Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, OH, 45241, USA.
Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2020 Jul;48(7):923-933. doi: 10.1007/s10802-020-00651-6.
It is important to establish correlates of sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) across units of analysis and to better understand how SCT may be conceptualized in models of psychopathology. The current study examined SCT symptoms in relation to automatic nervous system reactivity during social and cognitive stressor tasks. Participants were 61 children ages 8-12 years with a full range of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptom severity. Parents provided ratings of SCT and parents and teachers completed measures that were used to create composite indices of ADHD symptoms. Children were administered standardized peer rejection and impossible puzzle tasks, during which their respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and skin conductance level (SCL) reactivity were recorded. Regression analyses indicated that SCT symptoms were unassociated with RSA reactivity to either task. Greater SCT symptoms were significantly associated with greater SCL reactivity to peer rejection. Greater SCT symptoms were not significantly associated with SCL reactivity to the impossible puzzle task. The pattern of findings was unchanged in sensitivity analyses that controlled for ADHD symptoms, internalizing symptoms, medication status, or sex. This study provides the first evidence that SCT symptoms are associated with sympathetic nervous system reactivity. These findings suggest that SCT symptoms may be associated with greater behavioral inhibition system activation, and reactivity may be especially pronounced in social challenges.
确定迟缓认知节奏（SCT）在分析单位之间的相关性，并更好地理解 SCT 在精神病理学模型中如何被概念化，这一点很重要。本研究考察了 SCT 症状与社会和认知应激任务期间自主神经系统反应之间的关系。参与者为 61 名 8-12 岁的儿童，其注意力缺陷/多动障碍（ADHD）症状严重程度各不相同。父母对 SCT 进行评分，父母和老师完成了用于创建 ADHD 症状综合指标的测量。给儿童实施了标准化的同伴拒绝和不可能完成的拼图任务，在此期间记录了他们的呼吸窦性心律失常（RSA）和皮肤电导率水平（SCL）反应。回归分析表明，SCT 症状与这两个任务的 RSA 反应均无关。更多的 SCT 症状与对同伴拒绝的更大的 SCL 反应显著相关。更多的 SCT 症状与不可能完成的拼图任务的 SCL 反应没有显著相关性。在控制 ADHD 症状、内化症状、药物状况或性别后进行敏感性分析，发现结果模式保持不变。这项研究首次提供了证据，表明 SCT 症状与交感神经系统反应有关。这些发现表明，SCT 症状可能与更大的行为抑制系统激活有关，而反应在社会挑战中可能更为明显。
