Poster #141 - Interpersonal Autonomic Physiology of Mother-Infant Dyads: Trauma Related Variations

• In Event: 3-106 - Poster Session 11
  In Poster Session: PS 11 Section - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Integrative Statement

Background: Interpersonal autonomic physiology (Palumbo, et al., 2017) is a term used to define the association between people’s physiological dynamics as they interact with one another. IAP research has examined patterns of synchrony in various physiological systems (e.g., heart rate, skin conductance, respiratory sinus arrhythmia, RSA) while mother-infant dyads interact during tasks such as the Still-Face Procedure (SFP) and the Strange Situation Paradigm (SSP). Findings of these studies indicate that these interpersonal physiological interactions co-occur with observable behavior and may help create a better understanding of psycho-social interactions (Palumbo, et al., 2017). Contemporary biosocial models propose that the attachment relationship may well be the principal interpersonal context in which biobehavioral and regulatory development take shape (Hill-Soderlund, et al., 2008). Several theorists believe that an attachment system characterized by security promotes behavioral and biological synchrony between caregiver and infant. Zelenko et al., (2005) found that only secure dyads experienced physiological attunement during SSP and that mothers and insecure-resistant infants demonstrated lower dyadic consistency in their HR changes during the SSP, compared with secure dyads. Smith, Woodhouse, Clark and Skowron (2016) found that mother-child RSA showed a positive concordance during SSP that was strongest in the insecure-resistant group.

IAP research is just now beginning to consider factors that shape dyadic coordination. Much of this initial work has focused on maternal affect, however, interest in the dysregulatory effects of trauma symptomatology are likely crucial. As such, the present study has three aims: First, we examined mother-infant RSA attunement across the reunion phase of the SFP when infants were 5 months of age. Second, we tested whether maternal trauma symptoms accounted for variations in mother-infant RSA attunement. Third, we tested to see whether patterns of RSA attunement at 5 months predicted infant’s attachment classifications on the SSP at 18 months.

Method: 105 low-SES infant-mother dyads were followed prospectively across the pre- to postnatal transition. Data for the present investigation was collected at 5-month post-partum, when dyads participated in the Still Face Procedure. Maternal and infant physiology was monitored continuously throughout the SFP. Maternal affective and trauma symptomatology were collected at this 5-month visit using the CES-D and Trauma Symptom Checklist–40. Infant attachment classifications were derived when infants were 18-months using SSP.
Results: Analysis of mother-infant IAP during SFP are under way. Initial results showed significant mother-infant physiological attunement (b= -.13, p=.03): While maternal RSA increased, infant RSA decreased, and vice versa. Interestingly, maternal symptoms of anxiety, but not depression, were associated with higher infant RSA during reunion (Z=-2.00, p=.02); analyses of the associations between maternal trauma symptoms mother-infant RSA attunement is under way. Finally, the following attachment classifications were produced at 18 months: Insecure-avoidant (7.8%); Secure (65.6%); Insecure-Resistant (6.3%); Disorganized (20.3%). Similarly, we care currently analyzing the association between mother-infant RSA attunement at 5 months and attachment classification at 18 months.

Authors

• Pooyesh Ganji, University of Oregon
  Presenting Author

• Jeffrey Measelle, University of Oregon
  Non-Presenting Author

• Brendan Ostlund, University of Utah
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jennifer C Ablow, University of Oregon
  Non-Presenting Author