# Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia as a Predictor of Substance Use among Early Adolescents

> **NIH NIH R01** · RHODE ISLAND HOSPITAL · 2021 · $716,010

## Abstract

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia as a predictor of substance use among early adolescents
Risk behaviors that cause negative health outcomes, such as substance use or sexual risk behaviors, typically
begin in adolescence. Identifying those most at risk in early adolescence is critical for prevention interventions.
Emotion regulation plays an important role in reducing adolescent risk but detecting those who are vulnerable
because of deficits in emotion regulation during early adolescence is challenging due to poor adolescent
insight into these still-developing emotional processes. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), an index of heart
rate variability that is influenced by the parasympathetic nervous system, is an established marker of emotion
regulation processes. RSA does not rely on self-report and may be useful for early identification of risk. Our
team has developed a novel virtual reality party task with which to assess emotion regulation patterns in
adolescents. Pilot data in our laboratory using this task suggest that adolescents with a history of substance
use exhibit slower return to baseline RSA (measured at rest) after exposure to a challenging situation (referred
to as recovery RSA) compared to non-using peers. This may suggest that recovery RSA is a relevant index of
emotion regulation related to risk behaviors, as emotional triggers often occur in rapid succession in real-world
risk situations. The proposed study will prospectively examine RSA's utility in predicting adolescent risk
behaviors (substance use and sexual risk) among a sample of 280 early adolescents (ages 12.0-12.5 years)
for a period of 24 months. We will also evaluate whether emotion regulation in the context of a substance use
and sexual risk-taking situation (the virtual reality party) is more useful in predicting risk behavior than a
computer risk-taking task (the Balloon Analogue Risk Task). We also will examine strategies for defining
recovery RSA, given inconsistencies in the current literature. The current proposal advances the field by
combining virtual reality and RSA collection to assess emotion regulation with the aim of identifying markers of
those most vulnerable to engaging in risk behaviors at an early age, thus innovating the science of prevention.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10209199
- **Project number:** 1R01DA050603-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** RHODE ISLAND HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Wendy S Hadley
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $716,010
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-09-01 → 2026-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10209199

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10209199, Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia as a Predictor of Substance Use among Early Adolescents (1R01DA050603-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10209199. Licensed CC0.

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