Parental Socialization, Vagal Regulation, and PreschoolersÔÇÖ Anxious

7/31/2019 Parental Socialization, Vagal Regulation, and Preschoolers Anxious

1/20

Child Development, January/February 2008, Volume 79, Number 1, Pages 45 64

Parental Socialization, Vagal Regulation, and Preschoolers Anxious

Difficulties: Direct Mothers and Moderated Fathers

Paul D. Hastings, Caroline Sullivan, and

Kelly E. McShaneConcordia University

Robert J. Coplan

Carleton University

William T. UtendaleConcordia University

Johanna D. VynckeUniversitedu Quebec a Montreal

Parental supportiveness and protectiveovercontrol and preschoolers parasympathetic regulation wereexaminedas predictors of temperamental inhibition, social wariness, and internalizing problems. Lower baseline vagal toneand weaker vagal suppression were expected to mark poorer dispositional self-regulatory capacity, leavingchildren more susceptible to the influence of parental socialization. Less supportive mothers had preschoolerswith more internalizing problems. One interaction between baseline vagal tone and maternal protectiveovercontrol, predicting social wariness, conformed to the moderation hypothesis. Conversely, vagal

suppression moderated several links between paternal socialization and childrens anxious difficulties in theexpected pattern. There were more links between mothers self-reported parenting and child outcomes than werenoted for direct observations of maternal behavior, whereas the opposite tended to be true for fathers.

Internalizing problems are one of the most commonkinds of early childhood difficulties (Zahn-Waxler,Klimes-Dougan, & Slattery, 2000), which frequentlypersist through childhood and into adolescence andadulthood (Majcher & Pollack, 1996). Internalizingproblems often become evident or exacerbated in thetransition from home care to day care or preschool, aschildren show fear of the novel setting, distress fromparental separations, and withdrawal from peers(Hirshfeld-Becker & Biederman, 2002). Young child-rens anxious reactions to early school settings can setthem on adverse trajectories toward further personal,social, and academic difficulties (Coplan, Barber, &Lagace-Seguin, 1999). We examined the joint contri-butions of childrens parasympathetic regulation andexperiences of parental socialization to their earlyemerging internalizing problems, social wariness,and temperamental inhibition. To address gaps andinconsistencies in the literature, we compared base-

line vagal tone and dynamic vagal suppression,mothers and fathers use of both adaptive and mal-adaptive parenting, and both parent-reported andobserved measures of socialization techniques.

Socialization and Anxious Development

Parental overcontrol is a robust correlate of, andcontributor to, childrens anxiety, dependence, andsocial withdrawal (Rapee, 1997; Wood, McLeod,Sigman, Hwang, & Chu, 2003). The nature of controlappears to be key, as parents can assert their dominancethrough both behavioral and psychological controls(Barber, 2002; Barber & Harmon, 2002). Behavioralcontrol encompasses rules- and consequences-basedmanagement efforts. Psychological control involvesparents attempts to manipulate childrens emotions,intrude on childrens autonomous activity, or restrictthe kinds of experiences children have. This limits

childrens autonomy and fosters their dependenceupon parents, putting children at risk for internalizingproblems and anxious difficulties (Hudson & Rapee,2001; Mills & Rubin, 1998; Park, Belsky, Putnam, &Crnic, 1997; Pettit, Laird, Dodge, Bates, & Criss, 2001;Rubin, Burgess, & Hastings, 2002).

Ourthanks to the participating families andteachers; Lisa Serbinand Rosemary Mills for comments on earlier drafts; and FarriolaLadha, Ishani De, Samantha Goldwater-Adler, Maryse Guenette,and the students and staff of the ABCD Lab. This research wassupportedby the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Councilof Canada, the Fonds de la Recherche en Sante du Quebec, theCanada Foundation for Innovation, and Concordia University.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed toPaul D. Hastings, Centre for Research in Human Development,Department of Psychology, Concordia University, 7141 SherbrookeStreet West, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H4B 1R6. Electronic mailmay be sent to [email protected].

