Interactive synchrony and infants’ vagal tone as an index of emotion regulation: associations within each mother- and father-infant dyad and across dyads

IntroductionStudies have shown that infants’ emotion regulation capacities are closely linked to the quality of parent-infant interactions. However, these links have been mostly studied in mother-infant dyads and less is known about how the quality of father-infant interactions contributes to the development of emotion regulation during infancy. In this study, we aimed to investigate the links between interactive synchrony (i.e., an index of the quality of parent-infant coordination of interactive behaviors) and infants’ vagal tone (i.e., a physiological index of emotion regulation). To understand the respective contributions of both parents, as well as the interrelations between the functioning of both dyads within a family, we observed mothers and fathers from 84 families interacting with their infants.MethodsSynchrony was assessed by using the CARE-Index; infants’ vagal tone was derived from the analysis of infants’ electrocardiograms recorded during the interactions. Moreover, to take the play’s order into account, we counterbalanced the procedure, so that approximately half of the mothers played first. We specified a first structural equation modeling (SEM) model to investigate the associations between interactive synchrony and the infants’ root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD), an index of vagal regulation, in the two successive parts of the play. We conducted a multigroup analysis in a second SEM model to investigate the associations of the first SEM model in two groups based on the order of interaction.ResultsThe results of the SEM models showed that greater synchrony was related to greater infant RMSSD within mother-infant dyads and across one dyad to the other dyad in the full sample and in the group of fathers who interacted first with the infants. The associations between synchrony and infant vagal tone within father-infant dyads never appeared to be significant, nor did any associations within each dyad and across dyads when mothers interacted first.DiscussionThis study highlights that the links between interactions and infants’ vagal tone are sensitive to family members’ interdependencies and some conditions (the order of interaction)

Parental sensitivity, family alliance and infants' vagal tone: Influences of early family interactions on physiological emotion regulation

In this study, we investigated the influence of parental sensitivity and family alliance on infants’ vagal tone, considered as a physiological indicator of emotion regulation. Studies on mother–infant interactions have shown that vagal tone can be influenced by the quality of the interaction, such as interacting with a sensitive mother. To date, no study has investigated the influence of paternal sensitivity or family alliance on infants’ vagal tone. We hypothesized that maternal sensitivity, paternal sensitivity, and family alliance would be associated with infants’ vagal tone during dyadic and triadic interactions. We also explored if family alliance would act as a moderator on the association between parental sensitivity and vagal tone and if the sensitivity of both parents would act as a moderator on the association between family alliance and vagal tone. This study took place in Switzerland and included 82 families with their 3–4-month-old infants. Results showed that maternal sensitivity and family alliance were associated with infants’ vagal tone, but paternal sensitivity was not. We found no significant moderation effect. However, result tendencies suggested that the contribution of paternal sensitivity to infants’ emotion regulation could be influenced by family alliance, whereas maternal sensitivity and family alliance have a unique contribution

Étude des processus de régulation physiologique de l'enfant dans les interactions familiales

Contexte théorique et objectif général : Le développement de la régulation émotionnelle a été identifié comme un processus clé permettant d’expliquer les associations entre les relations parent-enfant et le fonctionnement psychologique de l’enfant. Les recherches sur les interactions mère-enfant ont notamment montré que la qualité des interactions était associée à au développement des capacités de régulation émotionnelle des enfants et que cette influence était observable à un niveau physiologique. Bien que la recherche montre une influence des interactions père-enfant et mère-père-enfant sur le fonctionnement psychologique des enfants, jusqu’à aujourd’hui, l’étude des processus physiologiques n’a été que très peu investiguée dans ces contextes d’interaction. Ce travail de thèse vise à combler ce manque. Méthode : 119 familles ont été recrutées durant la grossesse. À 3 mois postpartum, les familles étaient rencontrées dans un laboratoire. Il leur était alors demandé d’interagir selon le paradigme suivant : un parent joue avec l’enfant pendant que l’autre est à l’extérieur de la pièce, ils échangent ensuite les rôles, ils interagissent ensuite tous les trois, et finalement lesparents ont une conversation ensemble à côté de l’enfant. Ces interactions ont été filmées et plusieurs codages indicatifs de la qualité des interactions ont été effectués (sensibilité parentale, comportements parentaux intrusifs/désengagés, alliance familiale). Un ECG a été enregistré chez l’enfant durant le paradigme afin d’obtenir une mesure du tonus vagal, un indicateur des capacités de régulation émotionnelle. Les parents remplissaient ensuite un jeu de questionnaires dans les semaines après le rendez-vous, ainsi qu’un second jeu de questionnaires aux 18 mois de l’enfant. Résultats : De manière générale, les résultats montrent une influence de la qualité des interactions mère-enfant et mère-père-enfant sur les mesures de régulation physiologique de l’enfant. Une sensibilité maternelle élevée est associée à un tonus vagal plus élevé chez l’enfant durant les interactions mère-enfant, confirmant les précédents résultats de la littérature scientifique. Un score d’alliance familiale élevé est associé à un tonus vagal plus élevé chez l’enfant durant les interactions mère-père-enfant et cette association est en partie expliquée par la réponse comportementale des enfants aux comportements parentaux intrusifs/désengagés présents dans l’interaction. Les résultats ne montrent pas d’influence de la sensibilité paternelle sur le tonus vagal de l’enfant durant l’interaction père-enfant. Les résultats suggèrent également que le fait de passer plus de temps avec ses deux parents pourrait favoriser le développement de la régulation émotionnelle physiologique. Conclusion : Ce travail souligne l’importance de considérer les interactions familiales au- delà de la dyade mère-enfant dans la compréhension du développement des capacités de régulation émotionnelle de l’enfant. Les résultats encouragent également à développer une meilleure connaissance de l’influence des interactions père-enfant sur le développement del’enfant.</p

