Miller Jonas G, Kahle Sarah, Troxel Natalie R, Hastings Paul D
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States.
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA, United States.
Front Psychol. 2020 Nov 5;11:590384. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.590384. eCollection 2020.
Individual differences in children's prosocial behaviors, including their willingness to give up something of value for the benefit of others, are rooted in physiological and environmental processes. In a sample of 4-year-old children, we previously found evidence that flexible changes in respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) were linked to donation behavior, and that these physiological patterns may support greater sensitivity to the positive effects of compassionate parenting on donation behavior. The current study focused on a follow-up assessment of these children at age 6. First, we examined the stability of individual differences in donation behavior and related parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activity from age 4 to 6. Second, we examined associations between donation behavior and RSA at 6 years. Third, we examined whether the association between children's RSA and donation behavior at age 6 varied depending on mothers' compassionate love. We found low to modest stability in donation behavior and RSA reactivity from age 4 to 6. These findings provide preliminary evidence that stable individual differences in altruism, as reflected by generosity, and in some aspects of parasympathetic functioning during opportunities to be prosocial, emerge in childhood. In addition, we found that some of the same associations between donation behavior, RSA, and compassionate love that we previously observed in children at 4 years of age continued to be evident 2 years later at age 6. Greater decreases in RSA when given the opportunity to donate were associated with children donating more of their own resources which, in turn, were associated with greater RSA recovery after the task. Lastly, mothers' compassionate love was positively associated with donation behavior in children who demonstrated stronger decreases in RSA during the task; compassionate parenting and RSA reactivity may serve as external and internal supports for prosociality that build on each other. Taken together, these findings contribute to the perspectives that individual differences in altruistic behaviors are intrinsically linked to healthy vagal flexibility, and that biopsychosocial approaches provide a useful framework for examining and understanding the environmental and physiological processes underlying these individual differences.
儿童亲社会行为的个体差异，包括他们为他人利益而放弃有价值东西的意愿，源于生理和环境过程。在一个4岁儿童样本中，我们之前发现有证据表明呼吸性窦性心律不齐（RSA）的灵活变化与捐赠行为有关，并且这些生理模式可能支持对富有同情心的养育方式对捐赠行为的积极影响有更高的敏感性。当前研究聚焦于对这些儿童6岁时的后续评估。首先，我们考察了从4岁到6岁捐赠行为和相关副交感神经系统（PNS）活动的个体差异的稳定性。其次，我们考察了6岁时捐赠行为与RSA之间的关联。第三，我们考察了儿童6岁时RSA与捐赠行为之间的关联是否因母亲的慈爱程度而异。我们发现从4岁到6岁，捐赠行为和RSA反应性的稳定性较低到中等。这些发现提供了初步证据，表明童年期出现了由慷慨体现的利他主义方面稳定的个体差异，以及在亲社会机会中副交感神经功能某些方面的个体差异。此外，我们发现我们之前在4岁儿童中观察到的捐赠行为、RSA和慈爱之间的一些相同关联在2年后的6岁时仍然明显。有捐赠机会时RSA的更大下降与儿童捐赠更多自己的资源有关，而这反过来又与任务后RSA的更大恢复有关。最后，母亲的慈爱与在任务中RSA下降更明显的儿童的捐赠行为呈正相关；富有同情心的养育方式和RSA反应性可能作为亲社会行为的外部和内部支持，相互促进。综上所述，这些发现支持了这样的观点，即利他行为的个体差异与健康的迷走神经灵活性内在相关，并且生物心理社会方法为研究和理解这些个体差异背后的环境和生理过程提供了一个有用的框架。
