Lower resting cardiac autonomic balance in young adults with current major depression

Research on cardiac autonomic function in major depressive disorder (MDD) has predominantly examined cardiac vagal control and adopted a model of reciprocal autonomic balance. A proposed bivariate autonomic continuum uses cardiac autonomic balance (CAB) and cardiac autonomic regulation (CAR) models, derived from normalized values of respiratory sinus arrhythmia and pre-ejection period, to more adequately index patterns of autonomic control. The purpose of this study was to assess resting levels of CAB and CAR among young adults with and without a current diagnosis of major depression. One hundred forty-two young adults (n = 65 MDD, n = 77 healthy controls; 20.8 ± 2.6 years) completed a structured diagnostic interview, cardiovascular assessment, and a maximal aerobic fitness test. The findings revealed that CAB, but not CAR, significantly predicted current MDD status (OR = 0.70, 95% CI [0.53, 0.93]), an effect that remained after controlling for aerobic fitness and body mass index. Although CAB was found to be a significant predictor of current MDD status among a sample of young adults, there remained substantial variation in autonomic control that was not captured by the traditional model of reciprocal autonomic balance.