Adrenocortical and autonomic attunement between romantic partners in emerging adulthood

Phan, Jenny; Dismukes, Andrew R.; Barnett, Neil; Miocevic, Olga; Ruttle, Paula L.; Shirtcliff, Elizabeth A.

doi:10.1080/10253890.2019.1600502

Cited by 8 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…In contrast to our hypotheses, one study (Helm, Sbarra, & Ferrer, 2014) found that greater RSA in‐phase linkage was associated with better relationship functioning and two studies found null effects (Phan et al, 2019; Sauder, 2001). Helm et al (2014) used cross‐lagged panel models to test linkage in RSA during positive, neutral, and disagreement discussions.…”

Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 91%

“…In a study examining RSA linkage in baseline, neutral, and conflict discussions through time series analysis (Sauder, 2001), no association emerged between RSA linkage and marital adjustment, with no distinction between in‐phase and antiphase linkage. Another study found RSA linkage between partners when one participated in a Trier Social Stress Test but did not find that linkage was moderated by support received by partner following the stress test (Phan et al, 2019).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Systematic Review of Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia in Romantic Relationships

et al. 2021

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Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), an index of the parasympathetic nervous system, has recently gained attention as a physiological component of regulatory processes, social connectedness, and health. Within the context of romantic relationships, studies have operationalized and conceptualized RSA in disparate ways, obscuring a clear pattern of findings. This systematic review synthesizes the rapidly developing literature and clarifies the role of RSA in romantic relationships. We evaluate support for three conceptual hypotheses: (1) resting baseline RSA is associated with better quality relationships; (2) phasic RSA is reflective of changes in threat and connection during couple interactions; and (3) physiological linkage in RSA between romantic partners relates to positive or negative relationship functioning depending on the nature of the linkage (e.g., in-phase vs. antiphase). We identified 26 empirical studies that tested associations between RSA and an index of romantic relationships (i.e., relationship satisfaction). Our findings show that higher RSA is not uniformly "good" for relationships. Higher resting baseline RSA was contemporaneously associated with better quality relationships, yet higher baseline RSA was also unexpectedly associated with relationship violence. Short-term decreases in RSA were found during relationship conflict, though the opposite-phasic increases in RSA during positive romantic partner interactions-was not found due to mixed empirical support. As expected, evidence for RSA linkage was found, though the connection between linkage and relationship functioning depends on the context in which it was measured. We discuss methodological limitations and directions for future research.

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Section: Resultscontrasting

confidence: 91%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Systematic Review of Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia in Romantic Relationships

et al. 2021

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“…Results of our analyses testing how physiological linkage relates to general levels of relationship functioning showed that less satisfied couples evidenced higher levels of linkage in their physiological responding. These data are consistent with extant work examining associations between linkage and relationship functioning across a range of physiological measures and contexts, generally showing that similarity in physiological signals is associated with decreased relationship functioning (e.g., Chaspari et al, 2015;Coutinho et al, 2019;Ha et al, 2016;Levenson & Gottman, 1983;Liu et al, 2013;Phan et al, 2019;Saxbe & Repetti, 2010;Timmons, Baucom, et al, 2017;Wilson et al, 2018). It is possible that couples with lower relationship satisfaction are more responsive to one another's negative emotional states, causing them to easily catch their partners' stress and ultimately contributing to physiological dysregulation and disruption in homeostasis.…”

Section: Physiological Linkage In Eda and General Relationship Satisf...supporting

confidence: 87%

“…Although not entirely consistent across studies, research to date investigating the implications of physiological linkage on relationship functioning has generally found that heightened covariation in physiological signals is related to poorer couple functioning, such as lower relationship satisfaction, insecure attachment style, increased demand-withdraw behavior during conflict, lower levels of social support, greater negative affect reactivity, and increased inflammatory biomarkers (e.g., Chaspari et al, 2015; Coutinho et al, 2019; Ha et al, 2016; Levenson & Gottman, 1983; Liu et al, 2013; Phan et al, 2019; Saxbe & Repetti, 2010; Timmons, Baucom, et al, 2017; Wilson et al, 2018). It is possible that couples with lower levels of relationship satisfaction may in general exhibit heightened reactivity to their partners’ emotional states, leading to conflict escalation and increased fighting relative to more satisfied couples.…”

Section: Relationships As Regulators Of Individual Physiologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationship satisfaction, feelings of closeness and annoyance, and linkage in electrodermal activity.

