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TITLE: Cardiac vagal tone indices of temperamental reactivity and behavioral regulation in young children.
AUTHOR: Calkins SD
AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro 27412, USA.
SOURCE: Dev Psychobiol 1997 Sep;31(2):125-35
NLM CIT. ID: 97443967
ABSTRACT: The relation between two dimensions of vagal tone (Vna), indexed by a baseline measure of Vna and suppression of Vna and temperamental reactivity and behavioral regulation was investigated. Forty-one children were observed during a series of episodes designed to elicit temperamental reactivity and behavioral regulation. Heart rate was recorded during these baseline, positive, negative, and delay episodes, from which measures of vagal tone were computed. Across the entire sample, vagal tone decreased from the baseline episode to the three affect tasks. Baseline measures of vagal tone were related to the tendency to show a decrease in vagal tone: Children who consistently suppressed vagal tone (showed a decrease to all the affect tasks) had higher baseline vagal tone. Baseline vagal tone was related to temperamental reactivity for the positive and negative tasks, but not the delay tasks. Vagal suppression (vagal difference score) was related to several of the behavioral regulation strategies used by the children in the affect-eliciting situations. These findings are discussed in terms of the adaptive value of physiological regulation in the development of regulatory behaviors that may be critical to social development.
MAIN MESH SUBJECTS: Arousal/*PHYSIOLOGY
Child Behavior/*PHYSIOLOGY
Heart/*INNERVATION
Temperament/*PHYSIOLOGY
Vagus Nerve/*PHYSIOLOGY
ADDITIONAL MESH SUBJECTS: Affect/PHYSIOLOGY
Child, Preschool
Female
Heart Rate/PHYSIOLOGY
Human
Individuality
Internal-External Control
Male
Socialization
PUBLICATION TYPES: JOURNAL ARTICLE
LANGUAGE: Eng

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On Sabbatical!

When my office lease expired at the end of 2004, I decided to turn it into a "sabbatical" from my private practice. Many years ago, in my grandfather's 89th year of life, he told me, "John, it is important to smell the roses while you can still smell them." His life gave living a very good reputation. It is also true that the pursuit of that philosophy required my grandfather to to re-open his assay office/ore market in Wickenburg, Arizona as a 75-year-old because he had run a little short of retirement money. Thus, if blessed with his luck and health, I'll be back.. --jjh

Copyright 1998-2007  John J. Herr, Ph.D.                                   Please send comments to jjherr@clinicalpsychologist.com