Publication Date

5-2024

Advisor(s) - Committee Chair

Diane Lickenbrock, Andrew Mienaltowski, Matthew Woodward

Degree Program

Department of Psychological Sciences

Degree Type

Master of Science

Abstract

The development of self-regulation is integral to achieving positive socioemotional outcomes (Conradt & Ablow, 2010). Behaviorally inhibited infants are particularly sensitive to changes in their environment; putting them at an increased risk for regulatory problems (Henderson et al., 2015). Autonomic cardiac reactivity in the sympathetic (pre-ejection period) and parasympathetic (respiratory sinus arrhythmia) branches of the nervous system may buffer risk (Zhou et al., 2022). Infants with sophisticated methods of physiological regulation may be better equipped to build the independent regulatory strategies needed to overcome increasingly complex socioemotional challenges. The current study aimed to examine infant behavioral inhibition and autonomic reactivity at 4-months as predictors of regulatory behaviors at 8-months with mothers and fathers. Infant behavioral inhibition at 4-months was assessed via experimenter-report. Cardiac autonomic reactivity at 4-months was recorded throughout the Still-Face Paradigm and used to create stress-response scores (Tronick, 1978); regulatory behaviors at 8-months were also coded during each episode of the task (Ekas et al., 2013). Multiple regression analyses were run to test the hypotheses that behaviorally inhibited infants would be at an increased risk for regulatory difficulty and that autonomic reactivity would moderate this association differentially with each parent. Results revealed significant main effects of behavioral inhibition at 4-months predicting look to parent and distraction behaviors during play with mothers at 8-months. With fathers, infant PEP activation moderated the association between behavioral inhibition at 4-months and look to parent behavior during reunion at 8-months. Findings suggest that infants who are particularly reactive to new challenges may be relying on mothers and fathers differently to support regulatory needs. Overall, results emphasize the importance of disentangling the complex systems that interact and underly regulatory processes.

Disciplines

Biological Psychology | Child Psychology | Developmental Psychology | Life Sciences | Physiology | Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences

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Available for download on Friday, April 16, 2027

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