High anxiety and poor emotion regulation have been found to function as independent causes of stress to the autonomic nervous system. The aim of this study was to further explore how these factors may interact to control heart rate variability. Fifty college students took part in a three-part cardiac recording session followed by questionnaires on trait worry and emotion regulation. An interaction for trait worry and emotion reappraisal was found on two markers of heart rate variability. Low trait worriers with high emotion reappraisal had higher vagal tone than the other three groups. This finding was across all three phases with no specific reactivity or recovery difference. Emotion suppression was not found to significantly impact vagal tone. The negative impacts of trait worry and emotion regulation on heart rate variability were found in this sample of healthy college-aged individuals. Specifically, high trait worry could have a deleterious effect on parasympathetic control of the heart. Emotion regulation skills meanwhile can function as a buffer to stress and a reliance on sympathetic control.
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