Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Examining the Relations Between Children’s Vagal Flexibility Across Social Stressor Tasks and Parent- and Clinician-Rated Anxiety Using Baseline Data from an Early Intervention for Inhibited Preschoolers

  • Published:
Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Early behavioral inhibition (BI) is a known risk factor for later anxiety disorder. Variability in children’s parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) functioning may provide insight into the substantial heterogeneity in anxiety outcomes for children high in BI. However, gaps persist due to an over-reliance on static measures of functioning, which limits our ability to leverage PNS functioning to identify risk for anxiety. We address these gaps using baseline data from an early intervention study of inhibited preschoolers by characterizing vagal flexibility (VF), an index of non-linear change in PNS functioning, across social stressor tasks and by examining the associations between VF and anxiety. One hundred and fifty-one parents and their 3.5- to 5-year-old children were selected on the basis of BI to participate in an early intervention program (ClinicalTrials.gov registration: NCT02308826). A structural equation modeling framework was used to model children’s VF across tasks designed to mimic exposure to novel social interactions and to test the predictive links between VF and anxiety. Children who showed less VF, characterized by less suppression and flatter recovery, were rated by both parents and clinicians as more anxious. Moreover, a multiple group model showed that children meeting diagnostic criteria for social anxiety disorder demonstrated significantly less VF across social stressor tasks. Among inhibited youth, reduced VF is a risk factor for anxiety and may reflect an individual’s reduced capacity to actively cope with external demands. Study results contribute to our understanding of the regulatory processes underlying risk for anxiety in early childhood.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Achenbach, T. M. (1991). Manual for the child behavior checklist/ 4–18 and 1991 profile. Burlington VT.

    Google Scholar 

  • Asher, M., Asnaani, A., & Aderka, I. M. (2017). Gender differences in social anxiety disorder: A review. Clinical Psychology Review, 56, 1–12.

  • Beauchaine, T. (2001). Vagal tone, development, and Gray’s motivational theory: toward an integrated model of autonomic nervous system functioning in psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 13, 183–214. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579401002012

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Beauchaine, T. P. (2012). Physiological markers of emotional and behavioral dysregulation in externalizing psychopathology. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 77(2), 79–86. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5834.2011.00665.x

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Beauchaine, T. P. (2015). Respiratory sinus arrhythmia: A transdiagnostic biomarker of emotion dysregulation and psychopathology. Current opinion in Psychology, 3, 43–47.

  • Beauchaine, T. P., Bell, Z., Knapton, E., McDonough-Caplan, H., Shader, T., & Zisner, A. (2019). Respiratory sinus arrhythmia reactivity across empirically based structural dimensions of psychopathology: a meta-analysis. Psychophysiology, 56(5), e13329. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.13329

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Beauchaine, T. P., & Hinshaw, S. P. (2020). RDoC and psychopathology among youth: misplaced assumptions and an agenda for future research. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 49(3), 322–340. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2020.1750022

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bentler, P. M. (1990). Comparative fit indexes in structural models. Psychological Bulletin, 107(2), 238.

  • Bertalanffy, L. V. (1972). The history and statm of general systems theory. Academy of Management Journal, 15, 407–426.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, G., Spence, S. H., & McDonald, C. (2003). Can Parents and Teachers Provide a Reliable and Valid Report of Behavioral Inhibition? Child Development, 74, 1899–1917. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1467-8624.2003.00645.x

  • Bornas, X., Balle, M., De la Torre-Luque, A., Fiol-Veny, A., & Llabrés, J. (2015). Ecological assessment of heart rate complexity: differences between high- and low-anxious adolescents. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 98(1), 112–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2015.07.007

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brooker, R. J., & Buss, K. A. (2010). Dynamic measures of RSA predict distress and regulation in toddlers. Developmental Psychobiology, 52(4), 372–382. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.20432

  • Brooker, R. J., Buss, K. A., Lemery-Chalfant, K., Aksan, N., Davidson, R. J., & Goldsmith, H. H. (2013). The development of stranger fear in infancy and toddlerhood: normative development, individual differences, antecedents, and outcomes. Developmental Science., 16, 864–878. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12058

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Browne, M. W., & Cudeck, R. (1993). Alternative ways of assessing model fit. In K. A. Bollen, & J. S. Long (Eds.), Testing structural equation models (pp. 136–162). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

