Interactive contributions of children’s negative or positive behavior and maternal cardiac physiology to parenting in real time: An integration of biology and context

There has been little research examining dynamic, proximal mechanisms that may determine parenting behavior in real time. To address this gap, I assessed interactive contributions of within-person fluctuations in children’s negative or positive behavior and maternal cardiac physiology in real time to three types of parenting behavior: maternal emotional support, maternal nonsupport, and maternal cognitive assistance. I utilized data collected from 130 mother-preschooler dyads (65 girls) during a 5-min challenging puzzle task. Maternal and child behaviors were rated observationally in 15-sec intervals. Maternal cardiac physiology was assessed for each 15-sec interval of the puzzle task via Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA). Results from multilevel models showed that when children displayed increases in negative emotions and behaviors in a given 15-sec interval of the task, mothers who displayed vagal augmentation (an index of social engagement) in the same interval displayed increases in emotional support in the next interval. In contrast, when children displayed increases in positive behaviors (e.g., task engagement) in a given 15-sec interval, mothers who showed vagal withdrawal (an index of regulation) in the same interval displayed higher cognitive assistance in the next interval. Thus, both vagal augmentation and withdrawal may be adaptive for parenting based on the demands of the interactive context (e.g., social vs. cognitive). Findings highlight the importance of investigating the extent to which changes in child behaviors may operate together with internal regulatory mechanisms in mothers to predict parenting behavior in real time.LimitedAuthor requested closed access (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD syste