Examining the relation between respiratory sinus arrhythmia and depressive symptoms in emerging adults: a longitudinal study

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Publication Type thesis
School or College College of Social & Behavioral Science
Department Psychology
Author Dryjski, Mona Yaptangco
Title Examining the relation between respiratory sinus arrhythmia and depressive symptoms in emerging adults: a longitudinal study
Date 2014-12
Description College students are at elevated risk for depression due to the unique stressors of this developmental stage. Among potential biomarkers, there has been a strong interest in respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), a measure of parasympathetic influences on cardiac activity. Research suggests resting RSA may mark individual differences in selfregulation abilities and higher levels of resting RSA indicate increased physiological flexibility and self-regulation capacity. However, the precise relation between RSA and depression is inconsistent in the adult literature. We investigated the association between resting RSA and depressive symptoms across approximately 1 year in an emerging adult sample (n = 185). We hypothesized that lower resting RSA at year one (Y1) would predict higher depressive symptoms at Y2. Results indicate Y1 resting RSA is indeed associated with Y2 depressive symptoms in emerging adults, even after controlling for several confounding variables. Findings provide support for RSA as a promising biomarker for understanding and predicting psychopathology, specifically depressive symptoms.
Type Text
Publisher University of Utah
Subject Psychobiology; Developmental psychology; Clinical psychology
Dissertation Institution University of Utah
Dissertation Name Master of Science
Language eng
Rights Management (c) Mona Yaptangco Dryjski
Format Medium application/pdf
Format Extent 503,896 bytes
Identifier etd3/id/3281
ARK ark:/87278/s6sr27nd
Setname ir_etd
ID 196846
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6sr27nd
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