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Cumulative risk exposure moderates the association between parasympathetic reactivity and inhibitory control in

Ryan J Giuliano1, Leslie E Roos1, Jessica D Farrar1

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon.

Developmental Psychobiology
|January 19, 2018
PubMed

Insights

Early life stress impacts children's self-regulation and inhibitory control (IC). High cumulative risk disrupts the connection between physiological responses, like parasympathetic activity, and behavioral outcomes in young children.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Child Health

Background:

  • Early life stress exposure is linked to altered self-regulation and neurobiological correlates of inhibitory control (IC) in children.
  • The role of the parasympathetic nervous system, indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), in moderating this relationship is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how children's parasympathetic nervous system activity influences the impact of cumulative risk on inhibitory control.
  • To examine the interplay between physiological regulation (RSA reactivity) and behavioral regulation (IC) under varying levels of early life risk.

Main Methods:

  • Assessed inhibitory control (IC) using two laboratory tasks in children aged 3-5 years.
  • Measured respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) during IC tasks to index parasympathetic nervous system activity.
  • Quantified cumulative risk exposure and analyzed its interaction with RSA reactivity in relation to IC performance.

Main Results:

  • Children with higher cumulative risk exhibited lower inhibitory control (IC).
  • Cumulative risk moderated the association between RSA reactivity and IC; greater RSA withdrawal predicted better IC in low-risk children, but not in high-risk children.
  • The negative effects of risk on IC were more pronounced with cumulative measures compared to individual risk factors.

Conclusions:

  • Cumulative risk exposure in early childhood disrupts the integration of physiological and behavioral self-regulation components.
  • Parasympathetic withdrawal during cognitive tasks may be less critical for inhibitory control in children facing significant life stress.

Keywords:
cumulative riskearly adversityindividual differencesinhibitory controlrespiratory sinus arrhythmia

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