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Cited by 11Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic ControlAging and Gerontology ResearchNeural and Behavioral Psychology Studies

Heart Rate Variability Predicts Older Adults’ Avoidance of Negativity

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Mantantzis, Konstantinos, Schlaghecken, Friederike, Maylor, Elizabeth A·2020·The Journals of Gerontology: Series B
DOI 10.1093/geronb/gby148
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Abstract

Objectives: The ability to produce situation-appropriate cognitive and emotional responses is dependent on autonomic nervous system (ANS) functionality. Heart rate variability (HRV) is an index of ANS functionality, and resting HRV levels have been associated with cognitive control and inhibitory capacity in young adults, particularly when faced with emotional information. As older adults’ greater preference for positive and avoidance of negative stimuli (positivity effect) is thought to be dependent on cognitive control, we hypothesized that HRV could predict positivity-effect magnitude in older adults. Method: We measured resting-level HRV and gaze preference for happy and angry (relative to neutral) faces in 63 young and 62 older adults. Results: Whereas young adults showed no consistent preference for happy or angry faces, older adults showed the expected positivity effect, which predominantly manifested as negativity avoidance rather than positivity preference. Crucially, older but not young adults showed an association between HRV and gaze preference, with higher levels of HRV being specifically associated with stronger negativity avoidance. Discussion: This is the first study to demonstrate a link between older adults’ ANS functionality and their avoidance of negative information. Increasing the efficiency of the cardiovascular system might selectively improve older adults’ ability to disregard negative influences.

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  • Higher vagal activity predicts better emotion regulation strategies, such as avoidance of negativity and positivity effect in aging.

    “Higher vagal activity also predicts better emotion regulation strategies, such as avoidance of the negativity and positivity effect in aging91.”

    From Benefits from one session of deep and slow breathing on vagal tone and anxiety in young and older adults (2021) · cites this paper as [91]

    The Discussion (page unavailable) reports that higher resting heart rate variability predicted stronger negativity avoidance in older adults, which accounted for the observed positivity effect; it did not predict greater preference for positive faces. The Discussion also says that interpreting this association as better emotion-regulation capacity is a possibility requiring direct testing. Thus, the claim overstates the evidence for better emotion regulation. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Mantantzis, K., Schlaghecken, F., & Maylor, E. A.
Affiliations
University of Warwick (GB)
Corresponding author
Maylor, Elizabeth A
ORCID
Venue
The Journals of Gerontology: Series B
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2018-12-06
Volume
75
Issue
8
Pages
1679-1688
ISSN
  • 1079-5014 (ISSN-L)
  • 1758-5368
DOI
10.1093/geronb/gby148
OpenAlex
W2903766509
Cited by
11
References
8
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2021: 1 · 2019: 1
FWCI
0.38
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model (vor)
Locations
  • The Journals of Gerontology Series B (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Warwick Research Archive Portal (University of Warwick) (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders
University of Warwick
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
Keywords
heart rate variability, positivity effect, older adults, autonomic nervous system, cognitive control, emotional face processing, gaze preference, aging
MeSH terms
Eye-Tracking Technology, Adult, Aged, Aging, Autonomic Nervous System, Avoidance Learning, Emotions, Facial Expression, Female, Fixation, Ocular, Heart Rate, Humans, Inhibition, Psychological, Internal-External Control, Male, Middle Aged, Negativism, Social Adjustment, Young Adult

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