  • Burt, K. B., & Obradović, J. (2013). The construct of psychophysiological reactivity: statistical and psychometric issues. Developmental Review, 33(1), 29–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2012.10.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buss, K. A., Davis, E. L., Kiel, E. J., Brooker, R. J., Beekman, C., & Early, M. C. (2013). Dysregulated fear predicts social wariness and social anxiety symptoms during kindergarten. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 42, 603–616. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2013.769170

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Buss, K. A., Davis, E. L., Ram, N., & Coccia, M. (2017). Dysregulated fear, social inhibition, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia: a replication and extension. Child Development, 00, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12774

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buss, K. A., Davis, E. L., Ram, N., & Coccia, M. (2018). Dysregulated fear, social inhibition, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia: a replication and extension. Child Development, 89(3), e214–e228. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12774

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cacioppo, J. T., Tassinary, L. G., & Berntson, G. (2007). Handbook of psychophysiology. Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carter, C. S., & Porges, S. W. (2013). The biochemistry of love: an oxytocin hypothesis. EMBO Reports, 14, 12–16. https://doi.org/10.1038/embor.2012.191

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chronis-Tuscano, A., Danko, C. M., Rubin, K. H., Coplan, R. J., Novick, R., & D. (2018). Future directions for research on early intervention for young children at risk for social anxiety. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 00, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2018.1426006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chronis-Tuscano, A., Degnan, K. A., Pine, D. S., Perez-Edgar, K., Henderson, H. A., Diaz, Y., et al. (2009). Stable early maternal report of behavioral inhibition predicts lifetime social anxiety disorder in adolescence. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 48, 928–935. https://doi.org/10.1097/CHI.0b013e3181ae09df

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Chronis-Tuscano, A., Novick, D. R., Danko, C. M., Smith, K. A., Wagner, N. J., Wang, C. H., et al. (2021). Early intervention for inhibited young children: a randomized controlled trial comparing the Turtle Program and Cool Little Kids. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 63(3), 273–281. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13475

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cui, L., Morris, A. S., Harrist, A. W., Larzelere, R. E., Criss, M. M., & Houltberg, B. J. (2015). Adolescent RSA responses during an anger discussion task: relations to emotion regulation and adjustment. Emotion, 15(3), 360–372. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000040

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Cui, L., Zhang, X., Houltberg, B. J., Criss, M. M., & Morris, A. S. (2019). RSA reactivity in response to viewing bullying film and adolescent social adjustment. Developmental Psychobiology, 61(4), 592–604. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.21835

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Darling, L. N., Holochwost, S. J., Coffman, J., Propper, C. B., & Wagner, N. J. (2022). Context is key: parasympathetic regulation in the classroom differentially predicts preschoolers’ socially competent behaviors. Developmental Psychobiology, 64(2), e22246. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.22246

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg, J., Natella Ben-Daniel, M., & Mei-Tal, G. (2004). An autonomic nervous system biofeedback modality for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity. The Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences, 41(1), 45–53.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Enders, C. K. (2001). A primer on maximum likelihood algorithms available for use with missing data. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 8, 128–141. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15328007SEM0801

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eaves, L. C., Wingert, H. D., Ho, H. H., & Mickelson, E. C. (2006). Screening for autism spectrum disorders with the social communication questionnaire. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 27(2), S95–S103.

  • Fox, N., Henderson, H. A., & Rubin, K. H. (2001). Continuity and discontinuity of behavioral inhibition and exuberance: psychophysiological and behavioral influences across the first four years of life. Child Development, 72(1), 1–21.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fox, N. A., Buzzell, G. A., Morales, S., Valadez, E. A., Wilson, M., & Henderson, H. A. (2021). Understanding the emergence of social anxiety in children with behavioral inhibition. Biological Psychiatry, 89(7), 681–689. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.10.004

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fox, N. A., Henderson, H. A., Marshall, P. J., Nichols, K. E., & Ghera, M. M. (2005). Behavioral inhibition: linking biology and behavior within a developmental framework. Annual Review of Psychology, 56, 235–262. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.55.090902.141532

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, B. H. (2007). An autonomic flexibility–neurovisceral integration model of anxiety and cardiac vagal tone. Biological Psychology, 74(2), 185–199.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, B. H., & Thayer, J. F. (1998). Anxiety and autonomic flexibility: a cardiovascular approach. Biological Psychology, 47(3), 243–263.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ginsburg, G. S., Drake, K. L., Tein, J. Y., Teetsel, R., & Riddle, M. A. (2015). Preventing onset of anxiety disorders in offspring of anxious parents: a randomized controlled trial of a family-based intervention. American Journal of Psychiatry, 172(12), 1207–1214.

