Cardiac Defense Reactivity and Cognitive Flexibility in High- and Low-Resilience Women

Abstract

The present study analyzes, in a sample of 54 young women, the relationships between high or low resilience, measured with the Connor- Davidson Resilience Scale questionnaire and the Spanish adaptation of the Resilience Scale, and two indices of psychophysiological and neuropsychological adaptability, the cardiac defense response (CDR) and cognitive flexibility. The results showed that the more resilient people, in addition to having better scores on mental health questionnaires, obtained better scores in cognitive flexibility than the less resilient people. Regarding the CDR, both groups showed the typical response pattern to unexpected intense noise, with two successive accelerationdeceleration components. However, the more resilient people had a larger initial acceleration-deceleration, which is indicative of greater vagal control, than the less resilient people. No significant differences were found in the second acceleration-deceleration, which is indicative of sympathetic control. The present findings broaden the understanding of how resilient people change their adaptable responses to address environmental demands.