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Heart rate variability moderates the effects of COVID-19-related stress and family adversity on emotional problems in adolescents: Testing models of differential susceptibility and diathesis stress

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 June 2021

Jonas G. Miller Open the ORCID record for Jonas G. Miller [Opens in a new window] ,
Rajpreet Chahal ,
Jaclyn S. Kirshenbaum ,
Tiffany C. Ho ,
Anthony J. Gifuni  and
Ian H. Gotlib
Jonas G. Miller*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, USA
Rajpreet Chahal
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, USA
Jaclyn S. Kirshenbaum
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, USA
Tiffany C. Ho
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, USA Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, USA
Anthony J. Gifuni
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, USA Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Ian H. Gotlib
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, USA
*
Author for Correspondence: Jonas G. Miller, Department of Psychology, Stanford University, 450 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford, CA 94305; E-mail: jgmiller@stanford.edu
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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is a unique period of stress, uncertainty, and adversity that will have significant implications for adolescent mental health. Nevertheless, stress and adversity related to COVID-19 may be more consequential for some adolescents’ mental health than for others. We examined whether heart rate variability (HRV) indicated differential susceptibility to mental health difficulties associated with COVID-19 stress and COVID-19 family adversity. Approximately 4 years prior to the pandemic, we assessed resting HRV and HRV reactivity to a well-validated stress paradigm in 87 adolescents. During the pandemic, these adolescents (ages 13–19) reported on their health-related stress and concerns about COVID-19, family adversity related to COVID-19, and their recent emotional problems. The association between COVID-19 stress and emotional problems was significantly stronger for adolescents who previously exhibited higher resting HRV or higher HRV reactivity. For adolescents who exhibited lower resting HRV or HRV augmentation, COVID-19 stress was not associated with emotional problems. Conversely, lower resting HRV indicated vulnerability to the effect of COVID-19 family adversity on emotional problems. Different patterns of parasympathetic functioning may reflect differential susceptibility to the effects of COVID-19 stress versus vulnerability to the effects of COVID-19 family adversity on mental health during the pandemic.

Keywords

adolescencebiological sensitivity to contextCOVID-19diathesis stressdifferential susceptibilityheart rate variability
Type
Regular Article
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 34 , Issue 5: Special Section: Leveraging Genetically Informative Study Designs to Understand the Development and Familial Transmission of Psychopathology , December 2022 , pp. 1974 - 1985
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© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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