  • Granic, I. (2014). The role of anxiety in the development, maintenance, and treatment of childhood aggression. Development and Psychopathology, 26, 1515–1530. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579414001175

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Greaves-Lord, K., Tulen, J., Dietrich, A., Sondeijker, F., van Roon, A., Oldehinkel, A., et al. (2010). Reduced autonomic flexibility as a predictor for future anxiety in girls from the general population: the TRAILS study. Psychiatry Research, 179(2), 187–193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2009.04.014

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hastings, P. D., Kahle, S., Fleming, C., Lohr, M. J., Katz, L. F., & Oxford, M. L. (2019). An intervention that increases parental sensitivity in families referred to Child Protective Services also changes toddlers’ parasympathetic regulation. Developmental Science, 22(1), e12725. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12725

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hastings, P. D., Nuselovici, J. N., Utendale, W. T., Coutya, J., McShane, K. E., & Sullivan, C. (2008). Applying the polyvagal theory to children’s emotion regulation: social context, socialization, and adjustment. Biological Psychology, 79, 299–306. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2008.07.005

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Henderson, H. A., Marshall, P. J., Fox, N. A., & Rubin, K. H. (2004). Psychophysiological and behavioral evidence for varying forms and functions of nonsocial behavior in preschoolers. Child Development, 75, 251–263. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00667.x

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hinnant, J. B., & El-Sheikh, M. (2009). Children’s externalizing and internalizing symptoms over time: the role of individual differences in patterns of RSA responding. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 37, 1049–1061. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-009-9341-1

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1998). Fit indices in covariance structure modeling: sensitivity to underparameterized model misspecification. Psychological Methods, 3, 424–453. https://doi.org/10.1037//1082-989X.3.4.424

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kagan, J., Reznick, J. S., & Gibbons, J. (1989). Inhibited and uninhibited types of children. Child Development, 60, 838–845.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kagan, J., & Snidman, N. (1999). Early childhood predictors of adult anxiety disorders. Biological Psychiatry, 46(11), 1536–1541.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kagan, J., Snidman, N., Kahn, V., Towsley, S., Steinberg, L., & Fox, N. A. (2007). The preservation of two infant temperaments into adolescence. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 72(2), i–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, S. J., Rapee, R. M., & Edwards, S. L. (2009). A selective intervention program for inhibited preschool-aged children of parents with an anxiety disorder: Effects on current anxiety disorders and temperament. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 48(6), 602–609.

  • Kirschbaum, C., Pirke, K.-M., & Hellhammer, D. H. (1993). The “Trier Social Stress Test”: a tool for investigating psychobiological stress responses in a laboratory setting. Neuropsychobiology, 28(1–2), 76–81. https://doi.org/10.1159/000119004

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kotov, R., Krueger, R. F., Watson, D., Achenbach, T. M., Althoff, R. R., Bagby, R. M., et al. (2017). The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP): a dimensional alternative to traditional nosologies. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 126(4), 454–477. https://doi.org/10.1037/abn0000258

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kudielka, B. M., Hellhammer, D. H., & Kirschbaum, C. (2010). Ten years of research with the Trier Social Stress Test - revisited. In E. Harmon-Jones & P. Winkielman (Eds.), Social neuroscience: Integrating biological and psychological explanations for social behavior (pp. 56–83). Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, G. F., Furman, S. A., McCool, M. F., & Porges, S. W. (2012). Statistical strategies to quantify respiratory sinus arrhythmia: Are commonly used metrics equivalent? Biological Psychology, 89, 349–364. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2011.11.009

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lo, Y., Mendell, N. R., & Rubin, D. B. (2001). Testing the number of components in a normal mixture. Biometrika, 88(3), 767–778.

