TY - JOUR
T1 - In sync
T2 - Physiological correlates of behavioral synchrony in infants and mothers
AU - Busuito, Alex
AU - Quigley, Kelsey M.
AU - Moore, Ginger A.
AU - Voegtline, Kristin M.
AU - DiPietro, Janet A.
N1 - Funding Information:
The study was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development grant (R01 HD 27592) awarded to Janet A. DiPietro and National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships (DGE1255832) to Alex Busuito and to Kelsey M. Quigley. Any opinion, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. We are thankful for the dedication and generosity of our study families, without whom this work would not be possible.
Funding Information:
The study was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development grant (R01 HD 27592) awarded to Janet A. DiPietro and National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships (DGE1255832) to Alex Busuito and to Kelsey M. Quigley. Any opinion, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors' and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. We are thankful for the dedication and generosity of our study families, without whom this work would not be possible.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 American Psychological Association.
PY - 2019/5
Y1 - 2019/5
N2 - Infant-mother behavioral synchrony is thought to scaffold the development of self-regulation in the first years of life. During this time, infants' and mothers' physiological regulation may contribute to dyadic synchrony and, in infants, dyadic synchrony may support infants' physiological regulation. Because the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) serve different regulatory functions, the current study aimed to elucidate relations between infants' and mothers' SNS and PNS functioning and dyadic behavioral synchrony. Skin conductance (SC; SNS index), respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA; PNS index), heart period (HP; index of joint SNS and PNS arousal), and behavioral synchrony were assessed in 6-month-old infants (N = 140) and their mothers during a mild social stressor, the Face-to-Face Still-Face paradigm (Tronick, Als, Adamson, Wise, & Brazelton, 1978). Synchrony was related to infants' and mothers' PNS and to mothers' broad autonomic arousal but not to SNS-specific arousal. Higher levels of behavioral synchrony were associated with lower infant RSA but with higher mother HP and RSA at baseline and in each Face-to-Face Still-Face paradigm episode. Therefore, lower RSA infants may have required more synchronous engagement with mothers to support regulation, while higher RSA, less aroused mothers may have been particularly well-attuned to infants' emotions. Findings suggest that each individual's physiological state may contribute to the behavioral functioning of the dyad.
AB - Infant-mother behavioral synchrony is thought to scaffold the development of self-regulation in the first years of life. During this time, infants' and mothers' physiological regulation may contribute to dyadic synchrony and, in infants, dyadic synchrony may support infants' physiological regulation. Because the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) serve different regulatory functions, the current study aimed to elucidate relations between infants' and mothers' SNS and PNS functioning and dyadic behavioral synchrony. Skin conductance (SC; SNS index), respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA; PNS index), heart period (HP; index of joint SNS and PNS arousal), and behavioral synchrony were assessed in 6-month-old infants (N = 140) and their mothers during a mild social stressor, the Face-to-Face Still-Face paradigm (Tronick, Als, Adamson, Wise, & Brazelton, 1978). Synchrony was related to infants' and mothers' PNS and to mothers' broad autonomic arousal but not to SNS-specific arousal. Higher levels of behavioral synchrony were associated with lower infant RSA but with higher mother HP and RSA at baseline and in each Face-to-Face Still-Face paradigm episode. Therefore, lower RSA infants may have required more synchronous engagement with mothers to support regulation, while higher RSA, less aroused mothers may have been particularly well-attuned to infants' emotions. Findings suggest that each individual's physiological state may contribute to the behavioral functioning of the dyad.
KW - Behavioral synchrony
KW - Infants
KW - Mothers
KW - Parasympathetic nervous system
KW - Sympathetic nervous system
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85061426246&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85061426246&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037/dev0000689
DO - 10.1037/dev0000689
M3 - Article
C2 - 30742469
AN - SCOPUS:85061426246
SN - 0012-1649
VL - 55
SP - 1034
EP - 1045
JO - Developmental Psychology
JF - Developmental Psychology
IS - 5
ER -