# 2008 by the Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.All rights reserved. 0009-3920/2008/7901-0004


2/20

Protective overcontrol is one aspect of psycholog-ical control that has often been linked with youngchildrens anxious difficulties (Rapee, 1997; Rubin,Hastings, Stewart, Henderson, & Chen 1997). Thisreflects intrusive actions that emphasize the closenessof the parent child bond, such as restricting thechilds independent activities, very strong affection,and unnecessary micromanagement (Barber, 2002).According to a transactional bidirectional model ofpsychological control and anxious difficulties (e.g.,Rapee, 1997; Rubin, Stewart, & Coplan, 1995), phys-iologically overreactive or temperamentally inhibitedchildren display high levels of distress and neediness.This evokes parents emotions, including concern,anxiety, or guilt, which motivate parents to endchildrens distress and prevent its recurrence. Thus,they use protective overcontrol to effusively comforttheir children, limit exposure to unfamiliar or poten-

tially challenging events, or dominate situations oractivities that they perceive to be beyond their child-rens capacities. In turn, this restricts childrensopportunities to practice and improve their self-regulation and active coping skills and communicatesthe message that they are incapable and requireparental assistance to handle normal life tasks. Child-rens development of autonomy and competence isthereby undermined, setting them upon a trajectorytoward exacerbating internalizing problems.

A small set of longitudinal investigations supportthese hypothesized parent effects. Rubin et al. (2002)

found that reticence with peers was significantlystable from 2 to 4 years only for those children withmothers who had been oversolicitous (intrusive buthighly warm). Bayer, Sanson, and Hemphill (2006)found that higher maternal protectiveness of toddlerspredicted greater internalizing difficulties in pre-schoolers. Park et al. (1997) found thatstrong affectioncontributed to the stability of boys inhibition from2 to 3 years. Thus, there is increasing evidence forparentalpsychologicalcontrolcontributingtothemain-tenance or exacerbation of childrens inhibition, wari-ness, and internalizing problems over development.

Conversely, appropriate, positive, and effective

parenting predicts fewer anxious difficulties. Parentswho are more authoritative, supportive, or encourag-ing of autonomy have children who show fewerinternalizing problems or less inhibition or socialdifficulty (Baumrind & Black, 1967; Chen et al.,1998; Shipman, Schneider, & Sims, 2005). Maternalsensitivity and engagement have been found todecrease the stability of early inhibition and anxiety(Bayer et al., 2006; Crockenberg & Leerkes, 2006; Earlyet al., 2002). However, few studies of preschoolershave included both psychological control and posi-

tive parenting or controlled for one in order todetermine whether the other is uniquely associatedwith childrens adjustment.

The Biological Basis of Internalizing Problems

Temperamental inhibition in infancy and toddler-hood has also been linked with later internalizingproblems (Kagan & Snidman, 1999; Prior, Smart,Sanson, & Oberklaid, 2000). Highly inhibited toddlershave low thresholds for arousal and difficulty adjust-ing to novelty, and they typically react to unfamiliarsituations with distress and withdrawal (Kagan,1997). Withdrawing may reduce the childrens dis-tressed arousal, but this also reinforces a pattern ofavoidant coping that supplants more effective socialskills. Thus, there may be a developmental sequencelinking inhibition, a dispositional tendency to react to

unfamiliarity with fear, first to wariness, the avoid-ance of peers by withdrawing from social interac-tions, and then to internalizing problems, those moreserious and maladaptive emotional and behavioralpatterns that interfere with childrens abilities toaccomplish developmentally normal activities (Rubinet al., 2002).

