Key result
A high number of early stressful events predicted lower physical well-being after 4 years (β = -0.87), but a positive cardiac vagal tone development trajectory mitigated this negative effect.
Why the study?
Although cardiac vagal tone typically increases in early childhood with notable variability, its longitudinal role in shaping emotional and physical well-being after early stressful events remains to be clarified.
Does cardiac vagal tone development mitigate the negative impact of early stressful events on emotional and physical well-being in children?
Cohort (n=42)
Does cardiac vagal tone development mitigate the negative impact of early stressful events on emotional and physical well-being in children?
A positive cardiac vagal tone developmental trajectory over 4 years appears to mitigate the negative long-term effects of early stressful events on children's physical well-being.
May buffer early stress effects on well-being; hypothesis-generating for vagal-targeted interventions.
Early stressful events negatively affect emotional and physical well-being. Cardiac vagal tone (CVT), which is associated with better emotional and physical well-being, usually gradually increase in early childhood. Nonetheless, children's CVT developmental trajectories are greatly variable, such that CVT can increase or decrease across the years. The present study examines the longitudinal effects of early stressful events and the role of 4 years CVT developmental trajectory on children's emotional and physical well-being. Forty-two 4-year-old children were enrolled. Number of stressful events and resting electrocardiogram (ECG) were collected at T1. ECG was registered again after one (T2), two (T3) and three (T4) years. Children's emotional and physical well-being were assessed at T4 through the Child Health and Illness Profile - Child Edition (CHIP-CE). CVT development was calculated as the angular coefficient, reflecting the developmental trajectory of CVT across the four timepoints. Results yielded that higher experienced stressful events predicted poorer emotional and physical well-being after 4 years. The interaction between the number of stressful events and CVT development emerged on physical well-being. Early stressful events negatively affect long-term children's emotional and physical well-being while a positive CVT development seems to mitigate the negative effects of early stressful events on physical well-being.
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Patron et al. (2020) conducted a cohort in Early stressful events (n=42). High number of early stressful events vs. Low number of early stressful events was evaluated on Physical well-being at 4 years (β = -0.87, p=<0.001). A high number of early stressful events predicted lower physical well-being after 4 years (β = -0.87), but a positive cardiac vagal tone development trajectory mitigated this negative effect.
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