This study examined the association between impulsivity and heart rate reactions to a brief psychological stress in pre-adolescent children. Impulsivity was assessed by two response inhibition tasks and maternal self-report. Heart rate was measured at rest and in response to a mental arithmetic challenge. Children high in impulsivity showed blunted cardiac stress reactions. This result resonates with previous findings that blunted stress reactivity is characteristic of a range of problematic behaviours often associated with impulsivity.
Keywords: Acute psychological stress; Heart rate; Impulsivity.
Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.