Children's biological responsivity to acute stress predicts concurrent cognitive performance

Area of Science:

• Child Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Psychophysiology

Background:

• Prior research has characterized stress system reactivity (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, HPAA; autonomic nervous system, ANS) in children.
• The link between biological reactivity and concurrent goal-directed behavior under stress in children remains under-examined.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the extent to which biological reactivity predicts cognitive function under stress in children.
• To examine gender as a moderator of the relationship between stress system reactivity and goal-directed behavior.
• To explore the links between HPAA (cortisol) and ANS (respiratory sinus arrhythmia, RSA; pre-ejection period, PEP) reactivity and cognitive performance.

Main Methods:

• A stressor paradigm was used to concurrently assess stress system reactivity and performance on a speeded-response task.
• Sociodemographic covariates (age, household income), HPAA (cortisol), and ANS (RSA, PEP) were assessed in a diverse sample of young children (N=58).
• Two-group structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to analyze the data.

Main Results:

• Females generally outperformed males on the cognitive task.
• For males, greater respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) withdrawal to the stressor was associated with better performance.
• For females, older age, higher household income, and greater cortisol reactivity were associated with better performance.

Conclusions:

• Stress system reactivity is relevant to cognitive performance under stress in children.
• Gender moderates the relationship between biological reactivity and goal-directed behavior.
• Further research is needed to understand the specific conditions under which biological reactivity predicts behavior.