Respiratory sinus arrhythmia during worry forecasts stress-related increases in psychological distress

Figures & data

Table 1. Spearman’s Rho correlations among resting RSA, RSA reactivity and psychological distress during the low- and high-stress periods.

Variables	1	2	3	4
1. Resting RSA	1.00	−0.57**	0.07	−0.05
2. RSA reactivity		1.00	−0.27*	−0.28*
3. DASS low stress			1.00	0.70**
4. DASS high stress				1.00

RSA, respiratory sinus arrhythmia; DASS, depression anxiety and stress scales.

*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01.

Table 2. Means and standard deviations for respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and self-reported anxiety.

	RSA		VAS Anxiety
Task	Mean	SD	Mean	SD
Resting	6.70	1.19	14.46	13.37
Free worry	6.53	1.16	36.82	17.96
Worry catastrophizing interview	6.52	0.99	44.45	22.44

RSA, respiratory sinus arrhythmia; VAS, visual analogue scale.

Figure 1. Changes in RSA across the three experimental conditions. Asterisk indicates a significant decrease in RSA from the resting baseline to the catastrophizing interview.

Figure 2. The impact of baseline psychological distress on changes in RSA during the worry inductions. For illustration purposes only, the continuous psychological distress variable was dichotomized using a median split. Asterisk indicates a significant decrease in RSA from the resting baseline to the catastrophizing interview.

Figure 3. Stress-related changes in psychological distress as a function of resting RSA. For illustration purposes only, the continuous resting RSA variable was dichotomized using a median split. Asterisk indicates a significant mean difference in psychological distress.

Figure 4. Stress-related changes in psychological distress as a function of RSA reactivity to the worry inductions. For illustration purposes only, the continuous RSA reactivity variable was dichotomized using a median split. Lower reactivity change scores indicated RSA suppression, while greater reactivity change scores indicated RSA augmentation to the worry inductions. Asterisk indicates a significant mean difference in psychological distress.