Publication Date

2025

Advisor(s) - Committee Chair

Diane Lickenbrock, Andrew Mienaltowski, Matthew Woodward

Degree Program

Department of Psychological Sciences

Degree Type

Master of Science

Abstract

This study explores the role of parental anxiety, physiological regulation (respiratory sinus arrhythmia, RSA), and sensitivity in shaping infant affect reactivity. Specifically, it examines whether parental anxiety influences infant emotional responses and whether RSA or parental sensitivity moderates this relationship. Data from 79 mother-infant and father-infant dyads, collected at 4 and 8 months of infant age, were analyzed using a multimethod approach, including self-reported parental anxiety symptoms, observer-rated parental sensitivity and infant affect reactivity, and physiological measures of parent RSA. Results indicate that maternal nonsocial and social anxiety were significantly negatively associated with maternal baseline RSA at 4 months, suggesting that higher anxiety is linked to lower physiological regulation. Paternal social anxiety was linked to greater infant negative affect reactivity. No significant findings emerged regarding parental sensitivity or maternal anxiety in relation to infant affect reactivity. These findings suggest that paternal social anxiety directly affects infant emotional outcomes, whereas maternal anxiety primarily influences maternal physiological regulation without directly impacting infant emotional responses. The study emphasizes the need to explore other factors influencing the intergenerational transmission of anxiety and suggests further research into additional physiological and behavioral mechanisms involved in infant emotional development.

Disciplines

Clinical Psychology | Developmental Psychology | Life Sciences | Physiology | Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences

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