Vagal tone and depression in adolescents: Protective factors during parent-adolescent interaction

Vagal tone, an index of emotion regulation, is related to a number of mental health outcomes in youth, including depressive risk and symptomology. The current study examined the role that vagal tone, as measured by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) at rest and during emotionally relevant stressors, plays in adolescent symptoms of depression. Mothers and their adolescents (ages 11-17) participated as dyads (N = 58) in paced-breathing and real-time family interaction tasks to assess patterns in vagal tone. Outcome measures were resting RSA, RSA reactivity, and adolescent-report of depressive symptomology at the time of visit and during two follow-up sessions. Multilevel modeling significantly predicted adolescent depression from multiple interactions between RSA and affect, including a three-way interaction between adolescent resting and reactive RSA and positive maternal affect during the conflict task. These analyses provide novel evidence that adolescent RSA reactivity measured during a parent-adolescent interaction task is related to youth depressive symptomology over time.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Grantor dc:publisher

Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies

Year dc:date

2013

Author dc:creator

• Patton, Emily

Contributors dc:contributor

• Connell, Arin

• Psychology
• Depression
• adolescents
• vagal tone
• respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA)
• emotion regulation
• dyadic interaction
• maternal affect

Statement dc:rights

• unrestricted
• This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1349988651

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:etd.ohiolink.edu:case1349988651