Smith, C. and Jones, Emily J.H. and Charman, T. and Clackson, K. and Mirza, F. and Wass, S. (2022) Anxious parents show higher physiological synchrony with their infants. Psychological Medicine 52 (14), pp. 3040-3050. ISSN 0033-2917.
![[img]](https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/style/images/fileicons/text.png) |
Text
42002.pdf - Author's Accepted Manuscript Restricted to Repository staff only Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (378kB) | Request a copy |
|
|
Text (Figures and tables)
42002a.pdf - Supplemental Material Restricted to Repository staff only Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (1MB) | Request a copy |
|
|
Text
42002b.pdf - Supplemental Material Restricted to Repository staff only Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (469kB) | Request a copy |
|
|
Text
42002c.pdf - Published Version of Record Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (790kB) | Preview |
|
|
Text
42002d.pdf - Published Version of Record Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (790kB) | Preview |
Abstract
Background. Interpersonal processes influence our physiological states and associated affect. Physiological arousal dysregulation, a core feature of anxiety disorders, has been identified in children of parents with elevated anxiety. However, little is understood about how parent-infant interpersonal regulatory processes differ when the dyad includes a more anxious parent. Methods. We investigated moment-to-moment fluctuations in arousal within parent-infant dyads using miniaturised microphones and autonomic monitors. We continually recorded arousal and vocalisations in infants and parents in naturalistic home settings across day-long data segments. Results. Our results indicated that physiological synchrony across the day was stronger in dyads including more rather than less anxious mothers. Across the whole recording epoch, less anxious mothers showed responsivity that was limited to ‘peak’ moments in their child’s arousal. In contrast, more anxious mothers showed greater reactivity to small-scale fluctuations. Less anxious mothers also showed behaviours akin to ‘stress buffering’ – downregulating their arousal when the overall arousal level of the dyad was high. These behaviours were absent in more anxious mothers. Conclusion. Our findings have implications for understanding the differential processes of physiological co-regulation in partnerships where a partner is anxious, and for the use of this understanding in informing intervention strategies for dyads needing support for elevated levels of anxiety.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science > School of Psychological Sciences |
| Research Centres and Institutes: | Brain and Cognitive Development, Centre for (CBCD) |
| Depositing User: | Emily Jones |
| Date Deposited: | 14 Dec 2020 17:23 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Aug 2023 18:06 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/42002 |
Statistics
Additional statistics are available via IRStats2.
Archive Staff Only (login required)