Timmons¹,

Han²,

Chaspari³

et al. 2023

Emotion

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Physiological linkage refers to moment-to-moment, time-linked coordination in physiological responses among people in close relationships. Although people in romantic relationships have been shown to evidence linkage in their physiological responses over time, it is still unclear how patterns of covariation relate to in-the-moment, as well as general levels of, relationship functioning. In the present study with data collected between 2014 and 2017, we capture linkage in electrodermal activity (EDA) in a diverse sample of young-adult couples, generally representative and generalizable to the Los Angeles community from which we sampled. We test how naturally occurring, shifting feelings of closeness with and annoyance toward one's partner relate to concurrent changes in levels of physiological linkage over the course of 1 day. Additionally, we examine how linkage relates to overall relationship satisfaction. Results showed that couples evidenced significant covariation in their levels of physiological arousal in daily life. Further, physiological linkage increased during hours that participants felt close to their romantic partners but not during hours that participants felt annoyed with their partners. Finally, those participants with overall higher levels of relationship satisfaction showed lower levels of linkage over the day of data collection. These findings highlight how individuals respond in sync with their romantic partners and how this process ebbs and flows in conjunction with the shifting emotional tone of their relationships. The discussion focuses on how linkage might enhance closeness or, alternatively, contribute to conflict escalation and the potential of linkage processes to promote positive interpersonal relationships.

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“…Synchrony also exists between non-genetically related cohabitating family members (Schreiber et al, 2006), and is stronger among parents and children that spend more time together (Papp et al, 2009). Interestingly, the same physiological markers (cortisol, autonomic markers, neural activity) that show synchrony between children and care-givers, have also been found to synchronize between romantic partners across a variety of contexts (Djalovski et al, 2021;Kinreich et al, 2017;Pauly et al, 2020;Phan et al, 2019;Saxbe & Repetti, 2010, Schreiber et al, 2006Timmons et al, 2015).…”

Section: Setting the Stage: Experience With Attachment And Entrainmentmentioning

confidence: 97%

From distal to proximal to interactive: Behavioral and brain synchrony during attraction, courtship, and sexual interaction

Pfaus¹,

Zakreski²,

Safron³

2022

Preprint

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In this chapter we review some of the multifarious roles of synchrony in mating psychology. We describe how synchronous dynamics contribute to the coherence of nervous systems; early bonding and development; and sexual and romantic relationships. While it is difficult to do justice to such a deep topic in a single chapter, we have attempted to provide a broad overview of ways in which rhythms have implications for understanding our social and emotional selves, and how our self-boundaries may expand to include others. Given the importance of wisely choosing and skillfully navigating this sort of co-mingling, we describe how varying degrees of intimacy can both gradually and precipitously build through patterns of synchronized rhythmic interactions, which both help to structure and gate the activities through which increasing degrees of closeness are shaped through mutually-rewarding experiences. While here we primarily focus on sexuality from a scientific and humanistic perspective, we believe these explorations point to how rhythmic interaction represents a keystone for our inherently intersubjective minds, allowing us to better understand some of the ways in which humans can be such a strange and extraordinary species.

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Adrenocortical and autonomic attunement between romantic partners in emerging adulthood

Cited by 8 publications

References 40 publications

A Systematic Review of Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia in Romantic Relationships

A Systematic Review of Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia in Romantic Relationships

Relationship satisfaction, feelings of closeness and annoyance, and linkage in electrodermal activity.

From distal to proximal to interactive: Behavioral and brain synchrony during attraction, courtship, and sexual interaction

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