Skip to main content
ABCT 2023 Annual Convention Main banner
Final Program


Program Flipbook
Icon Legend
This session is not in your schedule.
This session is in your schedule. Click again to remove it.
Presentation Icons
Ticketed Session
Ticketed Session
Recorded Session
Recorded Session
Back

Cognitive Science/ Cognitive Processes

(PS4-D80) Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia as a Predictor of Daily Emotion Regulation

Friday, November 17, 2023
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM PST
Location: Regency Ballroom, Level 7
Emotion regulation strategies empower individuals to respond to challenges in either adaptive or maladaptive ways; research indicates physiology may influence which strategies they use under stress. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is an index of nervous system activation, which may inform the use of certain strategies over others. The current study examined basal RSA and RSA reactivity to stress induction in 169 (90.5% female) undergraduate students. We measured emotion regulation in response to challenging events through 42 ecological momentary assessments (EMA) over a seven-day period. We hypothesized moderate RSA reactivity combined with high basal RSA would predict more adaptive strategies, and that excessive or muted RSA reactivity and/or low basal RSA would predict more maladaptive strategies. Results showed significant main effects for basal RSA across all strategies, such that high basal RSA was associated with greater deployment of both adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies (βs ranged from 0.05 to 0.55, all ps < .050). Results suggested a moderating effect of basal RSA on linear interactions, such that low reactivity was associated with increased cognitive reappraisal (β = -0.10, p = .010), while augmented reactivity was associated with increased rumination and suppression in the presence of high basal RSA (βs ranged from -0.06 to -0.12, all ps < .001). We also found evidence that supports a quadratic RSA reactivity function with significant interactions for rumination and suppression (βs = -0.01, ps < .001). Thus, an individual’s physiology may influence their use of emotion regulation strategies in response to stressors.