From the Psychology Department, University of California, Davis, Davis, California.
Psychosom Med. 2022 Apr 1;84(3):374-382. doi: 10.1097/PSY.0000000000001057.
The current study aimed to test parasympathetic nervous system activity, indexed through resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) as a resilience factor that moderates the associations between socioeconomic status (SES), circulating cytokines, and somatic health in children.
The sample included 181 parent-child dyads (mean [standard deviation] child age = 9.91 [0.57] years; 50.3% boys). Parents reported on family income, parental education, and subjective social status, to index SES. Children provided serum samples for assaying circulating inflammatory cytokines and had RSA measured during a 5-minute seated resting period. We used a composite measure of inflammation that combined standardized measures of interleukin 6, interleukin 10, and tumor necrosis factor α. Parents reported on their child's global health impairment and number of chronic health conditions.
Lower SES was associated with poorer global health, and higher levels of inflammation were associated with poorer global health, but these associations were not significant among children with high resting RSA. Specifically, resting RSA moderated the association between SES and global health impairment (B = 0.09, standard error [SE] = 0.02, p < .001). Preliminary evidence suggests that resting RSA may also moderate the association between inflammation and global health impairment (B = -0.12, SE = 0.03, p < .001), although this effect was no longer significant after Winsorizing an outlier value of a child with high global health impairment (B = -0.06, SE = 0.03, p = .04).
High resting RSA may represent a physiological profile of resilience in children, weakening the associations between low SES and poor somatic health, and between greater inflammation and poor somatic health.
本研究旨在测试副交感神经系统活动，通过静息呼吸窦性心律失常（RSA）来衡量，作为一种弹性因素，调节社会经济地位（SES）、循环细胞因子与儿童躯体健康之间的关联。
样本包括 181 对父母-子女（平均[标准差]儿童年龄=9.91[0.57]岁，50.3%为男孩）。父母报告家庭收入、父母教育程度和主观社会地位，以衡量 SES。儿童提供血清样本以检测循环炎症细胞因子，并在 5 分钟的坐姿休息期间测量 RSA。我们使用了一种炎症的综合衡量标准，结合白细胞介素 6、白细胞介素 10 和肿瘤坏死因子 α 的标准化测量值。父母报告他们孩子的整体健康受损情况和慢性健康状况的数量。
SES 较低与整体健康较差相关，而炎症水平较高与整体健康较差相关，但在静息 RSA 较高的儿童中，这些关联并不显著。具体来说，静息 RSA 调节了 SES 和整体健康受损之间的关联（B=0.09，标准误[SE]=0.02，p<.001）。初步证据表明，静息 RSA 也可能调节炎症与整体健康受损之间的关联（B=-0.12，SE=0.03，p<.001），尽管在对一个整体健康受损较高的儿童的异常值进行 Winsorizing 后，这种效应不再显著（B=-0.06，SE=0.03，p=0.04）。
高静息 RSA 可能代表儿童的一种生理弹性特征，削弱了 SES 较低与较差躯体健康之间的关联，以及炎症增加与较差躯体健康之间的关联。
