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Physiological Regulation among Caregivers and their Children: Relations with Trauma History, Symptoms, and Parenting Behavior

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Abstract

Objectives

Parents have the opportunity to influence the development of their children’s emotion regulation skills in a variety of capacities throughout childhood and into adolescence. Only recently have we begun to explore the physiological nature of this effect and implications for the influence of social factors on individual regulation of emotion in children. Also not well understood is how contextual and experiential factors influence this relationship by impacting emotional regulation skill development in children; e.g., parents’ experiences of trauma, loss, and stress may affect parenting behavior and child emotional and behavioral outcomes. To further advance our understanding, the present pilot study investigated how children, ages 9 to 14 years old, and their primary female caregivers (N = 41 dyads) respond physiologically to affective challenge, experienced both independently and jointly.

Methods

Using a community sample, we examined mother and child respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) while viewing a positive and negative video clip (task) either alone or jointly (condition). Further, we explored the influence of self-reported trauma/adversity experiences and symptoms and quality of parenting on RSA response in the dyads.

Results

Results indicate caregiver’s RSA responses were lower across conditions but demonstrated greater increases during the joint sessions than their children. Also, child and caregiver characteristics played a complex role; e.g., caregivers were more likely to increase RSA when with their child if they perceived their child to be suffering greater symptoms of trauma exposure.

Conclusions

Caregivers may be suppressing their own arousal to play a regulatory role for the benefit of their children.

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Author Contributions

L.J.K. designed and executed the study and wrote the paper. D.F. collaborated with the design and writing of the study and paper. L.G.K. analyzed the data, conceptualized results, and collaborated on writing the paper. R.V. and K.C. and J.S. collaborated on study methods, data analysis, and writing. D.M. analyzed the data and wrote part of the results. A.B. analyzed the data and wrote part of the results.

Funding

This study was funded by a Chair’s Challenge Award, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Laurel Kiser, Rebecca Vivrette, Jennifer Stevenson & Deborah Medoff

  2. The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA

    Diana Fishbein, Lisa Gatzke-Kopp, Kristine Creavey & Alex Busuito

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  1. Laurel Kiser
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  2. Diana Fishbein
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  3. Lisa Gatzke-Kopp
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  4. Rebecca Vivrette
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Correspondence to Laurel Kiser.

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Kiser, L., Fishbein, D., Gatzke-Kopp, L. et al. Physiological Regulation among Caregivers and their Children: Relations with Trauma History, Symptoms, and Parenting Behavior. J Child Fam Stud 28, 3098–3109 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01487-5

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