Vagal regulation and emotional intensity predict children's sleep problems

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Updated: Aug 18, 2026

Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood
08:09

Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood

Published on: February 11, 2017

Mona El-Sheikh1, Joseph A Buckhalt

  • 1Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA. elshemm@auburn.edu

Developmental Psychobiology
|April 16, 2005
PubMed

Insights

Children with higher emotional intensity and poorer vagal regulation experience more sleep problems. These factors, including emotionality and autonomic nervous system function, predict reduced sleep duration and quality in school-aged children.

Area of Science:

  • Child Psychology
  • Sleep Science
  • Psychophysiology

Background:

  • Sleep problems are common in school-aged children.
  • Understanding predictors of sleep disturbances is crucial for intervention.
  • Emotionality and autonomic nervous system function are potential contributing factors.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between children's emotional intensity and vagal functioning (respiratory sinus arrhythmia - RSA) and sleep problems.
  • To determine if emotionality and vagal regulation predict sleep duration, sleep quality, and nighttime activity.
  • To explore the role of these factors in healthy elementary school-aged children.

Main Methods:

  • Parental reports assessed children's dispositional emotionality.
  • Vagal regulation was measured using respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) during baseline and a reaction time task.
  • Sleep problems were assessed via child self-reports and wrist actigraphy over four nights.

Main Results:

  • Higher emotional intensity predicted shorter sleep duration and increased nighttime activity.
  • Poorer vagal regulation (lower RSA suppression) predicted more sleep problems, confirmed by both subjective and objective measures.
  • Both emotionality and vagal regulation uniquely predicted variance in sleep amount and quality.

Conclusions:

  • Children's emotional intensity and vagal regulation are significant predictors of sleep problems.
  • These psychophysiological factors may contribute to sleep disturbances in healthy children.
  • Findings highlight the interplay between emotional regulation and sleep health in pediatric populations.

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