  • LoBue, V., & Thrasher, C. (2014). The Child Affective Facial Expression (CAFE) set: validity and reliability from untrained adults. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 1532. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01532

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mathewson, K. J., Schmidt, L. A., Miskovic, V., Santesso, D. L., Duku, E., McCabe, R. E., et al. (2013). Does respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) predict anxiety reduction during cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for social anxiety disorder (SAD)? International Journal of Psychophysiology, 88(2), 171–181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2013.03.016

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mendes, W. (2019). Emotion and the Autonomic Nervous System. In Handbook of Emotion (4th ed.). The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Merikangas, K. R., He, J., Burstein, M., Swanson, S. A., Avenevoli, S., Cui, L., et al. (2010). Lifetime prevalence of mental disorders in U.S. adolescents: results from the national comorbidity survey replication– adolescent supplement (NCS-A). Adolescent Psychiatry, 49(10), 10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, J. G., Chocol, C., Nuselovici, J. N., Utendale, W. T., Simard, M., & Hastings, P. D. (2013). Children’s dynamic RSA change during anger and its relations with parenting, temperament, and control of aggression. Biological Psychology, 92, 417–425. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2012.12.005

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, J. G., Kahle, S., & Hastings, P. D. (2016). Moderate baseline vagal tone predicts greater prosociality in children. Developmental Psychology, 53, 274–289. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000238

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Muhtadie, L., Akinola, M., Koslov, K., & Mendes, W. B. (2015). Vagal flexibility: a physiological predictor of social sensitivity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 109(1), 106–120. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000016

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Muthén, L. K., & Muthen, B. (2017). Mplus user’s guide: statistical analysis with latent variables, user’s guide. Muthén & Muthén.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paniccia, M., Paniccia, D., Thomas, S., Taha, T., & Reed, N. (2017). Clinical and non-clinical depression and anxiety in young people: A scoping review on heart rate variability. Autonomic Neuroscience, 208, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autneu.2017.08.008

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Porges, S. W. (1992). Vagal tone: a physiologic marker of stress vulnerability. Pediatrics, 90, 498–504.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Porges, S. W. (2007). A phylogenetic journey through the vague and ambiguous Xth cranial nerve: a commentary on contemporary heart rate variability research. Biological Psychology, 74(2), 301–307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2006.08.007

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Porges, S. W. (2009). The polyvagal theory: new insights into adaptive reactions of the autonomic nervous system. Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine, 76, S86. https://doi.org/10.3949/ccjm.76.s2.17

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Porges, S. W. (1985). Method and apparatus for evaluating rhythmic oscillations in aperiodic physiological response systems. Washington DC: U.S. Patent Office. Patent Number: 4,510,944.

    Google Scholar 

  • Porges, S. W., & Bohrer, R. E. (1990). The analysis of periodic processes in psychophysiological research. Principles of psychophysiology: Physical, social, and inferential elements (pp. 708–753). Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Porges, S. W., & Byrne, E. A. (1992). Research methods for measurement of heart rate and respiration. Biological psychology, 34(2–3), 93–130.

  • Ramsawh, H. J., Weisberg, R. B., Dyck, I., Stout, R., & Keller, M. B. (2011). Age of onset, clinical characteristics, and 15-year course of anxiety disorders in a prospective, longitudinal, observational study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 132(1–2), 260–264.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Rubin, K. H., & Chronis-Tuscano, A. (2021). Perspectives on social withdrawal in childhood: past, present, and prospects. Child Development Perspectives, 15(3), 160–167. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12417

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Rubin, K. H., Coplan, R. J., & Bowker, J. C. (2009). Social withdrawal in childhood. Annual Review of Psychology, 60(1), 141–171. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.60.110707.163642

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitz, J., Krämer, M., Tuschen-Caffier, B., Heinrichs, N., & Blechert, J. (2011). Restricted autonomic flexibility in children with social phobia: autonomic nervous system in children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 52(11), 1203–1211. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2011.02417.x

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Silverman, W. K., & Albano, A. M. (1996). The anxiety disorders interview schedule for DSM–IV—child and parent versions. San Antonio, TX: Physiological Corporation.

