Links between changes in parent-child neural synchrony and children’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors

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Abstract

High parent-child synchrony –a dyadic interactional pattern by which behavioral and biological states are coordinated—(Feldman, 2012), has been consistently linked with better child outcomes (Im-Bolter et al., 2015; Scholtes et al., 2020). While most research on parent-child synchrony has focused on behavioral and physiological measures, recent work has started to explore the synchronization of neural responses as a way to assess the neural underpinnings of dyadic coordination during in-vivo interactions (Nguyen et al., 2020; Quiñones-Camacho et al., 2019). However, few studies have explored parent-child neural synchronization during the preschool years, and to our knowledge, no study to date has explored longitudinal changes in parent-child neural synchronization. The current study explored changes in parent-child neural synchrony during a 1-year period as a predictor of internalizing and externalizing behaviors 6 months later.

One hundred and fifty-one preschoolers (M = 4.85 years, SD = .6) and a caregiver took part in the study. Data was obtained at three timepoints. Time 1 and 2 were separated by 1 year, and time 2 and 3 were separated by 6 months. On timepoints 1 and 2, parent-child dyads completed a dyadic task (DB-DOS: BioSync). This task includes a ‘Frustration’ and a ‘Play’ context. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) data were recorded throughout the task. Parent-child neural synchrony was defined as the coordination of prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation of the parent and the child during each of the task contexts separately. Significance was estimated by using permutation testing of random dyads (e.g., child of dyad A with parent of dyad D) using all possible subject pairs. Parents reported on their child’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) at Time 3.

At both Time 1 and 2 the Frustration and Play contexts resulted in significant parent-child neural synchrony compared to the null distribution derived from permutation testing (Figure 2-1). Neural synchrony during the Frustration and Play contexts did not significantly differ for either timepoint. There were also no significant changes in parent-child neural synchrony between the two timepoints. However, because there was variability across participants in neural synchrony at both timepoints, we extracted neural synchrony values from the peak connection for each dyad for further analyses. A change score was calculated by subtracting neural synchrony values from Time 2 from the neural synchrony values from Time 1. Changes over a 1-year period in parent-child neural synchrony for the Play context were associated with internalizing behaviors 6 months later (r = .314, p = .006). Specifically, greater decreases in parent-child neural synchrony were associated with higher levels of internalizing behaviors 6-months later. The same was not true for externalizing behaviors. Findings from this study provide novel knowledge on parent-child neural synchrony across the preschool period. Moreover, our finding that changes in parent-child neural synchrony during a period of play predict later internalizing behaviors suggests that changes in a parent-child dyad’s ability to coordinate neural activation during positive interactions might be a risk factor for internalizing behaviors.

Authors

• Laura E. Quinones-Camacho, University of Texas at Austin
  Presenting Author

• Lauren S. Wakschlag, Northwestern University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Susan B. Perlman, Washington University in St. Louis
  Non-Presenting Author