Maternal dynamic respiratory sinus arrhythmia during toddlers' interactions with novelty.

Abstract

Maternal psychophysiological responses to toddlers' distress to novelty may have important implications for parenting during early childhood that are relevant to children's eventual development of social withdrawal and anxiety. Likely, these responses depend on intrapersonal, interpersonal, and contextual factors. The current study investigated the time course of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) across two laboratory novelty episodes, one low threat and one moderate threat, in 120 mothers of 2-year-old toddlers. Growth models tested context differences in and correlates of dynamic patterns of RSA. Dynamic patterns differed between tasks and according to mothers' perceptions of and distress about toddler shyness. Thus, changes in mothers' RSA across toddlers' interactions with novelty seem to depend on the context as well as how mothers perceive and respond to their toddlers' shyness.