SynthesisBiological psychology2013
Cardiac vagal control and children's adaptive functioning: a meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Biological psychology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 205 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Coaching Alternative Parenting Strategies (CAPS) Study: Targeting Neurobiological and Behavioral Mechanisms of Self-regulation in High-risk Families
Vitamin B12 Status in Infancy and the Effect of Providing Vitamin B12 to Infants With Signs of Suboptimal Vitamin B12 Status - a Registry-based, Randomized Controlled Trial
Who cites it
205 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Childhood violence exposure and externalizing behaviors: A systematic review of the role of physiological biomarkers.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2022Pooled it
- Autonomic nervous system correlates of posttraumatic stress symptoms in youth: Meta-analysis and qualitative review.Clinical psychology review · 2022Pooled it
- The Transdiagnostic Origins of Anxiety and Depression During the Pediatric Period: Linking NIMH Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) Constructs to Ecological Systems.Development and psychopathology · 2021Pooled it
- Respiratory sinus arrhythmia reactivity across empirically based structural dimensions of psychopathology: A meta-analysis.Psychophysiology · 2019Pooled it
- Atypical reactivity of heart rate variability to stress and depression across development: Systematic review of the literature and directions for future research.Clinical psychology review · 2016Pooled it
- Is respiratory sinus arrhythmia a modifiable index of symptom change in cognitive behavioral therapy for youth? A pooled-data analysis of a randomized trial.Psychotherapy research : journal of the Society for Psychotherapy Research · 2025Trial
- A Pilot Controlled Trial of Relaxation Training Combined with a Video Game Reinforcing Emotional Regulation to Improve Anger Management in Children and Adolescents.Research on child and adolescent psychopathology · 2024Trial
- Cognitive bias modification for threat interpretations: Impact on anxiety symptoms and stress reactivity.Depression and anxiety · 2020Trial
- The effects of distraction and reappraisal on children's parasympathetic regulation of sadness and fear.Journal of experimental child psychology · 2016Trial
- Linking Brain, Heart, and Behavior in Children: Frontal Electroencephalogram Activity, Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia, and Internalizing Behaviors.Developmental psychobiology · 2026Article
- Testing a Developmental Cascade Model from Prenatal Maternal Emotion Dysregulation to Toddler Behavior Dysregulation Through Postnatal Parenting Stress and Infant Physiology.Journal of child and adolescent psychopharmacology · 2026Article
- The typical and atypical development of dynamic self-regulation and coregulation of respiratory sinus arrhythmia in mothers and children across early childhood.Child development · 2026Article
- Affect and conceptual learning in indoor and green outdoor school environments: Psychophysiological self-regulation matters.The British journal of educational psychology · 2026Article
- Investigating Physiology-Behavior Associations for Youth During Parent-Child Conflict Discussions.Developmental psychobiology · 2026Article
- Associations Between Autistic Adolescents' Biological and Behavioral Characteristics and Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Functioning.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- Why The Polyvagal Theory Is Untenable: An international expert evaluation of the polyvagal theory and commentary upon Porges, S.W. (2025). Polyvagal theory: current status, clinical applications, and future directions. Clin. Neuropsychiatry, 22(3), 169-184.Clinical neuropsychiatry · 2026Article
- Lower fetal heart rate variability and parenting stress associate with toddler psychopathology risk.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Discrimination, sleep, and physical health: Moderation by respiratory sinus arrythmia reactivity.Journal of health psychology · 2026Article
- Mother-Infant Physiological Coregulation Is Associated With Infant Developmental Status Among Families With Experienced Adversity.Developmental psychobiology · 2026Article
- Prolonged RSA recovery following parent-child conflict predicts reactive aggression in daily life.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2025Article
145 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Polyvagal theory has influenced research on the role of cardiac vagal control, indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia withdrawal (RSA-W) during challenging states, in children's self-regulation. However, it remains unclear how well RSA-W predicts adaptive functioning (AF) outcomes and whether certain caveats of measuring RSA (e.g., respiration) significantly impact these associations. A meta-analysis of 44 studies (n=4996 children) revealed small effect sizes such that greater levels of RSA-W were related to fewer externalizing, internalizing, and cognitive/academic problems. In contrast, RSA-W was differentially related to children's social problems according to sample type (community vs. clinical/at-risk). The relations between RSA-W and children's AF outcomes were stronger among studies that co-varied baseline RSA and in Caucasian children (no effect was found for respiration). Children from clinical/at-risk samples displayed lower levels of baseline RSA and RSA-W compared to children from community samples. Theoretical/practical implications for the study of cardiac vagal control are discussed.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.