Concurrent and lagged physiological synchrony during mother–child interaction and their relationship to positive affect in 8- to 10-year-old children

Scientific Reports, vol. 13, pp. 17744

Abstract

Mother-child interaction has been characterized by a fine-tuning of behavior and physiological activity. Yet, little is known about the dynamics of mother-child physiological synchrony during early school age and their associations to positive affect. To investigate these processes, 42 mother-child dyads, with children aged 8 to 10 years, played an interactive game while their interbeat intervals (IBI) and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) were measured simultaneously. IBI/RSA synchrony was calculated using cross-correlations of the IBI/RSA second-by-second time series for lags - 3 to + 3 seconds. Mother's and child's individual and shared positive affect were microcoded. During the interactive tasks, IBI and RSA synchrony significantly increased compared to control conditions. RSA and affect synchrony were significantly stronger for negative compared to positive lags indicating a stronger child leads/mother follows covariation. Further, dyad's IBI and RSA synchrony were significantly associated to mother's and child's individual positive affect. Our data suggest that in low-risk community samples, mothers may respond to their children's positive affect by matching their own affect and physiology. Investigating these temporally precise, concurrent and lagged synchrony processes may open up new avenues for understanding the ways in which parent-child interactions contribute to child developmental outcomes.

Authors 3

1. Yasemin Zehra Capraz Aachen Child Neuropsychology Section Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Medical Faculty

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Child Neuropsychology Section, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

2. Kerstin Konrad Aachen Child Neuropsychology Section Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Medical Faculty JARA-Brain Institute II

   RWTH Aachen University · Jülich Aachen Research Alliance

   Affiliation as printed

   Child Neuropsychology Section, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

   JARA-Brain Institute II, Molecular Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, RWTH Aachen & Research Centre Juelich, Juelich, Germany

3. Vanessa Reindl corresponding Aachen Child Neuropsychology Section Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Medical Faculty JARA-Brain Institute II

   RWTH Aachen University · Jülich Aachen Research Alliance · Nanyang Technological University

   Affiliation as printed

   Child Neuropsychology Section, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany. vreindl@ukaachen.de

   JARA-Brain Institute II, Molecular Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, RWTH Aachen & Research Centre Juelich, Juelich, Germany. vreindl@ukaachen.de

   Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, S639818, Republic of Singapore. vreindl@ukaachen.de

   Child Neuropsychology Section, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany