Physiological self-regulation and mindfulness in children with a diagnosis of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder

ABSTRACT

Objective: To explore the differences in baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) between children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) and typically developing children (TDC) and to investigate whether children with FASD have the capacity to engage in a brief mindfulness exercise.

Methods: Participants were 14 children with FASD and 20 TDC. RSA was measured at baseline, during, and following a mindfulness exercise. A mindfulness compliance checklist was completed to ascertain if children could follow the task instructions.

Results: Both groups obtained high scores on the mindfulness compliance checklist. There was a trend for children with FASD to have lower baseline RSA compared to TDC. Children in both groups demonstrated an increase in RSA during the mindfulness task.

Conclusions: Children with FASD could engage in a mindfulness task, and both groups showed an increase in RSA. Further research is needed to establish whether prolonged mindfulness practice could be beneficial.

KEYWORDS:

• Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
• mindfulness
• physiological self-regulation
• respiratory sinus arrhythmia

Acknowledgments

The first author was a recipient of a Griffith University PhD Scholarship and also received support through the Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship. Special thanks to Dr. Christie Petrenko who provided feedback on an earlier draft of this study that was submitted as part of the first author’s Clinical Psychology PhD.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no declarations of interest.

Supplemental Material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.