Early stressful events negatively affect emotional and physical well-being. Cardiac vagal tone (CVT), which is associated with better emotional and physical well-being, usually gradually increase in early childhood. Nonetheless, children's CVT developmental trajectories are greatly variable, such that CVT can increase or decrease across the years. The present study examines the longitudinal effects of early stressful events and the role of 4 years CVT developmental trajectory on children's emotional and physical well-being. Forty-two 4-year-old children were enrolled. Number of stressful events and resting electrocardiogram (ECG) were collected at T1. ECG was registered again after one (T2), two (T3) and three (T4) years. Children's emotional and physical well-being were assessed at T4 through the Child Health and Illness Profile – Child Edition (CHIP–CE). CVT development was calculated as the angular coefficient, reflecting the developmental trajectory of CVT across the four timepoints. Results yielded that higher experienced stressful events predicted poorer emotional and physical well-being after 4 years. The interaction between the number of stressful events and CVT development emerged on physical well-being. Early stressful events negatively affect long-term children's emotional and physical well-being while a positive CVT development seems to mitigate the negative effects of early stressful events on physical well-being.

中文翻译：

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早期压力事件对情绪和身体健康的纵向负面影响：心脏迷走神经发育的缓冲作用

早期的压力事件会对情绪和身体健康产生负面影响。与更好的情绪和身体健康相关的心脏迷走神经张力 (CVT) 通常在儿童早期逐渐增加。尽管如此，儿童的 CVT 发展轨迹变化很大，因此 CVT 可能会随着时间的推移而增加或减少。本研究考察了早期压力事件的纵向影响以及 4 年 CVT 发展轨迹对儿童情绪和身体健康的作用。招收了 42 名 4 岁儿童。在 T1 收集压力事件的数量和静息心电图 (ECG)。心电图在一年 (T2)、两年 (T3) 和三年 (T4) 年后再次登记。孩子们' 在 T4 时通过儿童健康和疾病概况 - 儿童版 (CHIP-CE) 评估了她的情绪和身体健康。CVT 发展计算为角度系数，反映了 CVT 在四个时间点的发展轨迹。结果表明，经历较高的压力事件预示着 4 年后的情绪和身体健康状况较差。压力事件的数量与 CVT 发展之间的相互作用出现在身体健康方面。早期压力事件会对长期儿童的情绪和身体健康产生负面影响，而积极的 CVT 发展似乎可以减轻早期压力事件对身体健康的负面影响。反映了 CVT 在四个时间点的发展轨迹。结果表明，经历较高的压力事件预示着 4 年后的情绪和身体健康状况较差。压力事件的数量与 CVT 发展之间的相互作用出现在身体健康方面。早期压力事件会对长期儿童的情绪和身体健康产生负面影响，而积极的 CVT 发展似乎可以减轻早期压力事件对身体健康的负面影响。反映了 CVT 在四个时间点的发展轨迹。结果表明，经历较高的压力事件预示着 4 年后的情绪和身体健康状况较差。压力事件的数量与 CVT 发展之间的相互作用出现在身体健康方面。早期压力事件会对长期儿童的情绪和身体健康产生负面影响，而积极的 CVT 发展似乎可以减轻早期压力事件对身体健康的负面影响。