Children's Co-Occurring Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Responses to Social Challenge: Associations With Adaptive School Functioning

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 13
  In Poster Session: Supporting Young Children's Learning and Development

Abstract

Individual differences in children’s stress physiology have been linked to their learning and adaptive behaviors (Obradović, 2016). While much of extant research focuses on the responsivity of parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), less is known about children’s sympathetic nervous system (SNS) response to every day challenges and its links to children’s adaptation. Understanding how both PNS and SNS reactivity relate to children’s school functioning is critical for finding ways to help children cope with everyday school stressors. This study showed that children’s co-occurring SNS and PNS responses to a social-evaluative challenge that mimics academic classroom tasks are associated with parent report children’s academic competence, school engagement, and prosocial skills. Higher PNS reactivity and lower SNS reactivity were promotive of better outcomes.

Authors

• Emma Armstrong-Carter, Stanford University

• Danielle Roubinov, University of California San Francisco

• Thomas Boyce, University of California San Francisco

• Jelena Obradovic, Stanford University