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Marital conflict and growth in children's internalizing symptoms: the role of autonomic nervous system activity

Mona El-Sheikh1, Margaret Keiley1, Stephen Erath1

  • 1Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Auburn University.

Developmental Psychology
|March 28, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Children

Area of Science:

  • Child Psychology
  • Developmental Neuroscience
  • Psychophysiology

Background:

  • Internalizing symptoms like anxiety and depression are significant concerns in child development.
  • Understanding the interplay between environmental stressors and physiological responses is crucial for predicting symptom trajectories.
  • Interparental marital conflict represents a key environmental risk factor impacting children's emotional well-being.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine how children's sympathetic nervous system activity (skin conductance level - SCL) and parasympathetic nervous system activity (respiratory sinus arrhythmia - RSA) interact with interparental marital conflict.
  • To predict the developmental trajectories of internalizing symptoms, specifically anxiety and depression, in children.
  • To investigate specific physiological patterns (coinhibition and reciprocal parasympathetic activation) as vulnerability markers.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study design with three waves of data collection over a 1-year interval.
  • Assessment of children's internalizing symptoms (anxiety and depression) at each wave.
  • Measurement of children's physiological activity (SCL and RSA) at baseline and in response to a challenging task.

Main Results:

  • Girls exhibiting low RSA and low SCL (coinhibition) or increasing RSA with decreasing SCL (reciprocal parasympathetic activation) were more susceptible to high or escalating anxiety and depression.
  • These physiological patterns conferred heightened risk, particularly when children experienced high interparental marital conflict.
  • The findings underscore the significance of considering both environmental and physiological factors concurrently.

Conclusions:

  • Specific patterns of autonomic nervous system activity (RSA and SCL) are associated with increased risk for internalizing symptoms in girls.
  • Interparental marital conflict exacerbates the risk conferred by certain physiological profiles.
  • Concurrent assessment of environmental risks and physiological functioning is essential for accurate prediction of childhood anxiety and depression development.

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