Zhang Runzhu, Wang Zhenhong
College of Education Science, Weinan Normal University, Weinan, China.
Shaanxi Provincial Key Research Center of Child Mental and Behavioral Health, School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, China.
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2025 Feb;172:107231. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2024.107231. Epub 2024 Oct 30.
Resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and family cohesion may jointly influence children's empathy. Resting RSA has been found to exhibit an inverted U-shaped relation with empathy, and family cohesion is a psychosocial correlate of children's empathy that may moderate this relation. The present study recruited 182 first-grade children as participants (87 girls, M = 7.02, SD = 0.36). Parents completed questionnaires to assess family cohesion and children's empathy. The SOMNOtouch RESP device was utilized to collect resting electrocardiogram data and calculate resting RSA. The results showed that family cohesion significantly moderated the inverted U-shaped curve between resting RSA and children's empathy. High family cohesion served as a protective factor in mitigating the negative impact of high resting RSA on empathy but could not buffer the negative effect of extremely low resting RSA on empathy among children. The findings suggest a role for high family cohesion in promoting empathy in children with moderate to high resting RSA.
静息呼吸性窦性心律不齐（RSA）和家庭凝聚力可能共同影响儿童的同理心。研究发现，静息RSA与同理心呈倒U形关系，而家庭凝聚力是儿童同理心的一种社会心理相关因素，可能会调节这种关系。本研究招募了182名一年级儿童作为参与者（87名女孩，M = 7.02，SD = 0.36）。家长完成问卷以评估家庭凝聚力和儿童的同理心。使用SOMNOtouch RESP设备收集静息心电图数据并计算静息RSA。结果表明，家庭凝聚力显著调节了静息RSA与儿童同理心之间的倒U形曲线。高家庭凝聚力是减轻高静息RSA对同理心负面影响的保护因素，但无法缓冲极低静息RSA对儿童同理心的负面影响。研究结果表明，高家庭凝聚力在促进静息RSA中等至较高的儿童的同理心方面发挥作用。
