Longitudinal relations between marital conflict and child adjustment: Vagal regulation as a protective factor.

“The relation held only for girls when predicting internalizing two years later; however, lower RSA suppression was predictive of internalizing problems for boys when controlling for marital conflict (El-Sheikh & Whitson 2006).”

“…levels and high RSA reactivity in response to emotion-evoking stimuli (e.g., an adult argument) buffered children from the effects of marital conflict on behavior problems, academic achievement, and health (El-Sheikh, Harger, & Whitson, 2001; El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006; Katz & Gottman, 1995, 1997).”

“…Boyle, & MacMillan, 2009; Scheinin et al., 1999; Wolff, Wadsworth, Wilhelm, & Mauss, 2012) while others use time-domain peak valley analysis (El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006; Hinnant & El-Sheikh, 2009; Willemen et al., 2009) or the Porges adaptive polynomial filter method (Calkins et al., 2007;…”

“Exposure to marital distress in childhood has repeatedly been associated with an increased risk of internalizing and externalizing disorders in children (El-Sheikh and Whitson, 2006; Essex et al., 2003).”

“researchers studying older children or adolescents [158–161], underscoring the importance of the developmental timing of stressors.”

“…from the effects of marital conflict such that children with greater vagal regulation were less likely to exhibit internalizing behavior problems in the face of marital conflict as compared with children with lower vagal regulation (El-Sheikh, Harger, & Whitson, 2001; El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006).”

“…studies of physiological stress reactivity indicate that not all children are equally susceptible to the negative effects of family adversity, including marital conflict (El-Sheikh, Keller, & Erath, 2007; El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006; Katz, 2007; Obradović, Bush, Stamperdahl, Adler, & Boyce, 2010).”

“In contrast, in longitudinal analyses, greater reductions in RSA protected only girls against internalizing problems associated with marital conflict (El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006).”

“…researchers are finding that baseline arousal may be more predictive of certain outcomes if the baseline scores reflect children’s anticipation of participating in the study or body’s preparedness to respond to challenges (El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006; Kestler & Lewis, 2009; Obradović, 2012).”

“Conversely, research with sub-clinical and community samples has not consistently supported a link between lower basal RSA and child externalizing difficulties (Calkins et al. 2007; El-Sheikh et al. 2001; El-Sheikh and Whitson 2006) or has found the opposite relation (Dietrich et al.”

“N IH -PA Author M anuscript N IH -PA Author M anuscript Erath, 2007; El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006; Steinberg & Avenevoli, 2000).”

“A significant proportion of the data reviewed above, however, remains inconsistent with the sensitization model of autonomic regulations (Davies et al., 2009; El-Sheikh & Hinnant, 2011; El-Sheikh et al., 2011; El-Sheikh et al., 2013; El-Sheikh et al., 2009; El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006).”

“…low PNS reactivity were reported to be more vulnerable, exhibiting more behavioral problems, poorer health, and lower academic achievement, in the context of high marital conflict or domestic violence (El-Sheikh, Harger, & Whitson, 2001; El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006; Katz, 2007; Katz & Gottman, 1997).”

“…is thought to be a physiological strategy that results in greater cardiac output in the form of HR acceleration, and that supports behaviors indicative of active coping (Calkins, Graziano, & Keane, 2007; El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006; Porges, 1991; 1996; Propper & Moore, 2006; Wilson & Gottman, 1996).”

“Based on sex differences observed in the literature (e.g., Eisenberg et al., 1995; El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006; Erath et al., 2009), we analyze data separately for boys versus girls.”

“…with improved functional outcomes among children living in families with high levels of marital conflict (El-Sheikh, Harger, & Whitson, 2001; El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006; Katz & Gottman, 1995; Katz & Gottman, 1997; Leary & Katz, 1997; Obradovic, Bush, & Boyce, 2011; Whitson & El-Sheikh, 2003).”

“…RSA reactivity and recovery have been found to be an index for restricted vagal flexibility in children with various markers of psychopathology (El-Sheikh, Harger, & Whitson, 2001; El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006; Greaves-Lord et al., 2010; Katz & Gottman, 1997; Monk et al., 2001; Santucci et al., 2008).”

