Linking bioregulatory systems: reciprocal autonomic activation predicts sleep over 1 year in middle childhood.

Abstract

This study examined reactivity to social-evaluative stress in the parasympathetic (PNS) and sympathetic (SNS) branches of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) as prospective predictors of sleep in middle childhood. Participants included 339 children (M age = 9 years and 5 months at T1; 54% female; 64% European American, 36% African American). Sleep efficiency, sleep minutes, and variability in sleep onset time were assessed with actigraphy for seven consecutive nights at T1 and 1 year later at T2. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia reactivity (RSAR) and skin conductance level reactivity (SCLR) were assessed in response to a developmentally salient social-evaluative stress task at T1. Controlling for demographic variables and the respective sleep parameter at T1, the interaction between RSAR and SCLR predicted T2 sleep efficiency and sleep minutes. Consistent with the hypothesized role of reciprocal sympathetic activation (higher SCLR) and parasympathetic withdrawal (higher RSAR), higher RSAR predicted higher sleep efficiency and sleep minutes among children with higher SCLR but not lower SCLR.