Disrupted Physiological Reactivity Among Children with a History of Suicidal Ideation: Moderation by Parental Expressed Emotion-Criticism

Publication date: Available online 13 October 2017
Source:Biological Psychology
Author(s): Kiera M. James, Mary L. Woody, Cope Feurer, Anastacia Y. Kudinova, Brandon E. Gibb
ObjectiveThe goal of this study was to examine physiological reactivity during parent-child interactions in children with and without a history of suicidal ideation (SI), a group known to be at increased risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors in the future. We also examined the potential moderating role of parental expressed emotion-criticism (EE-Crit) to determine whether the presence of parental criticism may help to identify a subgroup of children with a history of SI most at risk for physiological dysregulation.MethodParticipants were 396 children (age 7-11; 54% male, 71.7% Caucasian) and their biological parent. Children's levels of high frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) were assessed during a resting baseline period followed by a positive and negative discussion with their parent. Additionally, parents completed the Five-Minute Speech Sample to determine levels of EE-Crit toward their child, and children completed an interview assessing their history of SI.ResultsConsistent with our hypothesis, we found that exposure to parental criticism moderated the relation between a child's history of SI and their HF-HRV reactivity to the discussions. Specifically, while most children exhibited the typical pattern of HF-HRV suppression from baseline to both interactions, the highest risk children (i.e., children with a history of SI who also had highly critical parents) did not display any change in HF-HRV across the tasks, suggesting a failure to engage a typical psychophysiological response during emotional contexts.ConclusionsThese results suggest a specific physiological mechanism that may place these children at risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors in the future.



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