(PS8-C75) Children with Low Physiological Regulation in Early Childhood Are Not Fated to Have Sustained Poor Regulation Capacity into Middle Childhood

Emergencies and disasters place substantial regulatory demands on adults and children, and one’s ability to regulate and respond during such crises may inform which individuals are at greater risk in the context of emergencies. Resting high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) is considered an index of one’s physiological regulation capacity and informs one’s ability to adapt flexibly to one’s environment. Although resting HF-HRV is thought to be relatively stable across time, there is limited empirical work to support this claim, particularly for children during middle childhood. Even less work has examined whether the stability of HF-HRV is moderated by risk or resilience characteristics, such as one’s initial capacity for regulation. The purposes of this study were to ascertain whether resting HF-HRV is stable from early childhood into middle childhood and to understand if this association endured for both young children with poorer capacity to regulate (lower resting HF-HRV) and those with better capacity to regulate (higher resting HRV-HRV).

Participants were 67 children (52% female; 55.2% White, 37.3% Black, 4.5% Multiracial, 1.5% Asian, and 1.5% Hispanic) who participated in our study in early childhood (Time 1; Age M = 5.47, SD = .65) and returned to participate in a follow-up study approximately four years later during middle childhood (Time 2; Age Mean = 9.22, SD = 1.08). At each time point, electrocardiograms were recorded continuously while children silently viewed a neutral video to collect a measure of resting HRV. Children’s resting HF-HRV at Time 1 was significantly associated with their resting HF-HRV at Time 2 (B = .466, p = .02), after accounting for age, sex, race, and BMI. Furthermore, children’s resting HF-HRV at Time 1 significantly moderated this association such that there was a significant association between Time 1 and Time 2 HF-HRV for children with higher resting HF-HRV (i.e., stronger regulation capacity) at Time 1 (B = .561, p = < .001) while this association was not significant for children with lower resting HF-HRV (i.e., poorer regulation capacity) at Time 1 (B = .182, p</em> = .31). Thus, children’s regulation capacity appears stable in children with stronger regulation capacity in early childhood. Children with stronger regulation capacity may be better equipped to respond flexibly and adaptively to their environments which may sustain their strong capacity to regulate and support their ability to respond adaptively in the context of emergencies and disasters. In contrast, children with poorer regulation capacity in early childhood are not fated to sustain poor physiological regulation capacity into middle childhood; environmental factors promoting resilience, such as responsive parenting or therapeutic intervention, may enhance regulation capacity in children with initially poorer regulation capacity. Children with stronger regulation capacity in early childhood may be predisposed to respond flexibly during crises, while young children with poorer capacity to regulate may benefit from intervention which enhances cognitive flexibility and regulatory capacity.