Children’s Vocal Properties as Mobilizers of Stress-Related Physiological Responses in Adults

Abstract

We measured the ways that women with varying degrees of perceived power respond physiologically to children's elevated vocal pitch (F 0 : fundamental frequency), a social dependence/immaturity cue. Listeners believed either that they would provide instructions or make judgments about the children they heard. As predicted, women with low perceived power in caregiving relationships (i.e., who attributed greater power to children than to self) were highly reactive to children's pitch properties-in particular, when they anticipated providing instructions. When expecting to provide instructions to children with higher F 0 voices, women with low perceived power showed elevations in cortisol levels and heart rate (consistent with defensive mobilization for threat). In all other pairings of women and children, cortisol and heart rate levels held relatively constant or declined. In addition, women with low perceived power showed better recall of messages from children with higher F 0 voices than lower F 0 voices. Implications are drawn for interaction patterns that foster caregiving stress and conflict.

Physiological Reactivity to Infant Crying and Observed Maternal Sensitivity

“…However, when the environment is perceived as dangerous or threatening, the autonomic system switches to the more primitive circuits and activates the SNS to regulate defensive strategies through a fight‐or‐flight response. Heightened perceptions of danger and threat have been found in parents at risk of abuse, as evidenced by more hostile interpretations of child behaviors, often in combination with feelings of powerlessness (e.g., Bugental & Happaney, 2004; Leung & Slep, 2006; Linn, Bugental, Turek, Martorell, & Olster, 2002; Smith & O’Leary, 1995). Furthermore, the behavioral overreactivity to infant signals seen in parents at risk of abuse (Milner, 2003) may signal a chronically overactivated SNS resulting from a poorly functioning vagal brake (Porges, 2001).…”

Personality Development

“…Such facial expressions of emotions help to coordinate social interactions: These expressions convey information about the motivations and personality of the sender, evoke complementary or similar emotions from others, and provide incentives for particular responses (e.g., positive emotions reinforce desired social behaviors; Keltner, Ekman, Gonzaga, & Beer, 2003). In addition to the facial expression of emotion, children's other individuating characteristics (e.g., vocal properties; Lin, Bugental, Turek, Martorell, & Olster, 2002) are likely to provoke particular interpersonal responses as well.…”

Dyadic concordance in mother and preschooler resting cardiovascular function varies by risk status

“…Maltreating parents themselves have displayed deficits in physiological regulation. For example, CM parents show higher resting HR and greater HR activation (Bugental et al, 1993;Bugental, Lewis, Lin, Lyon, & Kopeikin, 1999;Frodi & Lamb, 1980), cortisol hypersecretion (Lin, Bugental, Turek, Martorell, & Olster, 2002), and declines in galvanic skin response (Bugental & Cortez, 1988) in response to neutral and child-specific stimuli, compared to nonCM parents. This constellation of cardiovascular and neuroendocrine hyper-responding indicates a pattern of ''threat-sensitivity'' (Bugental, 2009), and may compromise a parent's ability to engage in mutual, consensually shared experiences with their child.…”