Parenting Style and Adolescent Externalizing Behaviors: The Moderating Role of Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia

Abstract

This longitudinal study was conducted with 262 adolescents (M age = 15.3) and their parents to examine adolescent respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA; baseline and reactivity) as a moderator of the relationship between parenting style and adolescent externalizing behaviors. This was conceptualized within the differential susceptibility to the environment framework, which proposes that children with greater sensitivity to environmental influences benefit more from supportive environments but are at greater risk in averse environments. In this study, low RSA baseline was associated with greater susceptibility. In confirmation of hypotheses, males with low RSA baseline had the most externalizing behaviors when mother or father authoritative

Associations between autonomic nervous system activity and risk‐taking and internalizing behavior in young adolescents

“…Authoritarian parenting (AUTH-S) (strictness and no warmth), however, was associated with higher internalizing and risk-taking symptoms (Williams et al, 2009), possibly because authoritarian parents may increase adolescents' stress without teaching them healthy coping strategies. In line with this, previous research found externalizing behavior, reactive aggression, and delinquency to be highest in boys with lower baseline RSA who also experienced negative parenting, i.e., harsh or inconsistent parenting, or low levels of authoritative parenting (Dyer et al, 2016;Hinnant et al, 2015;Kassing et al, 2018). Also, Cai and Tu (2020) reported that in adolescents of mothers using high levels of psychological control, a form of negative parenting, lower baseline RSA was associated with higher internalizing symptoms in boys and girls, whereas boys with higher baseline RSA did not exhibit increased internalizing symptoms.…”

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia, parenting, and externalizing behavior in children with autism spectrum disorder

“…RSA reactivity and parenting have also interacted in research on children with neurotypical development. Dyer, Blocker, Day, and Bean (2016) found that, among boys, the highest rates of externalizing problems were observed when high RSA reactivity was combined with more authoritarian maternal parenting styles. Similarly, Obradović et al (2011) found that high RSA reactivity to a cognitively based stressor appeared to strengthen the relation between exposure to marital conflict and children’s externalizing problems.…”

Biosocial studies of antisocial behavior: A systematic review of interactions between peri/prenatal complications, psychophysiological parameters, and social risk factors

“…While studies among boys consistently found interactions between PNS baseline activity and social risk (Dyer, Blocker, Day, & Bean, 2016;Gordis et al, 2010;Hinnant et al, 2015;Zhang et al, 2017), most studies did not find significant interaction effects among girls (Dyer et al, 2016;Gordis et al, 2010;Zhang et al, 2017). The two studies that did report significant biosocial interactions among girls, found either a negative relationship between social risk and ASB among girls with lower levels of PNS activity (Hinnant et al, 2015), or a stronger relation between familial risk and ASB for girls with higher PNS activity (Eisenberg et al, 2012).…”