Elsevier

Biological Psychiatry

Volume 63, Issue 12, 15 June 2008, Pages 1141-1146
Biological Psychiatry

Archival Report
Low Heart Rate: A Marker of Stress Resilience. The TRAILS Study

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2007.12.006Get rights and content

Background

The stimulation-seeking theory posits that individuals with low habitual autonomic arousal levels will seek stimulation to increase their arousal to more optimal levels. Because of their assumed high optimal stimulation levels, persons characterized by low autonomic arousal may be better able to endure stressors than those with higher levels. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that low resting heart rate (HR) and high respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) protect against the detrimental effects of stressors on mental health in early adolescents from the general population.

Methods

Data were collected as part of TRacking Adolescents’ Individual Lives Survey (TRAILS), a large prospective cohort of Dutch (pre)adolescents (N = 1478), with measurements at approximately age 11 (T1) and age 13.5 (T2). Internalizing and externalizing mental health problems were assessed at both waves, using multiple informants. Resting HR ands RSA were assessed at T1 and the amount of parent-reported stressors and long-term difficulties at T2.

Results

Stressors predicted mental health problems in adolescents with intermediate and high HR, but not in those with low HR. These findings were consistent regardless of the measure used to assess stressors and of adjustment for T1 mental health problems. Furthermore, the stress-buffering effects of low HR pertained to both externalizing problems and internalizing problems. No stress-buffering effects were found for RSA, suggesting predominantly sympathetic influences.

Conclusions

Our study, which linked physiologic measures to stress sensitivity in real life, suggests that low HR is a marker of resilience to the effects of environmental challenges in early adolescence.

Section snippets

Sample

The TRacking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey (TRAILS) is a prospective cohort study of Dutch adolescents. The study reported here involves data from the first (T1) and second (T2) assessment wave of TRAILS, which ran from March 2001 to July 2002 and September 2003 to December 2004, respectively.

TRAILS participants were selected from five municipalities in the north of The Netherlands, including both urban and rural areas. Children born between October 1, 1989, and September 30, 1990 (first

Results

Table 1 presents descriptive statistics of the variables used in this study.

HR was strongly inversely related to RSA (r = −.60, p < .001), which is reflected in high RSA levels in the low HR group and vice versa. Boys were overrepresented in the low HR group, whereas girls made up the majority in the high HR group. Physical activity was inversely related to HR. Furthermore, HR was not significantly associated with the severity of mental health problems at T1 but did show an association with

Discussion

In this study, we tested the hypothesis that low HR protects against the detrimental effects of stressors on mental health in a large prospective population-based survey of early adolescents. Our expectations were corroborated by the data, in that high exposure to stressors predicted mental health problems in adolescents with intermediate and high HR levels but not in those with low HR. These findings were consistent regardless of the measures used to assess stressful experiences and regardless

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