ArticleDevelopmental psychobiology2020
Autonomic nervous system functioning in early childhood: Responses to cognitive and negatively valenced emotional challenges.
Article in Developmental psychobiology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Emotion regulation in children and adolescents: a systematic review and quality assessment of behavioral and physiological assessment methods and their theoretical foundations.BMC psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Physiological measurement of emotion from infancy to preschool: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Brain and behavior · 2021Pooled it
- Effect of Early-Life Lipid-Based Nutrient Supplement and Home Environment on Autonomic Nervous System Regulation at 9-11 Years: A Follow-Up of a Randomized Controlled Trial.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Trial
- Associations Between Autistic Adolescents' Biological and Behavioral Characteristics and Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Functioning.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- Investigating asymmetry in fetal and maternal heart rate accelerations and decelerations.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Variation in coupling across neural and cardiac systems of regulation is linked to markers of anxiety risk in preschool.Development and psychopathology · 2025Article
- Does Parasympathetic Nervous System Activity Exacerbate Depressive Symptoms in College Students Who Experienced Parent-Child Separation? A Longitudinal Examination.Journal of youth and adolescence · 2024Article
- Childhood emotional dysregulation paths for suicide-related behaviour engagement in adolescence.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2023Article
- Somatovisceral influences on emotional development.Emotion review : journal of the International Society for Research on Emotion · 2023Article
- Autonomic profiles and self-regulation outcomes in early childhood.Developmental science · 2022Article
- When is Parental Suppression of Black Children's Negative Emotions Adaptive? The Role of Preparation for Racial Bias and Children's Resting Cardiac Vagal Tone.Research on child and adolescent psychopathology · 2022Article
- Risks of Major Mental Disorders and Irritable Bowel Syndrome among the Offspring of Parents with Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Nationwide Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
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Abstract
Although autonomic nervous system (ANS) functioning is "context-dependent," few studies examined children's normative sympathetic and parasympathetic autonomic responses to distinct challenges in early childhood years. Examining children's ANS responsivity to distinct challenges is important for understanding normative autonomic responses toward everyday life stressors and identifying paradigms that effectively elicit a "stress response." We examined children's (N = 278) sympathetic (preejection period [PEP]) and parasympathetic (respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]) responses to cognitive (i.e., problem-solving and cognitive control) and negatively valenced emotional (i.e., blocked goal and unfairness) challenges in preschool, kindergarten, and grade 1. Children, on average, demonstrated parasympathetic inhibition (RSA withdrawal) in response to all challenges but the magnitude of these responses depended on the task. Children showed sympathetic activation (PEP shortening) toward the problem-solving task at each assessment and there was no sample-level change in the magnitude of this response over time. Children showed greater sympathetic responsivity toward the cognitive control task over time, with evidence for a sympathetic activation response only in grade 1. Children experienced sympathetic inhibition (PEP lengthening) toward the unfairness tasks but did not experience significant sympathetic responsivity toward the blocked goal tasks. Parasympathetic responsivity to most challenges were modestly stable but there was no stability in sympathetic responsivity across time.
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