2-123 - Autonomic Nervous System Psychophysiology from a Developmental Perspective

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Burgeoning child psychophysiological research has shed new light on the underpinnings of behavior, markers of psychopathology, variability in environmental effects, and consequences of long-term stress exposure. However, the vast majority of relevant studies use single-time assessments of psychophysiology and therefore overlook the developmental dynamics of psychophysiological measures. Furthermore, the psychophysiological field employs various methods for data acquisition and analysis, and tests of the differential validity of these approaches are needed. The papers in the proposed symposium advance the research on children’s autonomic nervous system activity and raise conceptual questions that are essential to developmental science.

The first paper examines the stability of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), cardiac pre-ejection period, and electrodermal activity at rest and in response to emotional videos, as well as developmental changes in associations between these psychophysiological measures and emotion regulation across three years of childhood. The second paper compares stability (within-individual variability over time), continuity (sample-level change over time), and plasticity (between-individual variability in change over time) in RSA reactivity across three years in childhood and three years in adolescence. The third paper combines data from five samples and examines the effects of mis-specifying breathing frequencies on estimates of RSA, RSA reactivity, associations with externalizing behaviors, and developmental shifts in RSA and RSA reactivity from childhood through adolescence. Using large and ethnically and socioeconomically diverse samples, these papers provide innovative evidence that the effects of psychophysiological variables depend on method of analysis (breathing frequencies, control for baseline) and developmental level (within childhood, between childhood and adolescence).

Sub Unit

• Biology and Neuroscience

Chairs

• Stephen Erath, Auburn University

• Mona El-Sheikh, Auburn University

Individual Presentations

• Developmental Patterns of Associations Across Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Autonomic Indices in Children - Presenting Author: Lisa Gatzke-Kopp, The Pennsylvania State University; Nilam Ram, Pennsylvania State University

• Evaluating Sensitive Periods in Development of Physiological Responsivity to Stress: Methodological Recommendations - Presenting Author: Ben Hinnant, Auburn University; Lauren Philbrook, Auburn University; Stephen Erath, Auburn University; Mona El-Sheikh, Auburn University

• Effects of Misspecifying Breathing Frequencies on Estimates of RSA and Relations to Externalizing Scores Across Development - Presenting Author: Theodore P. Beauchaine, The Ohio State University; Tiffany Shader, The Ohio State University