  • Smith, K. A., Hastings, P. D., Henderson, H. A., & Rubin, K. H. (2019). Multidimensional emotion regulation moderates the relation between behavioral inhibition at age 2 and social reticence with unfamiliar peers at age 4. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 47(7), 1239–1251. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-018-00509-y

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Towe-Goodman, N. R., Franz, L., Copeland, W., Angold, A., & Egger, H. (2014). Perceived family impact of preschool anxiety disorders. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 53(4), 437–446. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2013.12.017

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ugarte, E., Liu, S., & Hastings, P. D. (2021a). Parasympathetic activity, emotion socialization, and internalizing and externalizing problems in children: longitudinal associations between and within families. Developmental Psychology, 57(9), 1525–1539. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001039

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ugarte, E., Miller, J. G., Weissman, D. G., & Hastings, P. D. (2021b). Vagal flexibility to negative emotions moderates the relations between environmental risk and adjustment problems in childhood. Development and Psychopathology, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579421000912

  • Viana, A. G., Palmer, C. A., Zvolensky, M. J., Alfano, C. A., Dixon, L. J., & Raines, E. M. (2017). Children’s behavioral inhibition and anxiety disorder symptom severity: the role of individual differences in respiratory sinus arrhythmia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 93, 38–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2017.03.012

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Viana, A. G., Trent, E. S., Raines, E. M., Woodward, E. C., Storch, E. A., & Zvolensky, M. J. (2021). Childhood anxiety sensitivity, fear downregulation, and anxious behaviors: vagal suppression as a moderator of risk. Emotion, 21(2), 430–441. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000713

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, N. J., Holochwost, S., Lynch, S., Mills-Koonce, R., & Propper, C. (2021). Characterizing change in vagal tone during the first three years of life: a systematic review and empirical examination across two longitudinal samples. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 129, 282–295. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.07.025

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, N. J., Propper, C., Gueron-Sela, N., & Mills-Koonce, W. R. (2015). Dimensions of maternal parenting and infants’ autonomic functioning interactively predict early internalizing behavior problems. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-015-0039-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, N. J., & Waller, R. (2020). Leveraging parasympathetic nervous system activity to study risk for psychopathology: the special case of callous-unemotional traits. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 118, 175–185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waldman, I., King, C., Poore, H., Luningham, J., Zinbarg, R., Krueger, R., et al. (2022, October 20). Recommendations for adjudicating among alternative structural models of psychopathology. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/bksm7

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • West, K. B., Shaffer, A., Wickrama, Kandauda, A. S., Han, Z. R., & Suveg, C. (2020). Preschoolers’ dynamic respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) change during a challenging parent-child interactive task: relations with preschoolers’ socioemotional health. Developmental Psychobiology, 63(5), 1132–1145. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.22054

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yaroslavsky, I., Rottenberg, J., & Kovacs, M. (2014). Atypical patterns of respiratory sinus arrhythmia index an endophenotype for depression. Development and Psychopathology, 26, 1337–1352. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579414001060

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This project was funded by NIH R01MH103253 awarded to A.C-T. and K.H.R. Manuscript preparation was partially supported by NIH R03MH123762 awarded to N.J.W.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    Nicholas J. Wagner, Nila Shakiba & Kathy Sem

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA

    Hong N.T. Bui, Danielle R. Novick, Christina M. Danko, Lea R. Dougherty & Andrea Chronis-Tuscano

  3. Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA

    Kenneth H. Rubin

Authors
  1. Nicholas J. Wagner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nila Shakiba
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Hong N.T. Bui
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Kathy Sem
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Danielle R. Novick
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Christina M. Danko
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Lea R. Dougherty
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Andrea Chronis-Tuscano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Kenneth H. Rubin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nicholas J. Wagner.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

No conflicts declared.

Ethical Approval

Study protocols were approved by the University of Maryland Institutional Review Board.

Informed Consent

Interested parents completed a telephone screen assessing basic inclusion criteria. Those who met inclusion criteria provided written informed consent and were invited to a laboratory assessment, during which diagnostic interviews, parent reports, and social stressor tasks were completed.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wagner, N.J., Shakiba, N., Bui, H.N. et al. Examining the Relations Between Children’s Vagal Flexibility Across Social Stressor Tasks and Parent- and Clinician-Rated Anxiety Using Baseline Data from an Early Intervention for Inhibited Preschoolers. Res Child Adolesc Psychopathol 51, 1213–1224 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-023-01050-3

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-023-01050-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation