title: The role of prenatal substance exposure and early adversity on parasympathetic functioning from 3 to 6 years of age.
abstract: We employed latent growth curve analysis to examine trajectories of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) from 3 to 6 years among children with varying levels of prenatal substance exposure and early adversity. Data were drawn from a prospective longitudinal study of prenatal substance exposure that included 1,121 participants. Baseline RSA and RSA reactivity to an attention-demanding task were assessed at 3, 4, 5, and 6 years. Overall, there were significant individual differences in the trajectories of RSA reactivity, but not baseline RSA, across development. Greater levels of prenatal substance exposure, and less exposure to early adversity, were associated with increased RSA reactivity at 3 years, but by 6 years, both were associated with greater RSA reactivity. Prenatal substance exposure had an indirect influence through early adversity on growth in RSA reactivity. Results are in support of and contribute to the framework of allostatic load.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Women and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, Brown Center for the study of Children at Risk; Department of Psychiatry, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. econradt@wihri.org.
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Conradt
authors.forename: Beau
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Abar
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sheinkopf
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lester
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lagasse
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Seifer
authors.forename: Seetha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shankaran
authors.forename: Henrietta
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bada-Ellzey
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.forename: Toni
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Whitaker
authors.forename: Matt
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hinckley
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hammond
authors.forename: Rosemary
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Higgins
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010275:Parasympathetic Nervous System / Q000187:drug effects*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D056152:Respiratory Rate / Q000187:drug effects*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: allostatic load; early adversity; prenatal substance exposure; respiratory sinus arrhythmia