Positive Emotion Synchrony During a Parent-Child Discussion May Protect Against Children’s Emotional and Behavioral Dysregulation

• In Event: Examining Relations Between Parental Behaviors and Children’s Self-Regulation with Diverse Samples and Methodologies

Abstract

A child's relationship with their primary caregiver is one of the most important relationships during childhood. Emotions expressed during social interactions can provide risk for or protection from children’s dysregulated emotions and behavior in the form of internalizing and externalizing problems. Specifically, positive synchrony, or the matching of positive emotions in a dyad, is protective against internalizing and externalizing problems in young children (Lunkenheimer et al., 2011, Martin et al., 2011). Still, little research has been conducted in later childhood on parent-child synchrony, or has examined positive emotions during a stressful discussion. With a short-term longitudinal study during late childhood, we hypothesized that parent-child positive emotion synchrony during a stressful, conflict discussion would protect against children's emotional and behavioral dysregulation.

The sample was a subgroup from a statewide sample of twins participating in the ongoing longitudinal Arizona Twin Project (N = 793 at age 9, N = 586 at age 11, 51.1% female, 28.1% Hispanic, 59.7% White; Lemery-Chalfant et al., 2019) with analyses focused on the subsample of n = 560 twin-primary caregiver dyads who had videotaped and coded discussions at age 9. Internalizing, Externalizing, and ADHD problems were measured using established reliable and valid measures including both child reports (Berkeley Puppet Interview) and parent reports (Health & Behavior Questionnaire) at both ages 9 and 11. Twins’ and primary caregivers’ (93.8% mothers) facial expressions of emotion were coded from videotape using Affectiva software during a 7.5-minute dyadic discussion of up to three twin-primary caregiver conflicts. Affectiva uses frame-by-frame detection of facial action units, and after data cleaning, we extracted data in 10-second epochs and calculated the percentage of epochs across the task where both the child and primary caregiver expressed positive emotion (iMotions A/S, Copenhagen, Denmark).

Multilevel regression analyses that controlled for family dependence were conducted in SPSS 27.0, controlling for socioeconomic status, ethnicity, sex, and family structure (single vs. dual parent family). Mutual expression of positive emotion was related to self-report internalizing, externalizing, ADHD, parent-report internalizing, externalizing, and ADHD at age 9, as well as parent-report ADHD at age 11 (see Table 1). Results show that parents' and children’s mutual expression of positive emotion during a stressful conversation may be protective against dysregulated emotions and behavior in childhood. Positive synchrony likely contributes to emotion understanding and emotional intelligence, and may also provide resilience in other stressful contexts. These findings inform the development of parenting programs that emphasize the protective influence of shared positive emotion in stressful contexts.

Authors

• Amanda Sather, Arizona State University
  Presenting Author

• Mary Davis, Arizona State University

• Sierra C. Clifford

• Kathryn Lemery-Chalfant, Arizona State University