Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia Moderates the Association Between Parental Depression and Child Pre-Sleep Arousal

• In Event: Poster Session 05
  In Poster Session: PS 05 Topic - Biological Processes: Psychophysiology

Abstract

The parasympathetic nervous system, indexed via respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), is associated with sleep difficulties in children, such that lower RSA predicts more sleep difficulties (El-Sheikh et al., 2013). Moreover, higher maternal depression is associated with poorer child sleep and more sleep awakenings (Warren et al., 2006). In addition to the additive effects, there may be interactive effects between RSA and parental depression. The positive relationship between maternal depression and infant sleep problems is stronger for infants with higher baseline RSA (Gueron-Sela et al., 2016). Despite these findings, it is still unclear whether child RSA reactivity to stress interacts with parental depression, especially with father depression, and whether pre-sleep arousal is a key variable in these associations. Therefore, the current study examines interactions between RSA (baseline and reactivity) and parental depression (mother and father) in the prediction of child pre-sleep arousal.
Data are from 199 children (Mage = 8.72 years, 77% white, 51% male) and their mothers (91.0% biological) and fathers (82.4% biological). Child RSA was monitored during a three-minute baseline period, during which participants were asked to sit quietly without any activity. Children then completed a mirror tracing task. To record RSA, electrodes were placed on the torso. RSA was averaged into a single value for the baseline period and for the mirror-tracing task. Children completed the physiological and cognitive pre-sleep arousal scales of the Pre-Sleep Arousal Scale (PSAS; Nicassio et al., 1985). Parents completed the Center for Epidemiologic Studies – Depression scale, revised (CESD-R; Radloff, 1977).
Data were analyzed using multiple regression. Separate models were fit with cognitive and physiological pre-sleep arousal as dependent variables. For all of the models, child sex, child age, and respective parent age were included in analyses. Additionally, for RSA reactivity, residualized change scores were used. Separate models were fit for mother and father depression, as well as for RSA baseline and RSA reactivity (4 models fit for each DV). Variables were mean-centered prior to computing cross-products. Interactions with p values less than .1 were probed using PROCESS (Hayes, 2018). Regression results are shown in Table 1. Three interactions were significant at .05, and one was marginally significant at .1. There is a positive relation between father depression and child cognitive pre-sleep arousal for children who have lower but not higher baseline RSA (Figure 1a). The interaction was similar for physiological pre-sleep arousal. There was a negative relation between father depression and physiological pre-sleep arousal only for children who increase RSA during stress (interaction not shown). On the other hand, there is a negative relation between mother depression and physiological pre-sleep arousal only for children who decrease RSA during stress (Figure 1b). Results show that father depression may have an important impact on child sleep, and that RSA reactivity may be an important moderator of associations between parental depression and child pre-sleep arousal.

Authors

• Kyle Rawn, University of Kentucky
  Presenting Author

• Grace Markowski, University of Kentucky
  Non-Presenting Author

• Peggy S Keller, University of Kentucky
  Non-Presenting Author