TY - JOUR
T1 - Otitis media and respiratory sinus arrhythmia across infancy and early childhood
T2 - Polyvagal processes?
AU - The Family Life Project Key Investigators
AU - Berry, Daniel
AU - Vernon-Feagans, Lynne
AU - Mills-Koonce, W. Roger
AU - Blair, Clancy
AU - Cox, Martha
AU - Burchinal, Peg
AU - Burton, Linda
AU - Crnic, Keith
AU - Crouter, Ann
AU - Garrett-Peters, Patricia
AU - Greenberg, Mark
AU - Lanza, Stephanie
AU - Mills-Koonce, Roger
AU - Werner, Emily
AU - Willoughby, Michael
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 American Psychological Association.
PY - 2018/9
Y1 - 2018/9
N2 - Otitis media (OM)-or middle-ear inflammation-is the most widely diagnosed childhood illness, with evidence implicating OM in a range of distal problems (e.g., language delays, attention problems). Polyvagal theory (Porges, 1995, 2007) posits that there also are likely important connections between middle-ear functioning and children's developing parasympathetic nervous systems (PNS). Using prospective longitudinal data from the Family Life Project (n = 748), we tested within- and between-person relations between indicators of OM (middle-ear spectral gradient angle; SGA) and children's trajectories of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA)-a marker of parasympathetic control of the heart-between the ages of 7 and 35 months. The results suggested that, irrespective of age, children with indications of chronic OM (low cumulative SGA) tended to show atypical RSA reactivity to moderate cognitive challenge, compared with the reactivity patterns of their low-OM-risk peers (mid-to-high cumulative SGA). Specifically, on average, low-OM-risk children showed RSA decreases in the context of challenge in infancy, with the magnitude of the decline weakening and eventually changing direction (i.e., RSA increase) by 35 months. In contrast, those with indicators of chronic OM evinced blunted RSA responses to challenge, irrespective of age. Within-person, temporal bouts of OM-risk were not predictive of within-person changes in RSA reactivity across early childhood.
AB - Otitis media (OM)-or middle-ear inflammation-is the most widely diagnosed childhood illness, with evidence implicating OM in a range of distal problems (e.g., language delays, attention problems). Polyvagal theory (Porges, 1995, 2007) posits that there also are likely important connections between middle-ear functioning and children's developing parasympathetic nervous systems (PNS). Using prospective longitudinal data from the Family Life Project (n = 748), we tested within- and between-person relations between indicators of OM (middle-ear spectral gradient angle; SGA) and children's trajectories of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA)-a marker of parasympathetic control of the heart-between the ages of 7 and 35 months. The results suggested that, irrespective of age, children with indications of chronic OM (low cumulative SGA) tended to show atypical RSA reactivity to moderate cognitive challenge, compared with the reactivity patterns of their low-OM-risk peers (mid-to-high cumulative SGA). Specifically, on average, low-OM-risk children showed RSA decreases in the context of challenge in infancy, with the magnitude of the decline weakening and eventually changing direction (i.e., RSA increase) by 35 months. In contrast, those with indicators of chronic OM evinced blunted RSA responses to challenge, irrespective of age. Within-person, temporal bouts of OM-risk were not predictive of within-person changes in RSA reactivity across early childhood.
KW - Longitudinal
KW - Otitis media
KW - Parasympathetic nervous system
KW - Polyvagal theory
KW - Respiratory sinus arrhythmia
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85053562088&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037/dev0000488
DO - 10.1037/dev0000488
M3 - Article
C2 - 30148398
AN - SCOPUS:85053562088
SN - 0012-1649
VL - 54
SP - 1709
EP - 1722
JO - Developmental psychology
JF - Developmental psychology
IS - 9
ER -