title: Blood volume pulse (BVP) derived vagal tone (VT) between 5 and 7 years of age: a methodological investigation of measurement and longitudinal stability.
abstract: The present study evaluated the possibility of collecting cardiac vagal tone data using a photoplethysmograph, and its stability and continuity in a longitudinal sample of early-school aged children. A method for the optical (i.e., blood volume pulse) estimation of heart rate was established in a pilot study. Then the longitudinal stability and continuity in photoplethysmograph-derived vagal tone was assessed in 114 children (56 girls) at three sessions between 5 and 7 years of age. Results indicate that this method possesses substantial measurement reliability and individual stability, as children report low intra-individual variation over time. Children also report a mean decrease in vagal tone from 5 to 7 years of age, consistent with increased attentional capacity. Overall, this suggests blood volume pulse estimation of vagal tone is both accurate and appropriate for naturalistic developmental research.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: James A J
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Heathers
authors.forename: Elian
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fink
authors.forename: Rebecca-Lee
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Kuhnert
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: de Rosnay
mesh_terms: D001810:Blood Volume / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014630:Vagus Nerve / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: RSA; children; heart rate variability; vagal tone