Biological sensitivity to context as a dyadic construct: An investigation of child–parent RSA synchrony among low-SES youth

Parenting behaviors are significantly linked to youths’ behavioral adjustment, an association that is moderated by youths’ and parents’ self-regulation. The biological sensitivity to context theory suggests that respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) indexes youths’ varying susceptibility to rearing contexts. However, self-regulation in the family context is increasingly viewed as a process of “coregulation” that is biologically embedded and involves dynamic Parent×Child interactions. No research thus far has examined physiological synchrony as a dyadic biological context that may moderate associations between parenting behaviors and preadolescent adjustment. Using a two-wave sample of 101 low-socioeconomic status (SES) families (children and caretakers; mean age 10.28 years), we employed multilevel modeling to examine dyadic coregulation during a conflict task, indicated by RSA synchrony, as a moderator of the linkages between observed parenting behaviors and preadolescents’ internalizing and externalizing problems. Results showed that high dyadic RSA synchrony resulted in a multiplicative association between parenting and youth adjustment. High dyadic synchrony intensified the relations between parenting behaviors and youth behavior problems, such that in the context of high dyadic synchrony, positive and negative parenting behaviors were associated with decreased and increased behavioral problems, respectively. Parent–child dyadic RSA synchrony is discussed as a potential biomarker of biological sensitivity in youth.

Augmented Virtual Reality Meditation

In a novel experimental setting, we augmented a variation of traditional compassion meditation with our custom-built VR environment for multiple concurrent users. The presence of another user’s avatar in shared virtual space supports social interactions and provides an active target for evoked compassion. The system incorporates respiration and brainwave-based biofeedback to enable closed-loop interaction of users based on their shared physiological state. Specifically, we enhanced interoception and the deep empathetic processes involved in compassion meditation with real-time visualizations of: breathing rate, level of approach motivation assessed from EEG frontal asymmetry, and dyadic synchrony of those signals between two users. We manipulated these interventions across eight separate conditions (dyadic or solo meditation; brainwave, breathing, both or no biofeedback) in an experiment with 39 dyads (N=8), observing the effect of conditions on self-reported experience and physiological synchrony. We found that each different shared biofeedback type increased users’ self-reported empathy and social presence, compared to no-biofeedback or solo conditions. Our study illustrates how dyadic synchrony biofeedback can expand the possibilities of biofeedback in affective computing and VR solutions for health and wellness.

Current view on the dyadic synchrony mechanism

This article contains a review of modern foreign concepts and empirical studies of dyadic synchrony mechanism which manifests in temporal alignment of biological rhythms and behavior of individuals participating in a paired interaction. Due to the development of neuroimaging techniques, the interest in hyperscanning has increased, as it allows to register brain activity of two or more individuals capturing the mechanism of dyadic synchrony. In this article such manifestations of dyadic synchrony as changes in the electrical brain activity, cardiac rhythms, respiratory rate, hormonal levels, and behavior are described. Dyadic synchrony at the early stages of development underlies individuals’ ability to learn, feel empathy, develop attachment and build close relationships.

Predictors of Change in Play-Based Communication and Behavior Intervention for High-Risk ASD: The Role of Mother-Child Dyadic Synchrony

Background: Interindividual variability is important in the evolution of adaptative profiles of children with ASD having benefited from an early intervention make up for deficits in communication, language and social interactions. Therefore, this paper aimed to determine the nature of factors influencing the efficacy variability of a particular intervention technique i.e., “Play-based communication and behavior intervention” (PCBI).Methods: The participants comprised 70 13–30-month-old toddlers with ASD enrolled in PCBI for 12 weeks. The Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) was used to evaluate the efficacy of PCBI. Video recordings of 5 min of free-play before and after PCBI were used to examine behaviors of mothers and children and parent-child dyadic synchrony. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses and machine learning algorithms were performed to explore the effect of these potential predictors (mothers' factors, children's factors and videotaped mother-child interaction) of intervention efficacy.Results: The hierarchical regression analysis and the machine learning algorithms indicated that parenting stress, level of completion of training at home and mother-child dyadic synchrony were crucial factors in predicting and monitoring the efficacy of PCBI.Conclusions: In summary, the findings suggest that PCBI could be particularly beneficial to children with ASD who show a good performance in the mother-child dyadic synchrony evaluation. A better dyadic mother-child synchrony could enhance the PCBI efficacy through adapted emotional and behavioral responses of the mother and the child and has a beneficial influence on the child's psychological development.

Dyadic synchrony and repair processes are related to preschool children's risk exposure and self-control

We examined associations between preschool children's cumulative risk exposure, dyadic interaction patterns, and self-control abilities in 238 mother–child dyads. Positive interactive synchrony, relationship ruptures, and latency to repair were micro-coded during a 3–5 minute joint challenge task. Children's self-control was assessed via two laboratory tasks and by parent report. Structural equation modeling and mediation analyses were utilized to examine the direct and indirect effects of cumulative risk on children's observed and parent-reported self-control abilities. Parent–child interactive processes of dyadic synchrony and latency to repair ruptures in synchrony were examined as mediators. Dyadic synchrony and latency to repair ruptures were found to mediate associations between cumulative risk exposure and children's behavioral and parent-reported self-control. Children exposed to more cumulative risk engaged in less dyadic synchrony and experienced longer latencies to repair ruptures with their caregiver, which in turn was associated with lower child self-control. Though cross-sectional, findings suggest dyadic synchrony and repair processes may represent viable mechanistic pathways linking cumulative risk exposure and deficits in child self-control. However, independent replications using longitudinal and experimental intervention designs are needed to determine causal pathways and inform new approaches for targeting the effects of early risk exposure through a focus on two-generational interventions.