Abstract
ObjectiveEarly life stress has been shown to influence the developing autonomic nervous system. Stressors in infancy may program the autonomic nervous system resting state set point, affecting cardiovascular function in later life. Excessive crying may be an indicator of increased stress arousal in infancy. We hypothesized that excessive infant crying is related to altered cardiac autonomic nervous system activity and increased blood pressure at age 5–6 years.MethodsIn the Amsterdam Born Children and their Development study, excessive crying, maternal burden of infant care and maternal aggressive behavior in the 13th week after birth (range 11–16 weeks) were reported using questionnaires. Blood pressure, heart rate, heart rate variability and indicators of cardiac autonomic nervous system activity (sympathetic drive by pre-ejection period, parasympathetic drive by respiratory sinus arrhythmia) were measured at age 5–6 years during rest. Inclusion criteria were singleton birth, term-born, and no reported congenital or cardiovascular problems (N = 2153 included).ResultsExcessive crying (2.8%) was not associated with resting heart rate, heart rate variability, pre-ejection period, respiratory sinus arrhythmia nor with blood pressure at age 5–6 years.ConclusionsExcessive infant crying as an indicator of increased stress arousal does not seem to be related to resting activity of the autonomic nervous system or blood pressure at age 5–6. Potential associations may become visible under stressed conditions.
Highlights
During the first years of life the autonomic nervous system (ANS) is developing continuously: heart rate (HR) decreases, parasympathetic nervous system activation increases and sympathetic nervous system activation decreases, and frequency of classic reactivity profiles of reciprocal sympathetic activation and parasympathetic withdrawal increases [1]
The funding sources had no role in study design, data collection, analysis and interpretation of data
Children enduring the stress of chronic pain had significantly lower resting heart rate variability (HRV) compared to healthy children [3]
Summary
During the first years of life the autonomic nervous system (ANS) is developing continuously: heart rate (HR) decreases, parasympathetic nervous system activation increases and sympathetic nervous system activation decreases, and frequency of classic reactivity profiles of reciprocal sympathetic activation and parasympathetic withdrawal increases [1]. Mental stress in children has been suggested to affect the resting state set point of the developing ANS. Children enduring the stress of chronic pain had significantly lower resting heart rate variability (HRV) compared to healthy children [3]. A harsh childhood family environment and negative emotionality have been shown to predict increased blood pressure (BP) after 10 years [4]. University students who lost a parent before the age of 16 or who reported poor quality of family relationships showed higher BP [5]
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