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Emotion Coregulation in Mother-Child Dyads: A Dynamic Systems Analysis of Children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Abstract

Few studies have investigated patterns of emotion coregulation in families of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or contrasted the ways in which their emotion coregulation patterns differ from families of typically developing (TD) children. To address this gap, we used a dynamic systems approach to compare flexible structure and emotional content of coregulation between mothers and children (3–7 years) with ASD (n = 47) and TD children (n = 26). Mother-child play interactions in the home were videotaped and emotion-engagement states were coded in micro-level 5-s intervals based on behavioral and affective expressions. Analyses indicated that mother-child dyads in the ASD group spent more time than dyads in the TD group in mismatched emotion-engagement states (e.g., child negative/mother positive), and children with ASD spent more time than TD children engaged exclusively with objects. Mother-child dyads in the TD group stayed longer in mutual positive engagement states. Compared to dyads in the TD group, mother-child dyads in the ASD group exhibited greater flexibility (i.e., a wider range of emotional-engagement states, more frequent changes in states, and less time in each state). These findings suggest that mothers and their children with ASD do not sustain dyadic positive engagement patterns in a low-stress environment. Findings confirmed the preference of children with ASD for objects over social partners, even when they are at home with their mothers, and elucidated a challenging mother-child interactional style. Results have implications for mother-child interventions aimed at regulating negative emotional states and sustaining positive ones in families raising children with ASD.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to the University of California, Irvine Multidisciplinary Design Program and Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, which provided the support that made this research possible. We are very appreciative of our research assistants for their countless hours of coding, especially Christina Garibay, Silvia Gutierrez, Sun Kim, Paola Martinez, and Shannon Merrell. Lastly, we appreciate Dr. Tom Hollenstein’s consultation regarding the State Space Grid.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Program in Nursing Science, University of California Irvine, 299D, Berk Hall, Irvine, CA, 92697-3959, USA

    Yuqing Guo

  2. Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, University of California Irvine, 4201 Social and Behavioral Sciences Gateway, Irvine, CA, 92697-7085, USA

    Dana Rose Garfin & Wendy A. Goldberg

  3. Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA

    Agnes Ly

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  1. Yuqing Guo
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Correspondence to Yuqing Guo.

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Guo, Y., Garfin, D.R., Ly, A. et al. Emotion Coregulation in Mother-Child Dyads: A Dynamic Systems Analysis of Children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Abnorm Child Psychol 45, 1369–1383 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-016-0234-9

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