VAGAL TONE AND SOCIAL OUTCOME IN AT RISK CHILDREN

摘要：本研究采用纵向设计，并从一项正在进行的大型研究中选取研究对象，研究高危儿童群体中婴儿期心血管反应性与社会和行为结果之间的关系。在此过程中，该研究将检验婴儿时期心脏反应性（即迷走神经张力）对特定社会刺激对3岁时特定社会结果的预测作用。此外，本研究将探讨照顾者压力和功能障碍在潜在调节婴儿心脏反应性与3年预后之间的关系中的作用。迄今为止，很少有研究调查了高危儿童心脏反应性和行为结果之间的关系。参与者将包括大约1000名接触药物的儿童，这些儿童从出生到三岁一直接受定期观察。该设计是纵向的，将利用来自三个不同领域的测量：婴儿时期的心脏反应性，2)护理环境中存在的风险累积指数，以及3)3岁时社会和行为风险结果的累积指数。分析将针对两个主要目标。首先，我们将研究婴儿时期心脏对社会和非社会事件的反应性与学龄前儿童的社会和非社会能力之间的特定领域关系。其次，将检视照护风险与社会及行为结果的关系。特别地，这第二组分析将检查心脏反应性和护理因素在预测社会和行为结果方面的潜在相互作用。

DESCRIPTION: (Applicant's Abstract) Utilizing a longitudinal design and drawing subjects from a large ongoing study, this investigation will examine the relations between cardiovascular reactivity in infancy and social and behavioral outcomes in an at-risk group of children. In so doing, the study will examine the predictive role of cardiac reactivity (i.e., vagal tone) to specifically social stimuli in infancy to specifically social outcomes at 3-years of age. In addition, this study will investigate the role of caregiver stress and dysfunction in potentially moderating the relations between infant cardiac reactivity and 3-year outcome. To date, few if any studies have examined relations between cardiac reactivity and behavioral outcome in at-risk children. Participants will include approximately 1,000 drug-exposed children who have been observed on a regular basis from birth through three years of age. The design is longitudinal and will utilize measures from three separate domains: cardiac reactivity in infancy, 2) a cumulative index of risks present in the caregiving environment, and 3) a cumulative index of social and behavioral risk outcomes at 3-years of age. Analyses will address two main goals. First, domain-specific relations between cardiac reactivity to social and nonsocial events in infancy and social and nonsocial competence in preschool will be examined. Second, the relation of caregiving risk to social and behavioral outcomes will be examined. In particular, this second set of analyses will examine the potential interaction of cardiac reactivity and caregiving factors in predicting social and behavioral outcomes.