Physiological coregulation during social support discussions.

Abstract

Close relationships are proposed to function as dynamic regulatory systems, whereby partners jointly regulate each other's emotions and physiology to maintain an equilibrium level of responding--a process known as coregulation. Little is known, however, regarding when coregulation emerges. We hypothesized that because social support interactions involve explicit interpersonal emotion regulation attempts, they might be especially likely to engender stabilizing patterns of coregulation that entrain partners' responses toward an equilibrium level. We conducted a dyadic laboratory experiment in which romantic couples engaged in social support and control discussions as cardiovascular responses were measured. To assess dyadic coregulation, we used dynamical systems modeling with Bayesian estimation to capture the frequency of oscillations around an equilibrium level and changes in amplitudes over time. Results indicated there was coregulation across discussions as a whole, as well as differences in coregulation by discussion type and gender. Stabilizing coregulatory dynamics-indicated by patterns of oscillations around an equilibrium level and decreases in amplitudes as the discussions progressed-were more pronounced during social support (vs. control) discussions, especially when the male partner received support. There was also substantial between-dyad heterogeneity in couples' coregulation trajectories, whereby some couples showed pronounced coregulatory dynamics whereas other did not. Overall, this work suggests that social support interactions may be a key context when coregulation emerges and thereby offers novel insights into how relationships might contribute to well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).