“…index of flexible vagal responding—was associated with better academic outcomes in boys but not girls (Obradovic, Bush, Stamperdahl, Adler, & Boyce, 2010) whereas another found that low vagal reactivity predicted internalizing problems for boys but not girls (El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006).”

“(e.g., Cummings, Schermerhorn, Davies, Goeke-Morey, & Cummings, 2006; El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006; Gerard, Krishnakumar, & Buehler, 2006; Harold & Conger, 1997).”

“Variation in vagal reactivity acts as a moderator of risk for school-age children exposed to conflict (El-Sheikh et al., 2009; El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006).”

“…this is consistent with other studies in which predominantly moderation effects were found in these associations illustrative of aggregation of risk for children with less optimal physiological regulation in conjunction with family risk (El-Sheikh et al., 2001; El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006).”

“Although RSA suppression is a protective factor for children’s adjustment in the context of family adversity (e.g., El-Sheikh et al., 2001; El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006), it may also contribute to shifts in resting RSA over time (see also Salomon et al., 2000).”

“Our assessment of vagal functioning followed standard guidelines (Berntson et al., 1997), and is very similar to procedures used in previous studies (e.g. El-Sheikh, 2005; El-Sheikh et al., 2001).”

“However, El-Sheikh and colleagues have also reported not finding an association between vagal response to stress and externalizing problems in two independent samples of youths (6–12 years of age; El-Sheikh et al., 2001; El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006).”

“Although our study focused on vagal tone, an increasing number of studies have examined children’s and adults’ individual differences in stress-induced changes in RSA (Beauchaine, 2001; Beauchaine et al., 2007; El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006; Porges, 2001; Thayer & Lane, 2000).”

“In one study, children better able to regulate their vagal response to a simulated argument were less likely to develop adjustment problems in the context of chronic marital discord than children whose vagal response was less regulated (El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006).”

“…the coordination of these two systems, have been shown to be related to the long-term development of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems in children exposed to high marital conflict (El-Sheikh, 2005; El-Sheikh, Keller, & Erath, 2007; El-Sheikh et al., 2009; El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006).”

“Prior studies have tended to indicate that decrease rather than increase in RSA is an adaptive in response to challenge (El-Sheikh and Whitson, 2006).”

“…particular, high baseline RSA has been proposed to serve as a protective factor for children at high risk for behavioral problems as higher baseline RSA may allow these children to better regulate their arousal in the presence of risk (El-Sheikh et al., 2001; El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006; Katz, 2007).”

“…have shown that RSA and cortisol moderate several psychological outcomes in children experiencing maltreatment (Gordis, Feres, Olezeski, Rabkin, & Trickett, 2010; Gordis, Granger, Susman, & Trickett, 2006) or interparental conflict (El-Sheikh, Harger, & Whitson, 2001; El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006).”

“On the basis of such findings, El-Sheikh and Whitson (2006) have suggested that girls' and boys' different social-developmental experiences may contribute to gender differences in sensitivities to environmental factors.”

“In marital conflict research, gender differences in VT have been found (e.g., El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006), suggesting this may emerge in a sample with DV exposure.”

“Our previous studies have highlighted the role of the activity of either the SNS (El-Sheikh 2005b; El-Sheikh et al. 2007c) or the PNS (e.g., El-Sheikh and Whitson 2006) as intervening variables in the association between children’s responses to marital aggression and their externalizing behaviors.”

“Although there have been wellsupported findings that greater RSA reactivity may act as a protective factor (54), the current findings are consistent with previous research showing that physiologically reactive children exposed to adverse early family environments are more susceptible to mental health problems relative…”

“…better emotional regulation and coping skills in response to stressors, could protect against maladaptive outcomes from social risk factors including marital conflict and peer rejection in children (El-Sheikh et al., 2001; El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006; Katz & Gottman, 1995; Whitson & El-Sheikh, 2003).”

“…wide variety of maladaptive outcomes including internet addiction (De Leo and Wulfert, 2013; Koss et al., 2011; Yang et al., 2016), not all individuals are affected equally by detrimental or supportive environments (e.g., El-Sheikh et al., 2001; El-Sheikh and Whitson, 2006; Hastings et al., 2008).”

