Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia Moderates the Relation between Parent-Adolescent Relationship Quality and Adolescents' Social Adjustment.

Jolien Van Der Graaff,Susan Branje,Anton Van Boxtel,Pol Van Lier,Wim Meeus,Minet De Wied

doi:10.1007/s10802-015-9989-7

Abstract

This 2-wave longitudinal study aimed (1) to investigate whether high resting RSA predicted adolescents’ lower externalizing behavior and higher empathic concern, and (2) to address the potential moderating role of resting RSA in the association between parent-adolescent relationship quality and adolescents’ externalizing behavior and empathic concern. In a sample of 379 adolescents (212 boys, 167 girls), resting RSA was assessed during a laboratory session, and adolescents reported on parental support, negative interaction with parents, empathic concern and externalizing behavior during a home visit. We found no support for high resting RSA predicting low externalizing behavior or high empathic concern. However, in line with our hypotheses, we did find several instances of RSA functioning as a moderator, although the interaction patterns varied. First, negative interaction with parents was a negative predictor of externalizing behavior for girls low in resting RSA, whereas the association was non-significant for girls with high RSA. Second, higher negative interaction with parents predicted lower empathic concern for boys high in resting RSA, whereas the association was reversed for boys with low resting RSA. Third, parental support was a positive predictor of empathic concern for girls high in resting RSA, whereas the association was non-significant for girls low in resting RSA. The findings suggest that adolescents with different levels of resting RSA respond differentially to relationship quality with parents.

Highlights

This 2-wave longitudinal study aimed (1) to investigate whether high resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) predicted adolescents’ lower externalizing behavior and higher empathic concern, and (2) to address the potential moderating role of resting RSA in the association between parent-adolescent relationship quality and adolescents’ externalizing behavior and empathic concern
Boys’ resting RSA was not significantly related to parental support, negative interaction with parents, empathic concern at Time 2, and externalizing behavior at Time 1 and Time 2
We examined whether the interaction patterns were consistent with either the notion that high resting RSA functions as a protective factor (Ellis et al 2011), or the notion that high resting RSA functions as a susceptibility factor (Beauchaine 2001; Thayer and Lane 2000)

Summary

Introduction

J Abnorm Child Psychol (2016) 44:269–281 resting RSA predicted higher externalizing behavior, (2) whether low resting RSA predicted lower empathic concern, and (3) whether and how resting RSA moderated the link between parent-adolescent relationship quality and adolescents’ social functioning. Theorists suggest that resting RSA reflects the degree to which an individual is able to respond flexibly to changes in the internal and external environment (Porges 1995; Thayer and Lane 2000) They postulate that the ability of the parasympathetic nervous system to inhibit autonomic arousal during fight or flight responses to environmental challenges is essential in the regulation and expression of emotions, and they propose resting RSA as an index of these self-regulatory capacities (see Appelhans and Luecken 2006). Inconsistencies in results may be due to differences in the assessment of RSA (e.g., under standardized laboratory conditions vs. assessment at schools) or sample characteristics (e.g., school age children vs. young adults)

Methods

Results

Conclusion