Smith Justin D, Woodhouse Susan S, Clark Caron A C, Skowron Elizabeth A
Center for Prevention Implementation Methodology, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, United States.
Department of Education and Human Services, Lehigh University, United States.
Biol Psychol. 2016 Feb;114:39-48. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2015.12.008. Epub 2015 Dec 29.
Early attachment relationships are important for children's development of behavioral and physiological regulation strategies. Parasympathetic nervous system activity, indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), is a key indicator of self-regulation, with links to numerous developmental outcomes. Attachment-related changes in and associations between mother and child RSA during the Strange Situation procedure (SSP) can elucidate individual differences in physiological response to stress that are important for understanding the development of and intervention for psychopathology.
A sample of 142 at-risk mothers and preschool-age children participated in the SSP and provided time-synchronized RSA data during the 7 episodes, which included 2 separations and 2 reunions. Attachment classifications were obtained using the Cassidy et al. (1992) coding system. Linear mixed-effects models were constructed to examine attachment-related change in RSA during the SSP and the concordance between mother and child RSA over time.
Findings demonstrated attachment-related differences in children's RSA. Secure children's RSA was relatively stable over time, whereas insecure-avoidant children showed RSA increases during the first separation and insecure-resistant children's RSA declined across the SSP. Mothers showed RSA withdrawal during separation regardless of child's attachment classification. Mother-child RSA showed a positive concordance that was strongest in the insecure-resistant group, compared with the other groups.
Results support attachment theories concerning parasympathetic response to stress and the role of the mother-child relationship in physiological regulation. Our findings advance previous research by focusing on at-risk mother-preschooler dyads within diverse attachment classifications.
早期依恋关系对儿童行为和生理调节策略的发展至关重要。以呼吸性窦性心律不齐（RSA）为指标的副交感神经系统活动是自我调节的关键指标，与众多发育结果相关。在陌生情境程序（SSP）中，母婴RSA的依恋相关变化及其之间的关联可以阐明个体对压力的生理反应差异，这对于理解精神病理学的发展和干预非常重要。
142名有风险的母亲和学龄前儿童参与了SSP，并在包括2次分离和2次团聚的7个情节中提供了时间同步的RSA数据。使用卡西迪等人（1992年）的编码系统获得依恋分类。构建线性混合效应模型以检查SSP期间RSA的依恋相关变化以及母婴RSA随时间的一致性。
研究结果表明儿童RSA存在依恋相关差异。安全型儿童的RSA随时间相对稳定，而不安全回避型儿童在第一次分离期间RSA增加，不安全抵抗型儿童的RSA在整个SSP期间下降。无论孩子的依恋分类如何，母亲在分离期间都表现出RSA退缩。与其他组相比，母婴RSA表现出正一致性，在不安全抵抗组中最强。
结果支持关于副交感神经对压力的反应以及母婴关系在生理调节中的作用的依恋理论。我们的研究结果通过关注不同依恋分类中的有风险的母婴二元组推进了先前的研究。