“For example, several studies examining PNS activity (as indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia; El-Sheikh, 2001; El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006; Leary & Katz, 2004) or SNS activity (as indexed by skin conductance or preejection period reactivity; Bubier, Drabick, & Breiner, 2009; El-Sheikh, Keller, &…”

“moderator of risk against externalizing and internalizing problems for children exposed to family stress (El-Sheikh and Whitson, 2006; El-Sheikh et al., 2001).”

“Similarly, El-Sheikh and Whitson (2006) reported that high vagal suppression was associated with lower levels of internalizing problems for girls exposed to high levels of marital conflict, and El-Sheikh (2001) found that parental problem drinking was associated with internalizing, externalizing,…”

“Due to the link between marital conflict and children’s internalizing problems (Cummings & Davies, 2010), and the role of RSA in the link between marital conflict and children’s internalizing symptoms (El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006), marital conflict was covaried.”

“…that atypical autonomic reactivity could serve as a vulnerability to depression that is apparent only in the presence of contextual factors such as marital conflict (El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006), lack of social support (Hopp et al., 2013), and social withdrawal (Morgan, Shaw, & Forbes, 2013).”

“…2010), those who are measured to have greater baseline PNS activity (El-Sheikh et al., 2001) or a more coordinated PNS response to other environmental stressors (El-Sheikh et al., 2001, 2015; El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006) appear to be protected from the more deleterious effects of IPV exposure.”

“…such, when in supportive social conditions, only susceptible individuals experience health-related benefits, both psychological and physical (e.g., Boyce et al., 1995; El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006; Obradovic, Bush, Stamperdahl, Adler, & Boyce, 2010; Pluess & Belsky, 2010; Quas, Bauer, & Boyce, 2004).”

“…method has been widely used Frontiers in Psychology | www.frontiersin.org 4 September 2017 | Volume 8 | Article 1496 (El-Sheikh et al., 2001; El-Sheikh and Whitson, 2006; Hinnant and El-Sheikh, 2009; Gordis et al., 2010; El-Sheikh and Hinnant, 2011; Viana et al., 2017) and is comparable…”

“conducted in community samples that also did not find a significant association between resting RSA and externalizing behavior (e.g., Calkins et al. 2007; El-Sheikh and Whitson 2006).”

“More specifically, high levels of marital conflict have been found to predict both internalizing and externalizing problems for girls and externalizing problems for boys (El-Sheikh and Whitson, 2006).”

“Likewise, some evidence suggests that children's physiological selfregulation may also moderate the impact of parental psychopathology [9], interparental conflict [10], and/or child maltreatment [11] on”

“…with greater externalizing problems (e.g., Calkins & Dedmon, 2000; Beauchaine, Gatzke-Kopp, & Mead, 2007), while other research demonstrates the opposite (e.g., Dietrich et al., 2007) or finds no relationship between these variables (e.g., Calkins et al., 2007; El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006).”

“Farrington (1997) reported that the association between low heart rate and aggressive behaviour was stronger when environmental risk factors were present as well.”

“…promoting exceptional well-being among children raised in nonadverse families, which is more consistent with stress–diathesis/dual-risk models than with BSC (e.g., El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006); other studies find that less reactivity confers susceptibility (e.g., El-Sheikh, Harger, & Whitson, 2001).”

“…a particularly important target of investigation as highlighted by studies showing that baseline vagal tone and vagal modulation moderate the impact of interparental conflict on adjustment in older children (El-Sheikh, Harger, & Whitson, 2001; El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006; Katz & Gottman, 1995, 1997).”

“A decrement in RSA in response to challenge is associated with more adaptive functioning (Calkins and Dedmon, 2000; El-Sheikh et al., 2001; El-Sheikh and Whitson, 2006).”

“…small changes in RSA reactivity, which may reflect inflexibility of the PNS, are associated with child behavioral problems (Calkins et al., 2007; El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006) and also indicate a failure to access the PNS and other helpful physiological resources that would otherwise moderate the…”

“For instance, several studies have found that high resting RSA buffers children against negative developmental outcomes in the context of risk exposure (including frequent marital conflict; e.g., El-Sheikh and Whitson, 2006).”