Poster #144 - Maternal Controlling Responses to Child Autonomy are Associated with Patterns of Children’s Autonomic Physiology

• In Event: 3-159 - Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Section - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Integrative Statement

Child maltreatment (CM) has been shown to place children at greater risk for deficits in behavioral and emotional regulation (Shield, Cicchetti, & Ryan, 1994; Cicchetti & Toth, 2005; Kim & Cicchetti, 2010), yet growing evidence suggests the consequences of CM extend beyond observable behavior in children to the physiological stress-response systems (Watts-English, Fortson, Gibler, Hooper, & Bellis, 2006) Parenting is a central risk factor in the experience of CM, (Stith et al., 2009), and there has been growing attention to parent-child interactions as a proximal intervention target within maltreating families. However, few studies have explored how parent-child transactions are linked with children’s physiology and even fewer still have examined these linkages in maltreating samples. To address this gap, the aim of the study was to examine how children’s autonomic physiology was related to parent-child interaction sequences characterized by maternal strict/harsh control and maternal warm autonomous support responses to children’s autonomy assertions. The study constitutes a replication of Skowron et al., 2011 that found linkages between maternal aversive control and children’s resting parasympathetic tone in an earlier sample of (N = 76) mother-child dyads.

Participants were 170 preschool-aged children and their mothers, half of which had experienced physical abuse or neglect. Parent-child interaction sequences during the duplo puzzle task (Hoffman, Crnic, & Baker, 2007) were coded using the Structural Analysis of Social Behavior (Benjamin, 1996) and children’s respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was collected concurrently.

Independent samples t-tests were used to explore CM-group differences in mother-child interaction sequences. There was a significant difference in maternal control responses to child autonomy between physical abusive (PA) dyads (M = .12, SD = .10) and non-maltreating (non-CM) mothers (M = .07, SD = .08), t(107) = -2.23, p < .05. Neglect mothers controlling behaviors did not differ from either those of non-CM or PA dyads (M = .10, SD = .10). Two hierarchical regression analyses were then employed to predict child RSA from the mother-child interaction sequences. In step one, child age and maternal education were entered, followed by child maltreatment status (i.e. PA, PN). In the final step, each mother-child interaction sequence was entered. A hierarchical regression model, with child joint task RSA regressed onto maternal strict, harsh control, was significant, after covarying maternal education, child age, and CM status, ΔF(1, 132) = 7.03, p < .001, ΔR2 = .05. Also replicating results from Skowron et al., 2011, however, a second regression testing the effects of maternal warm autonomy support on child task RSA, was not significant, ΔF(1, 132) = .001, p > .10, ΔR2 = .001.

Findings are consistent with prior research which shows that CM parents display greater control in interactions with their children relative to non-CM parents (e.g., Wilson, Rack, Shi, & Norris, 2008). Consistent with Skowron et al.’s findings (2011), we found that the quality of maternal responding to child autonomy is associated with children’s physiological regulation. Experimental studies are needed to clarify whether parenting interventions that target aversive control in CM parents might alter children’s autonomic physiology, thereby promoting favorable child outcomes.

Authors

• Maria Lynn Schweer-Collins, University of Oregon
  Presenting Author

• Elizabeth A. Skowron, University of Oregon
  Non-Presenting Author