Mother‐preschooler RSA synchrony and self‐regulation as antecedents of developmental psychopathology in early childhood

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Main Authors: Longfeng Li, Sara Such, Erika Lunkenheimer
Format: Artículo Open Access
Published: Wiley 2025
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author Longfeng Li
Sara Such
Erika Lunkenheimer
author_facet Longfeng Li
Sara Such
Erika Lunkenheimer
Longfeng Li
Sara Such
Erika Lunkenheimer
collection Wiley Open Access
contents Mother‐preschooler RSA synchrony and self‐regulation as antecedents of developmental psychopathology in early childhood Longfeng Li Sara Such Erika Lunkenheimer Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry Background We examined whether mother‐preschooler respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) synchrony and self‐regulation, as potential biological antecedents of developmental psychopathology, interacted to shape children's later behavior problems directly and indirectly via harsh parenting. Methods Mother‐preschooler dyads ( N  = 135; 53% female) were oversampled for familial risk. Mother‐rated harsh parenting and child behavior problems at ages 3 and 4 years were modeled as latent change scores across ages. Age 3 mother–child RSA synchrony was estimated with multilevel modeling as the concurrent effects of maternal RSA on child RSA during a challenging parent–child task. Age 3 child and maternal RSA self‐regulation were measured as mean RSA during a resting task. Results More positive RSA synchrony with children with stronger individual RSA self‐regulation predicted greater decreases in harsh parenting. In contrast, more positive RSA synchrony with children with weaker RSA self‐regulation predicted greater increases in harsh parenting. In turn, greater increases in harsh parenting were related to greater increases in children's externalizing problems. Conclusions This study illustrates that individual differences in RSA self‐regulation influence how parent–child RSA synchrony shapes developmental psychopathology over time and adds to prior research showing that parent–child coregulation patterns may be adaptive or maladaptive depending on the protective or risk‐related qualities of the corresponding persons or context. 10.1111/jcpp.70001 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor
doi_str_mv 10.1111/jcpp.70001
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institution Wiley Open Access
license_str_mv http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor
publishDate 2025
publisher Wiley
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spellingShingle Mother‐preschooler RSA synchrony and self‐regulation as antecedents of developmental psychopathology in early childhood
Longfeng Li
Sara Such
Erika Lunkenheimer
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
Mother‐preschooler RSA synchrony and self‐regulation as antecedents of developmental psychopathology in early childhood Longfeng Li Sara Such Erika Lunkenheimer Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry Background We examined whether mother‐preschooler respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) synchrony and self‐regulation, as potential biological antecedents of developmental psychopathology, interacted to shape children's later behavior problems directly and indirectly via harsh parenting. Methods Mother‐preschooler dyads ( N  = 135; 53% female) were oversampled for familial risk. Mother‐rated harsh parenting and child behavior problems at ages 3 and 4 years were modeled as latent change scores across ages. Age 3 mother–child RSA synchrony was estimated with multilevel modeling as the concurrent effects of maternal RSA on child RSA during a challenging parent–child task. Age 3 child and maternal RSA self‐regulation were measured as mean RSA during a resting task. Results More positive RSA synchrony with children with stronger individual RSA self‐regulation predicted greater decreases in harsh parenting. In contrast, more positive RSA synchrony with children with weaker RSA self‐regulation predicted greater increases in harsh parenting. In turn, greater increases in harsh parenting were related to greater increases in children's externalizing problems. Conclusions This study illustrates that individual differences in RSA self‐regulation influence how parent–child RSA synchrony shapes developmental psychopathology over time and adds to prior research showing that parent–child coregulation patterns may be adaptive or maladaptive depending on the protective or risk‐related qualities of the corresponding persons or context. 10.1111/jcpp.70001 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor
title Mother‐preschooler RSA synchrony and self‐regulation as antecedents of developmental psychopathology in early childhood
topic Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
url https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcpp.70001