| Marital conflict, respiratory sinus arrhythmia, and allostatic load: interrelations and associations with the development of children’s externalizing behavior. |
| Summary: Uses data relating to children’s respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA – the cyclical change in heart rate that occurs in correspondence with breathing rhythm) and their exposure to parental conflict to analyse how their bodies cope with heightened levels of stress. Focuses on two independent samples with repeated measures at ages 8,9,10 and 11. Also looks at the relationship between RSA and children’s externalising behaviour. Finds a negative relationship between boys’ initial resting RSA and externalising symptoms, with results for girls proving more mixed. |
| Publication details: Development and Psychopathology Volume 23 Issue 3, 2011 pp 815-829 |
| Authors: El-Sheikh, Mona, and Hinnant, J. Benjamin |
