title: Juvenile onset depression alters cardiac autonomic balance in response to psychological and physical challenges.
abstract: Cardiac autonomic balance (CAB) indexes the ratio of parasympathetic to sympathetic activation (Berntson, Norman, Hawkley, & Cacioppo, 2008), and is believed to reflect overall autonomic flexibility in the face of environmental challenges. However, CAB has not been examined in depression. We examined changes in CAB and other physiological variables in 179 youth with a history of juvenile onset depression (JOD) and 161 healthy controls, in response to two psychological (unsolvable puzzle, sad film) and two physical (handgrip, and forehead cold pressor) challenges. In repeated measures analyses, controls showed expected reductions in CAB for both the handgrip and unsolvable puzzle, reflecting a shift to sympathetic relative to parasympathetic activation. By contrast, JOD youth showed increased CAB from baseline for both tasks (p's<.05). No effects were found for the forehead cold pressor or sad film tasks, suggesting that CAB differences may arise under conditions requiring greater attentional control or sustained effort.
authors.affiliation: University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States. Electronic address: BylsmaL@pitt.edu.
authors.forename: Lauren M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Bylsma
authors.affiliation: Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH, United States.
authors.forename: Ilya
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yaroslavsky
authors.affiliation: University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United States.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rottenberg
authors.affiliation: University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
authors.forename: J Richard
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Jennings
authors.affiliation: University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
authors.forename: Charles J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: George
authors.affiliation: University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Enikő
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kiss
authors.affiliation: University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Krisztina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kapornai
authors.affiliation: University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Kitti
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Halas
authors.affiliation: University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dochnal
authors.affiliation: University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Eszter
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lefkovics
authors.affiliation: University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: István
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Benák
authors.affiliation: University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Ildikó
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Baji
authors.affiliation: University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Ágnes
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: Vetró
authors.affiliation: University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kovacs
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017668:Age of Onset; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D018737:Hand Strength; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis
keywords: Cardiac autonomic balance; Cardiac autonomic regulation; Juvenile onset depression; Parasympathetic nervous system; Reactivity; Self regulation; Sympathetic nervous system