TY - JOUR
T1 - Parents regulate arousal while sharing experiences with their child
T2 - a study of pupil diameter change responses
AU - Yarmolovsky, Jessica
AU - Sabag, Maya
AU - Lipschits, Or
AU - Geva, Ronny
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2023 Yarmolovsky, Sabag, Lipschits and Geva.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Introduction: Parents provide their children with their first exposures to reciprocal shared experiences, and parental modeling of socio-emotional behaviors and regulatory responses largely influences their child’s behavioral and neurological development. Some parental reactions are conscious, while others are non-volitional. This project aimed to explore parent-child pupil dilation change responses during shared interactions, specifically, whether parents’ neuro-regulatory responses when sharing experiences with their child are different than responses of children interacting with their parents or children and adult peers sharing with each other. Methods: To test this, four distinct interacting groups were recruited: (1) Parents sharing with their child; (2) Children sharing with their parent; (3) Children sharing with peers; and (4) Adults sharing with peers. All dyads engaged in a computerized shared imagery task, which facilitates communication and mental imagery during a shared experience. During the task, pupil diameter change was recorded as a measure of regulatory response. Results: Findings highlight that parents sharing with their child have lower pupil diameter change than children sharing with their parents (p < 0.01), children sharing with peers (p < 0.01), and adults sharing with peers (p < 0.05), While no differences were seen between children sharing with parents, children sharing with peers or adults sharing with peers. Discussion: Findings deepen the understanding of the neuroscience of parenting, by suggesting that parents, even of older children and adolescents, tend to regulate their arousal when interacting with their child, a response that proves to be unique compared to other dyad types for sharing experiences. Considering this dynamic, findings may direct future parent-led intervention methods to improve the child’s socio-emotional development.
AB - Introduction: Parents provide their children with their first exposures to reciprocal shared experiences, and parental modeling of socio-emotional behaviors and regulatory responses largely influences their child’s behavioral and neurological development. Some parental reactions are conscious, while others are non-volitional. This project aimed to explore parent-child pupil dilation change responses during shared interactions, specifically, whether parents’ neuro-regulatory responses when sharing experiences with their child are different than responses of children interacting with their parents or children and adult peers sharing with each other. Methods: To test this, four distinct interacting groups were recruited: (1) Parents sharing with their child; (2) Children sharing with their parent; (3) Children sharing with peers; and (4) Adults sharing with peers. All dyads engaged in a computerized shared imagery task, which facilitates communication and mental imagery during a shared experience. During the task, pupil diameter change was recorded as a measure of regulatory response. Results: Findings highlight that parents sharing with their child have lower pupil diameter change than children sharing with their parents (p < 0.01), children sharing with peers (p < 0.01), and adults sharing with peers (p < 0.05), While no differences were seen between children sharing with parents, children sharing with peers or adults sharing with peers. Discussion: Findings deepen the understanding of the neuroscience of parenting, by suggesting that parents, even of older children and adolescents, tend to regulate their arousal when interacting with their child, a response that proves to be unique compared to other dyad types for sharing experiences. Considering this dynamic, findings may direct future parent-led intervention methods to improve the child’s socio-emotional development.
KW - dyadic interaction
KW - parent-child
KW - pupil diameter change
KW - self-regulation
KW - sharing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85164406735&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fnhum.2023.1177687
DO - 10.3389/fnhum.2023.1177687
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C2 - 37397856
AN - SCOPUS:85164406735
SN - 1662-5161
VL - 17
JO - Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
JF - Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
M1 - 1177687
ER -