Title | High-Frequency Heart Rate Variability and Emotion-Driven Impulse Control Difficulties During Adolescence: Examining Experienced and Expressed Negative Emotion as Moderators. | ||
Author | Goncalves, Stefanie F; Chaplin, Tara M; Lopez, Roberto Jr; Regalario, Irene M; Niehaus, Claire E; McKnight, Patrick E; Stults-Kolehmainen, Matthew; Sinha, Rajita; Ansell, Emily B | ||
Journal | J Early Adolesc | Publication Year/Month | 2021-Oct |
PMID | 35197657 | PMCID | PMC8863321 |
Affiliation + expend | 1.Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, 22030, United States. |
Emotion-driven impulse control difficulties are associated with negative psychological outcomes. Extant research suggests that high frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) may be indicative of emotion-driven impulse control difficulties and potentially moderated by negative emotion. In the current study, 248 eleven- to 14-year-olds and their parent engaged in a negatively emotionally arousing conflict task at Time 1. Adolescents\' HF-HRV and negative emotional expression and experience were assessed before, during, and/or after the task. Adolescents reported on their levels of emotion-driven impulse control difficulties at Time 1 and one year later. Results revealed that higher levels of HF-HRV reactivity (i.e., higher HF-HRV augmentation) predicted higher levels of emotion-driven impulse control difficulties one year later among adolescents who experienced higher negative emotion. These findings suggest that negative emotional context should be considered when examining HF-HRV reactivity as a risk factor for emotion-driven impulse control difficulties and associated outcomes.