L’influence de l’amorçage implicite du concept de capacité sur l’effort mesuré par la réactivité cardiovasculaire

Cette étude avait pour but d’investiguer l’impact de l’amorçage du concept de capacité sur la mobilisation de l’effort. L’effort était mesuré par la réactivité cardiovasculaire (période de pré-éjection et pression systolique) lors d’une tâche cognitive facile, durant laquelle des mots relatifs à la capacité, à l’incapacité ou neutres étaient présentés rapidement de façon implicite. Nous prédisions un effet linéaire de l’amorçage du concept de capacité sur l’effort : moins d’effort dans la condition capacité, plus d’effort dans la condition neutre et encore plus d’effort dans la condition incapacité. L’hypothèse n’a pas été confirmée. Nous n’avons pas non plus trouvé d’effet sur la performance. En revanche, l’amorçage a influencé la capacité perçue des participants dans le sens attendu et les participants n’ont pas rapporté avoir vu les mots présentés. Ces résultats montrent qu’il est possible de manipuler le sentiment de capacité de manière implicite. Les résultats des mesures cardiovasculaires de l’effort sont discutés en considérant le niveau de difficulté de la tâche

COPREM - A process-oriented study of infants' emotion regulation during mother-father-infant interactions

AbstractData set related to a project assessing physiological regulation (vagal tone) in 3-month-old infant during interactions with their mother, their father, and with both parents together, funded by the SNF grant n°10531C_79442. Project title: “A process-oriented study of infants' emotion regulation during mother-father-infant interactions

Swiss cohort on Traumatic Childbirth and Health (SwiTCH): protocol for a prospective, population-based cohort study on parents’ mental health from pregnancy to one year postpartum

Introduction Approximately 4%–5% of mothers develop childbirth-related post-traumatic stress disorder (CB-PTSD) and approximately 12.3% of mothers develop some CB-PTSD symptoms (CB-PTSS). To date, there is a dearth of studies on fathers and other coparents. Parental CB-PTSD and CB-PTSS may have a negative impact not only on the parents but also on the infant. Understanding risk and protective factors of CB-PTSD for both parents and its consequences on the family is key to detecting or anticipating it, to developing interventions aimed at reducing its detrimental effects and to supporting parents.Methods and analysis This study protocol describes an observational, population-based study, consisting of a longitudinal prospective cohort with online surveys at four time points. The population of interest consist of women, in the third trimester of pregnancy or at 6–12 weeks postpartum, and their partner/coparent, who will give birth or gave birth in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. The target sample size is 300–500 women and a proportional number of partners. The primary outcome of this study is the prevalence of CB-PTSD and CB-PTSS. The secondary outcomes focus on: (1) the impact of CB-PTSD and CB-PTSS on the marital and coparental relationships, the bonding with the infant, parental burnout and healthcare seeking behaviours, (2) the role of the childbirth experience in the development of CB-PTSD and CB-PTSS and (3) the social and economic determinants of CB-PTSD and CB-PTSS.Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval was granted by the human research ethics committee of the Canton de Vaud (study number 2022-00284). All study participants signed an informed consent form. Dissemination of results will occur via national and international conferences, in peer-reviewed journals, public conferences and social media.Trial registration number NCT05865704

Parental sensitivity, family alliance and infants’ vagal tone ::influences of early family interactions on physiological emotion regulation

