Parent–child physiological synchrony: Concurrent and lagged effects during dyadic laboratory interaction

Abstract

This study investigated whether parents and kindergarten children show concurrent and time-lagged physiological synchrony during dyadic interaction. Further, we tested whether parent-child behavioral co-regulation was associated with concurrent and time-lagged synchrony, and whether synchrony varied by the type of interaction task.Participants were 94 children (M age = 5.6 years, 56% female) and their parents. We simultaneously measured parent and child respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) during four dyadic interaction tasks: free play, clean up, problem-solving, and puzzle teaching. We found that synchrony varied by task. Concurrent synchrony occurred only during the puzzle teaching task, such that parent and child RSA were significantly and positively associated with each other simultaneously. Time-lagged synchrony occurred only during the problem-solving task, such that parent RSA was positively associated with child RSA 30 seconds later, and child RSA was negatively associated with parent RSA 30 seconds later. Although behavioral co-regulation and physiological synchrony have been conceptualized as markers of responsive parent-child interactions, our study finds no evidence that physiological synchrony is associated with betweendyad differences in behavioral co-regulation.

Neurophysiological markers of asymmetric emotional contagion: implications for organizational contexts

“…It is important to notice that neurophysiological contagion does not only occur in emotional contexts but can also be associated with neutral interactions ( Thomsen and Gilbert, 1998 ; Babiloni et al, 2006 ; Astolfi et al, 2010 ; Armstrong-Carter et al, 2021 ). Thus, interpersonal neurophysiology might be applied to the investigation of learning processes and cooperation in the workplace.…”

“…The transmission of physiological states can happen also in non-emotional contexts. Armstrong-Carter and collaborators ( Armstrong-Carter et al, 2021 ) tested parents and children during different dyadic interactions and observed that the parent’s RSA predicted that of the children during a problem-solving task. Adverse events, such as adoption or foster care, may instead impair the parents’ ability to attune with their children, leading to a reduction in child-to-parent physiological contagion ( Callaghan et al, 2021 ).…”

A meta‐analysis of mother–child synchrony in respiratory sinus arrhythmia and contextual risk

“…We note three limitations of this meta‐analysis, and one broader limitation of the mother–child RSA synchrony literature that should be addressed and that could improve future meta‐analyses. First, we focused on concurrent RSA synchrony, but researchers are increasingly considering lead–lag associations between mother and child RSA (Armstrong‐Carter et al., 2021; Helm et al., 2018). As the field continues to grow, future meta‐analytic work could evaluate the evidence for directional or bidirectional relations in mother–child RSA synchrony.…”

“…In a study of preschoolers, positive RSA synchrony was strongest during free play and clean up, compared to a structured teaching task (Lunkenheimer, Busuito, et al., 2018). However, in another study of 94 5‐year‐old children and their parents, parent and child RSA synchronized positively on average during more structured tasks (i.e., problem‐solving and puzzle teaching tasks) but not less‐structured free play and clean up tasks (Armstrong‐Carter et al., 2021). A study of 158 3‐ to 4‐year‐old children and their mothers who watched a short, emotional film clip together found positive synchrony only during seconds of the film when there was an increase in negative emotional content (Ravindran et al., 2021).…”

Concurrent and lagged physiological synchrony during mother–child interaction and their relationship to positive affect in 8- to 10-year-old children

“…Two different temporal relationships can be considered here, concurrent and time-lagged synchrony. While the former describes parent’s and child’s covariations in physiological or behavioral responses occurring at the exact same point in time, the latter describes sequential changes in physiological/behavioral responses of the interaction partners (i.e., changes in mother associated with subsequent changes in child or vice versa) 2 and may thus indicate potential directionality 6 . Further, signals may be positively or negatively related to each other, either concurrently or lagged, indicating a positive or negative co-regulation of physiological processes 7 .…”