title: Heart rate responses to parental behavior in depressed adolescents.
abstract: In order to more fully understand the abnormalities in emotional responding associated with adolescent depression we examined clinically depressed and non-depressed adolescents' physiological responses to their parents' negative emotional behavior, as indexed by their heart rate responses to parental angry and dysphoric behavior during laboratory-based interactions. Maternal angry and dysphoric behavior predicted heart rate deceleration amongst non-depressed adolescents, a response that was not observed in depressed adolescents. Fathers' angry behavior predicted significant heart rate acceleration in depressed (but not non-depressed) adolescents, whereas fathers' dysphoric behavior predicted heart rate deceleration amongst depressed but not amongst non-depressed adolescents. These findings are interpreted within the framework of orienting and defense cardiac responses, and suggest that reactivity in adolescent depression is characterized by the absence of a normative orienting response toward aversive maternal behaviors, and a defensive physiological response to aggressive paternal behavior.
authors.affiliation: University of Melbourne, Australia. nba@unimelb.edu.au
authors.forename: Nicholas B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kuppens
authors.forename: Lisa B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Sheeber
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D005220:Fathers / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D011603:Psychophysiology