In this study, we investigated the influence of parental sensitivity and family alliance on infants’ vagal tone, considered as a physiological indicator of emotion regulation. Studies on mother–infant interactions have shown that vagal tone can be influenced by the quality of the interaction, such as interacting with a sensitive mother. To date, no study has investigated the influence of paternal sensitivity or family alliance on infants’ vagal tone. We hypothesized that maternal sensitivity, paternal sensitivity, and family alliance would be associated with infants’ vagal tone during dyadic and triadic interactions. We also explored if family alliance would act as a moderator on the association between parental sensitivity and vagal tone and if the sensitivity of both parents would act as a moderator on the association between family alliance and vagal tone. This study took place in Switzerland and included 82 families with their 3–4-month-old infants. Results showed that maternal sensitivity and family alliance were associated with infants’ vagal tone, but paternal sensitivity was not. We found no significant moderation effect. However, result tendencies suggested that the contribution of paternal sensitivity to infants’ emotion regulation could be influenced by family alliance, whereas maternal sensitivity and family alliance have a unique contribution

The interplay between maternal and paternal senses of efficacy moderates the link between perinatal parental stress and family alliance at 3 months

Objective: Both parents may report high levels of stress during the perinatal period with possible negative consequences for parental well-being and child development. Parental sense of efficacy moderates the effect of stress. To date, no studies have assessed links between parental stress and mother-father-infant interactions in terms of family alliance and the extent to which each parent’s sense of efficacy moderates these links. Design: In this study, 65 dual-parent families answered a questionnaire about parental stress between 36 and 38 weeks of pregnancy and at 3 months after birth. Families were also observed while playing with their 3-month-old infant in the Lausanne Trilogue Play, and they completed a questionnaire about parental efficacy. Results: Structural equation modeling analyses showed that higher maternal or paternal postnatal stress has a direct link with higher family alliance and the links between stress and family alliance are moderated by complex interaction effects between maternal and paternal senses of efficacy. Conclusions: This study shows the necessity of considering the interaction between the senses of self-efficacy of both parents as moderators of parenting stress

Father-infant synchrony and infant vagal tone as an index of emotion regulation ::father-infant shared times in Switzerland as moderators

Research has shown that the quality of mother-infant interactions, as measured by mother-infant synchrony, is associated with infants’ vagal tone, a physiological indicator of emotion regulation. However, little is known about the association between the infant’s vagal tone and the quality of father-infant interactions. Existing literature suggests that the greater quantity of time a father spends with the infant, either alone (dyadic time) or with others (social time) may strengthen this association. In this study we investigated the association between father-infant synchrony and infants’ vagal tone in 77 dyads made up of fathers and their 3-month-old infants, considering the moderating roles of dyadic time and social time. Results revealed no direct associations between father-infant synchrony and infants’ vagal tone. Moderation analyses revealed that more social time increases the association between synchrony and vagal tone. This result indicates a potential influence of family interactive processes

Interactive synchrony and infants’ vagal tone as an index of emotion regulation ::associations within each mother-and father-infant dyad and across dyads

Introduction: Studies have shown that infants’ emotion regulation capacities are closely linked to the quality of parent-infant interactions. However, these links have been mostly studied in mother-infant dyads and less is known about how the quality of father-infant interactions contributes to the development of emotion regulation during infancy. In this study, we aimed to investigate the links between interactive synchrony (i.e., an index of the quality of parent-infant coordination of interactive behaviors) and infants’ vagal tone (i.e., a physiological index of emotion regulation). To understand the respective contributions of both parents, as well as the interrelations between the functioning of both dyads within a family, we observed mothers and fathers from 84 families interacting with their infants. Methods: Synchrony was assessed by using the CARE-Index; infants’ vagal tone was derived from the analysis of infants’ electrocardiograms recorded during the interactions. Moreover, to take the play’s order into account, we counterbalanced the procedure, so that approximately half of the mothers played first. We specified a first structural equation modeling (SEM) model to investigate the associations between interactive synchrony and the infants’ root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD), an index of vagal regulation, in the two successive parts of the play. We conducted a multigroup analysis in a second SEM model to investigate the associations of the first SEM model in two groups based on the order of interaction. Results: The results of the SEM models showed that greater synchrony was related to greater infant RMSSD within mother-infant dyads and across one dyad to the other dyad in the full sample and in the group of fathers who interacted first with the infants. The associations between synchrony and infant vagal tone within father-infant dyads never appeared to be significant, nor did any associations within each dyad and across dyads when mothers interacted first. Discussion: This study highlights that the links between interactions and infants’ vagal tone are sensitive to family members’ interdependencies and some conditions (the order of interaction)