocial behavior, but this study did not examine reactivity in terms of the residualized change from baseline to challenge (El-Sheikh, Harger, & Whitson, 2001;Manuck, Kasprowicz, & Muldoon, 1990;Rudd & Yates, 2018). Likewise, a recent study showed that patterns of RSA across baseline and film conditions predicted children's helping behaviors (Miller, Nuselovici, & Hastings, 2016), but this study did not examine the magnitude of RSA response from baseline to challenge (i.e., reactivity).…”

“…PEP data were obtained using dZ/dt waveforms to quantify the time interval in milliseconds from the onset of the ECG Q-wave to the B point of the dZ/ dt wave (Berntson et al, 2004). Manuck et al, 1990;Rudd & Yates, 2018). The resultant scores captured the child's ANS reactivity to (a) a sad scene depicting three young children sobbing after they learn that their mother has died from Crooklyn, (b) a happy scene depicting a children's food fight from Hook, and (c) a scary/fear scene depicting a train barreling down on two children from Stand By Me.…”

A latent change score approach to understanding dynamic autonomic coordination

“…A few studies have examined autonomic coordination within the cardiac system using either person-oriented profile-based conceptualizations of autonomic coordination (Alkon, Boyce, Davis, & Eskenazi, 2011;Salomon, Matthews, & Allen, 2000) or interactive, continuous analytic approaches (Clark, Skowron, Giuliano, & Fisher, 2016;Rudd & Yates, 2018;Suurland, van der Heijden, Huijbregts, Van Goozen, & Swaab, 2017). These studies have revealed interesting developmental patterns (e.g., coordinated profiles of regulatory activity appear to increase across the first five years of life; Alkon et al, 2011Alkon et al, , 2014 and adaptive implications of autonomic coordination (e.g., children who had interactive patterns of sympathetic and parasympathetic coactivation or coinhibition in response to interpersonal stress as infants show higher levels of physical aggression than those who evidenced reciprocal autonomic coordination; Suurland et al, 2017).…”

Cortical and affective regulation of autonomic coordination

“…Although extensive evidence confirms the ability of each branch of the autonomic nervous system to act independently (Berntson, Cacioppo, & Quigley, ; Berntson, Cacioppo, Quigley, & Fabro, ), the extent and nature of coordination between sympathetic and parasympathetic branches may have additional meaning beyond the amount of activation in either branch alone (Quas et al, ; Rudd & Yates, ). The extent of coordination between sympathetic and parasympathetic influences on cardiac function is presumably regulated by higher‐order central nervous system networks capable of integrating complex information related to situational context and motivational goals to deliver efferent signals to the peripheral nervous system in support of the behavioral responses necessary to meet the current environmental demands (e.g., Critchley et al, ; Smith, Thayer, Khalsa, & Lane, ).…”