Schedule:
Thursday, June 1, 2017
Columbia A/B (Hyatt Regency Washington, Washington, DC)
* noted as presenting author
Na Zhang, MEd,
PhD Student, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Saint Paul, MN
John Hoch, PhD, Research Associate, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN
Ashley Chesmore, MPH, PhD Candidate, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Saint Paul, MN
Kadie Ausherbauer, M.S., PhD student, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, St. Paul, MN
Jingchen Zhang, BS, Graduate student, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, SAINT PAUL, MN
Laurel Davis, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN
Abigail H. Gewirtz, PhD, LP, Lindahl Leadership Professor, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Saint Paul, MN
Introduction: Emotion regulation refers to the ability to modulate the intensity and/or duration of emotions. Due to exposure to combat, military service members may exhibit poor emotion regulation (e.g. anxiety, post-traumatic stress symptoms). Studies have shown that poor emotion regulation is associated with maladaptive parenting behaviors. For example, greater self-reported experiential avoidance has been linked to less observed positive engagement, more withdrawal during family interactions (Brockman et al., 2016). Previous studies have relied on self-report of emotion regulation, which may be subject to biases as one may be unaware of his/her own emotion-related processes. This study used ambulatory monitoring technology to evaluate biological signals associated with emotion regulation - respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), which is a physiological indicator thought to underlie parasympathetic control of the heart. Specifically, we examined whether male service members’ observed parenting behaviors were associated with RSA activity during family interaction tasks conducted in their homes.
Methods: Data was obtained from a randomized control trial of a military parenting program (After Deployment Adaptive Parenting Tools). Male service members (N = 72; Mean age = 37.0 years, range: 23.7 – 58.3; 90% White) who had been deployed to the conflicts in Iraq and/or Afghanistan participated in structured family interaction tasks in their homes. During the interactions, fathers’ cardiac activity was recorded as the time between successive heart beat during four video-recorded interaction tasks (rest, conflict resolution with child, conflict resolution with spouse, and deployment discussion). Each task yielded a measure of RSA reactivity, indexed by the high frequency (0.15~0.40Hz) spectral component of the cardiac signal (unit: ms2). Service members’ behaviors were rated by trained observers to assess their positive engagement (PE), withdrawal/avoidance (WA), reactivity-coercion (RC), and distress avoidance (DA). Behavior ratings were averaged across all interaction tasks.
Results: Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) was used to test the linkage between PE, WA, RC and RA to repeated measures of RSA reactivity, as it has flexibility to accounts for correlated data. Age and combat-related exposure were included in the model as covariates. Results showed that the associations with statistical significance were found between RSA reactivity and WA (β = -232.79, p < .01), DA (β = -54.49, p < .001) and RC (β = 70.30, p< .01).
Conclusions: This study offers preliminary evidence for the associations between RSA and observed parenting behaviors during family interaction tasks. The findings are discussed in the framework of the polyvagal theory (Porges, 2007). The implications for parenting intervention program development are also addressed.
![[ Visit Client Website ]](images/banner.gif)