Lengua, Liliana JKlein, Melanie R2020-02-042020-02-042020-02-042019Klein_washington_0250E_20863.pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/1773/45264Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2019Early childhood adversity has been shown to predict mental health problems, although the influence of adversity on child adjustment varies significantly (Caspi et al., 2002). Biologically based individual differences in arousal and regulatory systems are thought to influence the relation between adversity and adjustment. Individual differences in the regulation of physiological reactivity have been related to adjustment problems, although less is known about how adversity and physiological regulation interact (Graziano & Derefinko, 2013). One indicator of physiological regulation, cardiac vagal control, can be measured by Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia Reactivity (RSA-R). This study examined whether RSA-R mediates and moderates the relation between childhood adversity (e.g., stressful events, low-income, parental psychopathology) and adjustment (externalizing problems, internalizing problems, social competence). There are proposed conceptual models for understanding the relations among childhood adversity, physiological regulation, and adjustment outcomes: Diathesis-stress, Biological Sensitivity to Context (BSC) and the Adaptive Calibration Model (ACM). Although there is some evidence to support these models, they have not been tested using longitudinal data, nor have they been tested alongside each other. To fully test the influence of children’s context and physiological regulation on adjustment, RSA-R is also examined as a moderator in the relation between indicators of supportive environments (family functioning, positive parenting) and adjustment. RSA-R was collected from a community sample of 306 children when they were 3- and 4-years-old. Exposure to childhood adversity and supportive context were assessed by mother report when the children were 3-years-old. Adjustment was collected when the children were 8-years-old. Results suggest RSA-R moderates, but does not mediate, the relation between both childhood adversity and supportive contexts and adjustment. Children with high RSA-R had more externalizing and internalizing problems in the context of low family income while all children had fewer problems in the context of high family income. In contrast, children with low RSA-R fear had more externalizing problems when exposed to high cumulative risk. Examining supportive contexts, children with high RSA-R had more externalizing and internalizing problems in the context of high family functioning, while children with low RSA-R frustration had more externalizing and internalizing problems, and lower social competence in the context of low family functioning. Children with high RSA-R had more externalizing and internalizing problems in the context of low positive parenting and all children had few problems in the context of high positive parenting. These results vary by the type of early adversity or supportive context, the task during which RSA-R is collected, as well as the adjustment outcome being predicted.application/pdfen-USnoneChildhood adversityExternalizing problemsInternalizing problemsRSA reactivitySocial competenceSupportive environmentClinical psychologyPsychologyThesis