title: The variable heart: High frequency and very low frequency correlates of depressive symptoms in children and adolescents.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Work examining the link between lower heart rate variability (HRV) and depression in children and adolescents is lacking, especially in light of the physiological changes that occur during pubertal development.
  
  
  METHODS
  We investigated the association between spectral measures of resting HRV and depressive symptoms among 127 children and adolescents, ages 10-17. Using spectral analysis, we evaluated (1) the association between relative high frequency (HF) HRV and depressive symptoms; (2) the predictive power of relative HF HRV for depressive symptoms in the context of relative low frequency (LF) and relative very low frequency (VLF) HRV; and (3) the relationship between relative HF, LF, and VLF band activity, age and pubertal maturation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Consistent with previous work, results revealed that relative HF HRV was negatively associated with self-reported depressive symptoms. As well, relative VLF HRV was positively associated with depressive symptoms. Regression analyses revealed that relative HF HRV and relative VLF HRV significantly predicted self-report depressive symptoms while controlling for age, sex and pubertal maturation, with relative VLF HRV emerging as the strongest indicator of depressive symptoms. Developmental findings also emerged. Age and pubertal maturation were negatively associated with relative HF HRV and positively correlated with relative VLF HRV.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results provide support for the relationship between HRV and depression and suggest that both HF and VLF HRV are relevant to depression symptom severity. Findings also reinforce the importance of considering pubertal development when investigating HRV-depression associations in children and adolescents.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Influences on cardiac control including physical activity levels and exercise patterns could be controlled in future work. Our data speak to a depressive symptom dimension and relative spectral power HRV. Thus, we cannot make strong claims about relative spectral power HRV and clinical depression.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Julia D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Blood
authors.affiliation: Yale Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; Developmental Electrophysiology Laboratory, Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Tara M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Chaplin
authors.affiliation: Emotion and Development Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hommer
authors.affiliation: Yale Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Lauren
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vazquez
authors.affiliation: Yale Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; Developmental Electrophysiology Laboratory, Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Helena J V
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Rutherford
authors.affiliation: Yale Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; Developmental Electrophysiology Laboratory, Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Linda C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Mayes
authors.affiliation: Yale Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; Program for Anxiety Disorders, Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT, USA; Developmental Electrophysiology Laboratory, Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT, USA; Center for Translational Developmental Neuroscience, Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT, USA. Electronic address: michael.crowley@yale.edu.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Crowley
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D003863:Depression / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011627:Puberty / Q000502:physiology*; D012044:Regression Analysis
keywords: Adolescence; depression; heart rate variability; time-frequency analysis