Infants’ physiological responses to emotionally salient media with links to parent and child, empathy, prosocial behaviors and media use

Stockdale, Laura; Porter, C. L.; Reschke, Peter J.; Booth, McCall; Coyne, Sarah M.; Shawcroft, Jane; Memmott‐Elison, Madison K.

doi:10.1016/j.chb.2022.107497

Cited by 2 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 78 publications

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“…Although children did not exhibit strong negative emotions, we do note that consistent with prior research (Abney et al., 2021; Busuito & Moore, 2017, Jones‐Mason et al., 2018) many toddlers in the current study did demonstrate RSA decrease coupled with HR increase (i.e., vagal withdrawal) in response to parents’ phone distraction (i.e., technoference). Vagal withdrawal is thought to be an adaptive response that helps shift neurophysiological resources needed to face changing environmental demands (e.g., Moore et al., 2009; Porges, 2011; Stockdale et al., 2023). Vagal withdrawal commonly releases parasympathetic or calming mechanisms over visceral systems to allow for activation of sympathetic pathways that support physiological arousal, including increased HR, metabolic output, and respiration to help organize resources to meet social challenges (Porges, 2011; Porter, Stockdale, et al., 2022).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Prior research shows that across a broad range of ages (infants to school age), children often suppress RSA (vagal withdrawal) in the face of a various challenge conditions (e.g., still face, arm-restraint, spontaneous speech tasks, increased cognitive load, frustration paradigms, effortful control tasks, etc. ; Calkins et al, 2007;El-Sheikh et al, 2001;Porter & Jones, 2011;Stockdale et al, 2023;Wagner et al, 2023). However, contradictions have been noted in the literature, at times showing differential patterns of vagal response across individuals, task conditions, sample characteristics, and contexts (see Beauchaine et al, 2019;Graziano & Derefinko, 2013).…”

Section: Polyvagal Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Interruptions to social engagement due to distraction from a mobile device has received growing attention from scholars, especially in relation to the potential impact on children's development (McDaniel, 2019). Media distraction in the context of social interactions, a phenomenon some scholars call technoference (McDaniel & Coyne, 2016), is marked by behaviors such as breaking off social engagement to scroll through social media to read or respond to a text message or check email notifications (McDaniel, 2019, Stockdale et al., 2023). In the context of parent–child relationships, frequent patterns of technoference have been associated with a poorer quality of parenting (Beamish et al., 2018), including fewer verbal and nonverbal bids being directed toward children by parents (Konrad et al., 2021; Lederer et al., 2022; Radesky et al., 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Toddlers’ physiological response to parent's mobile device distraction and technoference

Porter,

Coyne,

Chojnacki

et al. 2024

Developmental Psychobiology

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Given the prevalence of mobile device use, especially among parents of young children, the current study examines the impact of mobile device distraction (technoference) on toddlers’ physiological and emotional functioning. We suspected that toddlers’ would demonstrate difficultly maintaining physiological and emotional homeostasis when parents became distracted by a mobile device. In this study, we examined toddlers’ (N = 129, M age = 29.05 months) physiological and behavioral responses across three conditions in an induced technoference task that mimicked elements of a traditional still face paradigm (i.e., social engagement, phone distraction, and social recovery). Similar to previous studies employing still face with younger infants, a majority of toddlers demonstrated a loss of positive affective tone mirrored by heart rate increase and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) decrease (vagal withdrawal) during the phone distraction condition relative to the initial and final social engagement conditions. However, some toddlers demonstrated vagal activation (RSA increase) to parents’ phone distraction. Greater RSA withdrawal was linked to decreased positive affect and increased negative affect for children during parents’ phone distraction. Parents who reported higher levels of technoference were more likely to have children who demonstrated lower vagal reactivity (greater vagal withdrawal) to parents’ phone distraction while parents attitudes about technoference (e.g., “it is okay to use a mobile device in front of my child”) was found to be linked to higher RSA reactivity (greater vagal activation). Findings are discussed in relation to Porges’ polyvagal theory and the possible role that interactive dynamics play in children's emerging regulatory systems.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Polyvagal Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Toddlers’ physiological response to parent's mobile device distraction and technoference

Porter,

Coyne,

Chojnacki

et al. 2024

Developmental Psychobiology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…By contrast, stimuli that require attentive focus but are nonthreatening or social in nature more commonly activate a parasympathetic response, which works to regulate sympathetic activation, often resulting in lowered heart rate, slower respiration, and conservation of metabolic resources (Moore et al., 2009; Porges & Raskin, 1969; Richards & Cronise, 2000). While some media, especially violent or fast‐paced media, may induce sympathetic responses, other forms of media may engage calming responses (Stockdale et al., 2022). Specifically, children's educational media often aims to provide content that is easy for children to engage with (McCollum & Bryant et al., 2003) and is designed to extend attention, while drawing attention to more prosocial and/or neutral themes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Katerina gets mad”: Infants’ physiological and behavioral responses to co‐viewing educational, self‐regulatory media

Porter

Stockdale

Reschke

et al. 2022

Developmental Psychobiology

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A growing body of research has focused on the physiological impact of media on older children and adolescents. Less research has been focused on the potential physiological impact of media on infants and younger children, especially media designed to be age appropriate and educational in content. In this study, we examined respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) in infants (N = 269, M age = 17.13 months) while they co-viewed an educational video clip that modeled emotion regulation and contrasted their physiological response to an unoccupied baseline and a frustration paradigm (arm-restraint).Given parent reports showing the calming effect of educational media viewing in young children, we anticipated that a similar pattern of calming would be observed physiologically in infants. Results showed that relative to baseline, most infants demonstrated an increase in RSA while co-viewing, suggesting greater parasympathetic (regulatory) activation consistent with behavioral calming. However, infants who demonstrated vagal withdrawal during co-viewing (decrease in RSA) were more likely to have parents who used a tablet to help infants go to sleep at night. Vagal withdrawal was also associated with increased levels of negative affect observed during the coviewing task. Findings are discussed in relation to the contextual effect of co-viewing age-appropriate, educational media on children's physiological responses.

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Infants’ physiological responses to emotionally salient media with links to parent and child, empathy, prosocial behaviors and media use

Cited by 2 publications

References 78 publications

Toddlers’ physiological response to parent's mobile device distraction and technoference

Toddlers’ physiological response to parent's mobile device distraction and technoference

“Katerina gets mad”: Infants’ physiological and behavioral responses to co‐viewing educational, self‐regulatory media

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