Parenting under Challenge:Interactive Contributions of Dynamic Fluctuations in Children’s Behavior and Maternal Cardiac Physiology

• In Event: 2-020 - Dynamics of Physiological Processes in Interpersonal Contexts: Correlates and Outcomes

Integrative Statement

Maternal emotional support and cognitive assistance during problem-solving situations facilitate children’s socioemotional and cognitive development (Deci & Ryan, 1987; Vygotsky, 1978). It is therefore important to examine predictors of these parenting behavior in real time (Taraban & Shaw, 2018). By integrating the transactional model of development (Sameroff, 2009) and polyvagal theory (Porges, 2007), we assessed the interactive contributions of moment-to-moment within-person fluctuations in child behavior and maternal cardiac physiology during a collaborative problem-solving task to maternal emotional support and cognitive assistance.

130 mother-preschooler dyads between 3.5 and 5 years of age (65 girls) were observed during a 5-min challenging puzzle task where the mother was asked to provide verbal help to her child. Maternal emotional support (e.g., praising or encouraging the child’s efforts, validating the child’s affect), cognitive assistance (e.g., providing specific instructions, making connections to outside experience or knowledge), child defeat (e.g., frustration, withdrawal), and agency (e.g., expressing confidence, requesting mother’s help) were each rated on 4-point scales in 15-sec intervals. Maternal Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA) was also calculated in 15-sec intervals synchronized with the behavioral data.

Multilevel models were tested to assess individual and combined contributions of within-person fluctuations (i.e., relative to one’s mean) in child defeat and maternal RSA on maternal emotional support (Model 1) and maternal cognitive assistance (Model 2). Similarly, individual and combined contributions of child agency and maternal RSA were assessed in Models 3 and 4.

Results revealed a significant Child Defeatt-1 x Maternal RSAt-1 interaction on maternal emotional support (b = .095, SE = .05, p = .036), such that child defeat in a given 15-sec interval was associated with increased maternal emotional support in the next interval for mothers who displayed vagal augmentation (b = .153, SE = .05, p = .002; see Figure 1), but not for mothers who displayed vagal withdrawal (b = .032, SE = .05, p = .479) in the prior 15-sec interval.

For models examining child agency, a significant Child Agencyt-1 x Maternal RSAt-1 interaction emerged on maternal cognitive assistance (b = -.085, SE = 03, p = .04), such that child agency in a given 15-sec interval was associated with increased maternal cognitive assistance in the next interval for mothers who displayed vagal withdrawal (b = .093, SE = .04, p = .021; see Figure 2), but not for mothers who displayed vagal augmentation (b = -.017, SE = .04, p = .643) in the prior 15-sec interval.

Results suggest that increases in maternal emotional support following children’s defeat may rely on the social engagement system (indexed by vagal augmentation), which facilitates social orientation behaviors such as listening and eye-contact (Porges, 2003). In contrast, increases in maternal cognitive assistance following children’s agency may rely on a regulatory response (indexed by vagal withdrawal) which facilitates sustained attention and the use of higher-order cognitive skills (Thayer & Lane, 2000). Findings highlight the importance of considering the extent to which changes in child behaviors operate together with internal regulatory mechanisms in mothers to predict parenting behavior in real time.

Authors

• Niyantri Ravindran, The Pennsylvania State University
  Presenting Author

• Nancy McElwain, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  Non-Presenting Author

• Laurie Kramer, Northeastern University
  Non-Presenting Author