Abstract
Infants' social stress regulation (i.e., reactivity and recovery) might be affected by mother-infant dyadic functioning and infants' vagal tone (i.e., respiratory sinus arrhythmia, RSA). This study investigated the role of a specific dyadic functioning feature (i.e., dyadic reparation) and individual differences in vagal tone regulation (i.e., RSA suppression vs. non-suppression) in relation to social stress regulation in 4-month-old infants. A total of 65 mother-infant dyads participated in the face-to-face still-face paradigm. Social stress reactivity and recovery were measured as negative emotionality during Still-Face and Reunion episodes, respectively. RSA was measured during Play, Still-Face, and Reunion episodes. Suppressors had higher dyadic reparation during Play and higher recovery from social stress compared with non-suppressors. Higher reparation during Play was associated with lower reactivity and higher recovery only for suppressors. Findings suggest a joint role of infants' RSA individual differences and dyadic reparation in affecting infants' social stress regulation at 4 months of age.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 158-170 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Journal of Experimental Child Psychology |
Volume | 140 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Dec 1 2015 |
Keywords
- Dyadic reparation
- Mother-infant interaction
- Respiratory sinus arrhythmia
- Social stress
- Still-Face paradigm
- Vagal tone suppression
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology