Within-mother variability in vagal functioning and concurrent socioemotional dysregulation

Abstract

During dyadic interactions, well-regulated autonomic responses may support and be supported by socioemotional regulation, whereas autonomic responses that are inappropriate for the social context may be linked with socioemotional dysregulation. We evaluated women's parasympathetic and socioemotional responses during playful interaction with their 24-week-old infants, hypothesizing that insufficient or excessive variability in second-by-second vagal functioning would be associated with concurrent socioemotional dysregulation. Among a sample of 322 low-income, Mexican origin mothers (M_age = 27.8; SD = 6.5 years), variability in second-by-second vagal functioning was indexed by within-mother standard deviation (SD) in respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) during a 5-min unstructured play task. A latent construct of socioemotional dysregulation was identified using factor analyses. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate linear and quadratic relations between within-mother SD of RSA and concurrent socioemotional dysregulation. Analyses revealed a positively accelerated relationship between within-mother SD of RSA and concurrent maternal socioemotional dysregulation during play with her infant. Within-mother SD of RSA during a non-interactive baseline task was not related to maternal dysregulation. The results illustrate mothers' dynamic autonomic and socioemotional responses are intertwined during real-time interactions with her infant and lend support for the discriminant validity of within-mother SD of RSA during free play.

Keywords: emotion dysregulation; mother-infant interaction; parasympathetic functioning; respiratory sinus arrhythmia.

Figure 1. Structural equation model examining relations between RSA during free play and socioemotional dysregulation

Note. SD = standard deviation. RSA = respiratory sinus arrhythmia. RSA was assessed during mother-infant free play. Following conventions for SEM diagrams, a circle represents an unobserved latent factor and a square represents a measured variable. A multiheaded arrow indicates a covariance. A straight single-headed arrow represents a regression parameter. Relations among variables shown in solid lines are statistically significant, p < .05. Relations among variables shown in dashed lines are not statistically significant, p > 0.05.

Figure 2. Effect of Maternal RSA Variability on Concurrent Maternal Socioemotional Dysregulation

Note. SD = Standard deviation. RSA = Respiratory sinus arrhythmia. Low = 1 SD below the sample mean. Average = Sample mean. High = 1 SD above the sample mean.

Figure 3. Structural equation model examining relations between baseline RSA and socioemotional dysregulation

Note. SD = standard deviation. RSA = respiratory sinus arrhythmia. RSA was assessed during a baseline task. Following conventions for SEM diagrams, a circle represents an unobserved latent factor and a square represents a measured variable. A multiheaded arrow indicates a covariance. A straight single-headed arrow represents a regression parameter. Relations among variables shown in solid lines are statistically significant, p < .05. Relations among variables shown in dashed lines are not statistically significant, p > 0.05.