Preschoolers’ Daytime Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia and Nightime Sleep

Authors

Dilbur D. Arsiwalla, Auburn UniversityFollow
Lori Elmore-Staton, Auburn University
Mona El-Sheikh, Auburn UniversityFollow
Brian Vaughn, Auburn UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Physiology & Behavior

Volume

107

Issue

3

First Page

414

Last Page

417

Abstract

We examined the association between preschoolers' (N = 29; 20 boys; M age = 3.99 years, SD = .69) daytime parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activity indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and their nighttime sleep. Children's baseline RSA was assessed in the laboratory. Sleep was monitored for seven consecutive nights at the child's home via actigraphy and the following sleep parameters were derived: sleep minutes, sleep activity index and sleep efficiency. Regression analyses showed that after controlling for potential confounds, higher RSA was a predictor of lower sleep activity and higher sleep efficiency. Results highlight the importance of physiological regulation for the sleep of healthy preschool children.

Department

Department of Psychology

Original Publication Date

10-10-2012

DOI of published version

10.1016/j.physbeh.2012.07.005

Recommended Citation

Arsiwalla, Dilbur D.; Elmore-Staton, Lori; El-Sheikh, Mona; and Vaughn, Brian, "Preschoolers’ Daytime Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia and Nightime Sleep" (2012). Faculty Publications. 6135.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/facpub/6135