Perceptions of Stress, Resting Parasympathetic Activity, and Variability in Children’s Value-Based Decision Making

• In Event: Probabilistic Emotion Signals Guide Inference and Behavior

Abstract

Value-based decision making, or the ability to learn when environmental cues signal potential rewards and threats and use that information to guide behavior, is critical for survival (Knutson & Sirangarajan, 2019; Debiec & Olsson, 2017). Chronic or extreme stress in childhood has been linked to alterations in these processes, but findings are still inconsistent. Some research finds stress is associated with altered behaviors, but others find no effect. Resting parasympathetic activity has been linked to flexible adaptation in the context of motivated responding, with low resting parasympathetic activity being associated with increased sensitivity to threat and increased avoidance behaviors (Smith et al, 2017; Katahira et al, 2013; Wendt et al, 2015). Given its role in motivated responding, resting parasympathetic may influence variability in how children use value information to make decisions. In the current study, we examined associations between children’s perceptions of stress, resting parasympathetic activity, and use of learned information to approach and avoid rewards and threats. Measures of resting parasympathetic activity and perceived stress were collected from forty-five eight- and nine-year-old children. Children underwent a two-part instrumental conditioning paradigm to assess their approach and avoidance of rewards and threats. First, they completed a basic conditioned learning paradigm in which they saw neutral shapes paired with rewards and threats. Then, they completed an approach avoidance task in which they saw the same neutral shapes and were asked to make decisions about whether to avoid or approach the different outcomes (Figure 1). We found that stress interacted with resting parasympathetic activity to influence how children approached and avoided rewards and threats (χ2(2) = 6.18, p = 0.04; Figure 2). Higher levels of perceived stress were associated with increased avoidance of rewards, but only in children with lower levels of resting parasympathetic activity (β = 0.73, SE = 0.34, p = 0.03). There were no differences in how children behaved in the context of threats (β = 0.10, SE = 0.51, p = 0.84). Overall, this research suggests resting parasympathetic activity moderates the effects of stress on children’s use of learned value information. It indicates that stress may increase avoidance behaviors but only in the presence of other markers of increased sensitivity to threat, like low resting parasympathetic activity. We discuss these findings in terms of the role resting parasympathetic activity may play in facilitating adaptive responses to stress.

Authors

• Karen E Smith, Rutgers University - Newark
  Presenting Author

• Seth David Pollak, University of Wisconsin - Madison