Abstract
Despite extensive theorizing regarding the regulatory role of reflective functioning (RF), few studies have explored the links between RF and physiological indices of emotion regulation, and none have examined these associations in children. Further, while scholars contend that RF promotes resilience via enhanced ability to process emotional experiences, including those occurring in attachment relationships, this argument has seldom been tested empirically in children. In the current study, we explore the association between RF and physiological measures of emotion reactivity and regulation, as well as the interaction of RF and attachment insecurity. We test these associations by examining children's (N = 76; 8–12 years old) cardiovascular responses [respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA)] to a standardized paradigm designed to evoke reactions regarding the experience and expression of attachment-related needs. Children also completed a semi-structured attachment interview, which was later coded for children's attachment insecurity (operationalized as attachment dismissal and preoccupation) and RF. Our findings were largely consistent with theory and our hypotheses, suggesting that higher RF is associated with lesser cardiovascular reactivity (higher levels of RSA) during the stressor task and better recovery following the task. These links were especially strong for children with greater attachment preoccupation but did not vary as a function of children's levels of attachment dismissal. These findings contribute to developmental theory in suggesting that RF is closely linked to physiological emotion regulation in children.
Highlights
Emotion serves an important role in orienting us to attend to internal or external stimuli [1, 2]
We examine whether the link between reflective functioning (RF) and Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is stronger among children with greater attachment insecurity, who are likely to have experienced greater distress in the context of attachment related needs than children with lesser attachment insecurity, thereby assessing whether RF can promote resilience in the context of attachment experiences
Zero-order correlations indicated that older children had higher RF (r = 0.40, p < 0.001) and higher RSA-recovery (r = −0.25, p = 0.03; see Table 2)
Summary
Emotion serves an important role in orienting us to attend to internal or external stimuli [1, 2]. Emotion is a multifaceted construct comprised of experiential, behavioral, and physiological components, with each factor revealing unique information [3]. Measuring these different components has the potential to give insight into those unique streams of information. Heart rate variability (HRV), an index of the change in time invervals between heartbeats, is a measure of physiological reactivity that reflects the interplay of different physiological systems that enable us to adapt to challenges in the internal and external environment [8]. While the initial response to a stimulus indexes emotion reactivity, observed recovery or return to baseline RSA can be used to infer emotion regulation, as has been done in prior studies [13, 14]
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