# Parent-Child Coordination of Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia as a Risk Factor for Children's Poor Emotion Regulation

> **NIH NIH F32** · PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE · 2020 · $66,288

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) activity can be used as a biological indicator of emotion regulation abilities.
Emotion regulation is critical for a range of child outcomes from academic achievement to psychosocial
adjustment. Extensive research has demonstrated the harmful effects of negative parent-child interaction on
children’s developing emotion regulation. However, there is some evidence that parent-child coordination of
RSA activity, typically during positive interaction, promotes child emotion regulation. Little research has
examined the association between parent-child RSA during negative interaction and children’s developmental
outcomes. Therefore, the goal of this project is to test the hypothesis that parent-child RSA coordination during
negative interaction (measured as mutual negative affect) prolongs children’s experience of negative affect in
the moment and hinders, rather than promotes, children’s emotion regulation development over time. This goal
will be accomplished using previously-collected dynamic time-series data for parents with children aged 2-4
years (N = 200 dyads; PI Lunkenheimer). This study will examine the association between parent-child
biobehavioral coregulation and children’s emotion regulation in the short-term (predicting moment to moment
child affect expression) and long-term (predicting year to year child emotion regulation abilities). Novel second-
by-second assessments of parent-child RSA coordination and dyadic affective states will be used in
accordance with dyadic, dynamic, coregulatory theories of child emotion regulation development. These
theories were largely untestable until the recent emergence of methodological and statistical strategies in
social psychology (e.g., RSASeconds, Hidden Markov Models) that maximize the use of the available second-
by-second data without needing to aggregate over longer periods of time. Incorporation of these methods for
answering the present research questions will greatly improve our understanding of dyadic coregulatory
processes that support children’s emotion regulation development. Results of this project can then be used to
improve assessment targets for parenting interventions, beyond what can be gleaned from behavioral
assessments at the level of the individual. Training in cognitive/affective neuroscience, risk and protective
factors for child emotion regulatory development, and dynamic multi-level modeling during the award period
will aid the PI in executing the current project. Upon completion of this research and training plan, the PI will be
well-prepared for a career as an academic researcher in the field of developmental psychopathology.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9992492
- **Project number:** 1F32HD102118-01
- **Recipient organization:** PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE
- **Principal Investigator:** Carrie E DePasquale
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $66,288
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-08-01 → 2021-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9992492

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9992492, Parent-Child Coordination of Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia as a Risk Factor for Children's Poor Emotion Regulation (1F32HD102118-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9992492. Licensed CC0.

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