Linking Parental Physiological Regulation and Parenting Behavior

• In Event: Biobehavioral influences of environmental stress and caregiving behaviors on child outcomes

Abstract

Parents’ autonomic nervous system (ANS) functioning, namely sympathetic (SNS) and parasympathetic (PNS) regulation, have been linked with their parenting behaviors. For instance, high PNS activation that was paired with either low or high SNS activation during a moderately challenging task with preschool children was associated with less negative parenting behaviors (Miller et al., 2015). Although both branches of ANS work together to regulate emotion and behavior, less is known about the combined effect of SNS and PNS regulation in parenting young adolescents. Further, the examination of parents’ ANS regulation during parent-adolescent problem-solving conversations, common during early adolescence, is limited. The current study investigated the associations between mothers’ ANS regulation and their autonomy-supportive and controlling behaviors, assessed via self-reports and observations.

Participants included 100 mothers (Mage = 41.37 years, SD = 6.67) of young adolescents (~11 years). Mothers’ respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and skin conductance level (SCL), objective indices of PNS and SNS, respectively, were recorded during a 3-minute baseline period and a 5-minute mother-adolescent conversation about a recent adolescent peer problem. Physiological reactivity (i.e., RSAR, SCLR) was computed as a residualized change score from baseline to conversation. During the conversation, maternal control and autonomy support were rated by two trained coders (ICC = .90 and .88, respectively). Mothers also reported psychological control (Barber, 1996; α =.73) and monitoring behaviors (Stattin & Kerr, 2000; α =.81).

Results from regression analyses (Table 1) revealed that the main effect of mothers’ higher RSAR (i.e., withdrawal of PNS influence) predicting lower observed autonomy support was qualified by a 2-way interaction with SCLR. A simple slopes analysis revealed that higher SCLR (i.e., more SNS activity) exacerbated the negative association between RSAR and observed autonomy support, whereas no association emerged for lower SCLR (Figure 1). Less autonomy support was linked with SNS dominance (higher SNS and lower PNS activity), whereas more autonomy support was associated with co-activation of SNS and PNS (higher SNS and PNS activity). Although RSAR x SCLR interaction effect emerged for mother-reported psychological control, simple slopes tests were non-significant [lower SCLR: B (SE) = -.13 (.09), p = .127; higher SCLR: B (SE) =.10 (.06), p = .101]. No associations emerged for observed maternal control or monitoring.

Findings suggest that mothers were more likely to provide opportunities for adolescent autonomy when both PNS and SNS were activated during mother-adolescent peer problem conversations. We propose that maintaining or increasing PNS activation may serve to manage the arousal stemming from SNS activation related to adolescents’ peer stress experience, which may help to facilitate mothers’ social engagement and autonomy-supportive behaviors (Porges, 2007; Miller et al., 2015). Conversely, when SNS activation was coupled with less PNS regulation, mothers were less likely to demonstrate opportunities for autonomy development. This pattern may reflect physiological overarousal which could interfere with mothers’ ability to support adolescent autonomy. Findings highlight the importance of considering multiple indices of autonomic functioning to understand parenting in the context of adolescent peer problems.

Authors

• Tianying Cai, Northwestern University
  Presenting Author

• Xiaomei Li, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kelly M. Tu, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  Non-Presenting Author