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Heart period variability and psychopathology in urban boys at risk for delinquency

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 1998

DANIEL S. PINE ,
GAIL A. WASSERMAN ,
LAURIE MILLER ,
JEREMY D. COPLAN ,
EMILIA BAGIELLA ,
PAVEL KOVELENKU ,
MICHAEL M. MYERS  and
RICHARD P. SLOAN
DANIEL S. PINE
Affiliation:
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute and the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, USA.
GAIL A. WASSERMAN
Affiliation:
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute and the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, USA.
LAURIE MILLER
Affiliation:
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute and the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, USA.
JEREMY D. COPLAN
Affiliation:
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute and the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, USA.
EMILIA BAGIELLA
Affiliation:
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute and the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, USA.
PAVEL KOVELENKU
Affiliation:
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute and the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, USA.
MICHAEL M. MYERS
Affiliation:
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute and the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, USA.
RICHARD P. SLOAN
Affiliation:
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute and the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, USA.
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Abstract

To examine associations between heart period variability (HPV) and psychopathology in young urban boys at risk for delinquency, a series of 69 7–11-year-old younger brothers of adjudicated delinquents received a standardized psychiatric evaluation and an assessment of heart period variability (HPV). Psychiatric symptoms were rated in two domains: externalizing and internalizing psychopathology. Continuous measures of both externalizing and internalizing psychopathology were associated with reductions in HPV components related to parasympathetic activity. These associations could not be explained by a number of potentially confounding variables, such as age, ethnicity, social class, body size, or family history of hypertension. Although familial hypertension predicted reduced HPV and externalizing psychopathology, associations between externalizing psychopathology and HPV were independent of familial hypertension. Psychiatric symptoms are associated with reduced HPV in young urban boys at risk for delinquency.

Keywords

ChildrenPsychopathologyAutonomic controlCardiovascular indices
Type
Research Article
Information
Psychophysiology , Volume 35 , Issue 5 , September 1998 , pp. 521 - 529
Copyright
© 1998 Society for Psychophysiological Research

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