Poster #91 - Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia Moderates Relations Between Childhood Relational Trauma and Emotion Knowledge

• In Event: Poster Session 13

Abstract

Childhood relational trauma, which includes experiences of caregiver abuse, separation, and loss, has been associated with a wide range of negative outcomes including limited opportunities to develop emotional knowledge (i.e., identifying and labeling emotions; Kapeleris & Paivio, 2011). Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is a facet of vagal regulation that may qualify the impact of relational trauma on development (Porges, 2007). Although some data suggest that high resting RSA reflects a readiness to respond to stress and buffers against negative stress effects (Hagan et al., 2016), the moderating influence of RSA on relations between relational trauma and emotion knowledge remains unexamined. Thus, we tested hypothesized negative relations from childhood relational trauma (birth to 6 years) to emotion knowledge at age 8 as moderated by resting RSA, such that relations would be weaker among children with higher resting RSA at age 6.

Participants were 231 children (50.2% female, 45.9% Latine) drawn from an ongoing study of child development. Caregivers reported whether children experienced 14 types of relational trauma from birth to age 6 years and dichotomous scores (present/absent) were summed (M = 2.51, SD = 2.08). Children’s RSA was measured using spot electrodes at age 6 during a 4-minute rest period (Mbaseline = 6.74, SDbaseline = .99). Emotion knowledge was measured using the Kusche Emotion Inventory (KEI; Kusche, 1984) at age 8. Ten items indicated positive recognition and labeling (M = 1.83, SD = .14) and twenty items indicated negative emotion recognition and labeling (M = 1.84, SD = .16). Analyses controlled for children’s race-ethnicity, gender, income-to-poverty ratio, IQ, and prior emotion knowledge all at age 6 (see Table 1).

Relational trauma was not significantly related to resting RSA at age 6 or positive and negative emotion knowledge at age 8 (see Table 1). However, a moderator analysis using JASP (Version 0.16.3, JASP Team, 2022) with full information likelihood (FIML) showed that relational trauma was negatively related to positive emotion knowledge for children with relatively low resting RSA, but not for those with relatively high resting RSA, [B = 0.010, 95% C.I. (0.0006, 0.019), p = .037]. Resting RSA did not significantly moderate relations with negative emotion knowledge, [B = 0.006, 95% C.I (-0.004, 0.016), p = .251] (see Table 2).

These findings indicate that RSA protects children against the negative impact of relational trauma on children’s capacity to identify and label positive emotions. The development of emotion knowledge may be more nuanced than previously thought, with most prior research focusing on maltreatment and an increased sensitivity to anger (Pollak & Pawan, 2002). Our findings support prior evidence that positive and negative emotion dysregulation may be differentially associated with specific trauma types (Berfield et al., 2021). This study enhances our understanding of adaptive vagal regulation as a promising site for targeted interventions with children exposed to relational traumas.

Authors

• Derrian Tabilin, University of California - Riverside
  Presenting Author

• Kristen L. Rudd, University of California - San Francisco

• Tuppett M. Yates, University of California - Riverside