Parents Mimic and Influence Their Infant’s Autonomic State through Dynamic Affective State Matching

Abstract

Highlights d We investigated naturalistic arousal patterns in infants and parents d We found that only ''high points'' of infant arousal led to changes in the parent d Greater parental responsivity was associated with faster infant quieting d Responses included connecting, and disconnecting, arousal states

Forms and Functions of Affective Synchrony

“…In dyads that effectively coregulate each other, the negative emotion of one person is counterbalanced by their partner, returning the dyad to their set point (Reed et al, 2015). Parents, for instance, tend to decrease their physiological arousal when the infant's arousal is heightened (Wass et al, 2019). But in dyads that are dysregulated, the negative emotion of one partner is reinforced by the other's, creating a positive feedback loop of heightened distress.…”

A systematic review of caregiver–child physiological synchrony across systems: Associations with behavior and child functioning

“…Through the PNS's role in social engagement processes, dyadic synchrony between caregivers’ and children's PNS activity during an interaction may indicate, over and above individual PNS activity, a dyad's ability to positively engage with one another and respond flexibly to environmental changes. The PNS is uniquely suited to identify dynamic, within-dyad patterns of synchrony (rather than between-dyad correlations), both in terms of caregiver-to-child and child-to-caregiver effects (e.g., Lunkenheimer et al, 2018a; Wass et al, 2019), due to its short timescale of activity and noninvasive measurement.…”

“…Caregivers may support synchrony via their own arousal levels, as parasympathetic synchrony tends to be higher when the caregiver was assigned to a “relaxation” condition before the interaction but not if the caregiver was assigned to a “stress” condition (Waters et al, 2017). Child-driven effects are apparent as well, because if mothers show increased arousal in response to higher infant arousal (reduced HRV, stronger parasympathetic synchrony), infants tend to quiet more quickly (Wass et al, 2019). Importantly, though, this was not true if the mother's arousal level was already high, in which case reductions in mother arousal predicted faster infant quieting.…”

“…It is possible that during this period, reliance on the caregiver's physiological regulation is counter-productive to the development of a child's own self-regulation skills. Conversely, synchrony may be an important mechanism through which toddlers develop those skills (e.g., Wass et al, 2019). Parasympathetic synchrony has been shown to increase across the preschool period using rmANOVA (Bornstein & Suess, 2000), possibly indicating a typical developmental process that promotes parasympathetic synchrony.…”

“…Physiological synchrony in romantic couples and therapist–client dyads (see Palumbo et al, 2017 for a review), at least in the autonomic nervous system (ANS), is associated with marital satisfaction, relationship quality, and empathy, though results tend to be mixed. It is possible that parent–child physiological synchrony is beneficial by providing a scaffold from which children can develop independent regulatory skills (Lougheed & Hollenstein, 2018; Wass et al, 2019). Alternatively, synchronous physiological activity could exaggerate the experience of stress between two individuals (Waters, West, Karnilowicz, & Mendes, 2017; Waters, West, & Mendes, 2014).…”