Parasympathetic reactivity to recalled emotional experiences and adolescent prosociality

Abstract

Prosociality, which refers to dispositions to allocate one's attention and energy to the needs of others, is indicative of social proficiency and adaptive functioning in adolescence. Greater abilities for self-regulation in adolescence are widely considered to foster prosociality (Hastings et al., 2023; Hodge et al., 2023), including physiological regulation, and particularly activity within the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS; Hastings et al., 2023). The current study examined the extent to which PNS reactivity to experiences of negative emotions were associated with adolescents' prosociality. In a sample of 220 adolescents (M_age = 13.67, SD = 1.08, 109 females), youths' respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) reactivity to thinking and talking about two negative emotions (i.e., disappointment, frustration), empathic responses to sad film clips, and self-reported prosocial engagement were assessed. Less RSA suppression while thinking about experiences of disappointment was positively associated with adolescents' prosocial engagement, whereas greater RSA suppression while experiences talking about disappointment was positively associated with both affective empathy and prosocial engagement. These findings align with models of vagal flexibility (Miller et al., 2015), suggesting that adolescents who adjust physiological regulation in accord with the demands of different emotional and social contexts may be better prepared for prosocial engagement.