Child Sex and Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia Reactivity as Moderators of the Relation Between Internalizing Symptoms and Aggression

Previous studies have examined sex differences in physiological responding, including respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) reactivity in response to changing stimulus conditions involving situation specific or gender related cues, in children and adolescents. The present study examined whether RSA rea...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback 2015-12, Vol.40 (4), p.269-276
Main Authors: Aults, Christopher D., Cooper, Patrick J., Pauletti, Rachel E., Jones, Nancy Aaron, Perry, David G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adjustment
Adolescent
Adolescent Behavior - physiology
Aggression - physiology
Arrhythmia
Behavior
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Biofeedback
Cardiac arrhythmia
Child
Children & youth
Comorbidity
Female
Gender differences
Girls
Health Psychology
Humans
Male
Peer Group
Physiological aspects
Physiology
Problem Behavior
Psychology
Psychopathology
Psychotherapy and Counseling
Public Health
Regulation
Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia - physiology
Sex Factors
Sinuses
Teenagers
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Summary:Previous studies have examined sex differences in physiological responding, including respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) reactivity in response to changing stimulus conditions involving situation specific or gender related cues, in children and adolescents. The present study examined whether RSA reactivity moderates the relation between aggression and internalizing symptoms and whether there are sex differences in this effect. Participants were 82 adolescents (M age = 12.1 years; 44 girls) from the general middle-school population. Peer nominations assessed aggression and internalizing symptoms, and RSA reactivity (defined as change in RSA from baseline to task) was recorded while participants anticipated and responded to an 85 dB signaled white-noise burst. For girls, internalizing symptoms were associated with aggression only if girls showed low RSA reactivity from baseline to task; there was no effect for boys. This association was absent when girls showed high RSA reactivity. Thus, child sex appears to influence not only levels of physiological responding but also relations of physiological responding to comorbidity of adjustment problems.
ISSN:1090-0586
1573-3270
DOI:10.1007/s10484-015-9294-9