One frequently studied psychophysiological cor-relate of inhibition, wariness, and internalizing prob-lems in children is cardiac vagal tone, an index ofparasympathetic regulation of heart rate variabilityattributable to the influence of the 10th cranial nerve

(Porges, 1991). The parasympathetic system generallyserves to downregulate or decrease cardiac activity.Individual differences in vagal tone are associatedwith the ability to adaptively calm oneself aftera salient event has produced increased arousal(Porges & Doussard-Roosevelt, 1997). Over the pre-school period, there are both maturational changes ofthe cardiac system and moderate stability in cardiacfunction. Baseline vagal tone increases with age,though individual differences remain similar (Fox &Field, 1989; Porges, Doussard-Roosevelt, Portales, &Suess, 1994). Baseline vagal tone (most often mea-sured as respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]) is useful

for assessing individual differences in character-istic states of regulation or typical levels of arousal(Beauchaine, 2001; Calkins, 1997) and is associatedwith emotional reactivity (Stifter & Fox, 1990). Ac-cording to the polyvagal theory (Porges, 1995),dynamic changes in vagal enervation (suppression)in response to task demands also should be associatedwith adaptive, active coping. Childrens withdrawalof parasympathetic influence over arousal in responseto such mild to moderate challenges as solving a diffi-cult puzzle reflects an adaptive allocation of energy

46 Hastings et al.


3/20

and external focus of attention that should promoteeffective coping (Calkins & Keane, 2004). Thus, vagalsuppression should upregulate or increase cardiacactivity.

Lower baseline vagal tone has been related tochildrens anxious difficulties (El-Sheikh, Harger, &Whitson,2001; Fox& Field, 1989; Garcia Coll, Kagan,&Reznick, 1984). Weaker vagal suppression also hasbeen linked to childrens problems (Calkins, 1997;Calkins & Dedmon, 2000; El-Sheikh, 2001), and vagalsuppression may be more strongly linked to emo-tional and behavioral adjustment than is baselinevagal tone (Blair, 2003; Calkins & Keane, 2004). Thesestudies suggest that limited parasympathetic regula-tion of arousal undermines childrens abilities to copewith stress, contributing to a range of internalizingproblems.

However, many studies have failed to find rela-

tions between vagal tone and inhibition or internal-izing problems (Calkins & Fox, 1992; Gerlach,Wilhelm, & Roth, 2003; Marshall & Stevenson-Hinde,1998; Schmidt, Fox, Schulkin, & Gold, 1999; Steven-son-Hinde & Marshall, 1999). This may suggest thatthe links between vagal tone and anxious adjustmentare not robust. Alternatively, decreased parasympa-thetic regulation may act as a vulnerability that putschildren at risk for manifesting difficulties dependingon other characteristics or experiences. Thus, psycho-logical control may be particularly disadvantageousfor children with low vagal tone.

The Joint Contributions of Physiology and Socialization toAnxious Adjustment

The contention that having lower vagal tone mayincrease a childs susceptibility to maladaptive social-ization conforms to the tenets of the diathesis stressand transactional models that have become predom-inant in developmental psychopathology (Sameroff,1975; Steinberg & Avenevoli, 2000). A small set ofstudies on vagal regulation and childrens socializa-tion experiences within the family have begun toprovide support for a model of the interactive con-

tributions of physiological and experiential factors tointernalizing problems.

Scheeringa, Zeanah, Myers, and Putnam (2004)reported that preschoolers with elevated posttrau-matic stress symptoms and low positive maternaldiscipline showed poor vagal regulation during recallof stressful experiences. El-Sheikh (2001; El-Sheikh &Harger, 2001; El-Sheikh & Whitson, 2006) reportedthat both lower baseline vagal tone and poorer vagalregulation to an emotional stressor moderated asso-ciations between parental difficulties and internaliz-

ing problems; parental alcoholism or marital conflictonly predicted problems for less well-regulated chil-dren. Katz (Katz & Gottman, 1995, 1997) reported thatmarital problems predicted a range of problems forchildren with lower RSA and that vagal suppression(but not baseline vagal tone) moderated linksbetween hostile coparenting (but not cohesive par-enting) and social difficulties with peers (Leary &Katz, 2004).

This work supports a biopsychosocial model of thedevelopment of anxious difficulties, in which poorparasympathetic regulation of arousal and adversesocialization experiences are jointly associated withgreater maladjustment. However, several issues havenot been adequately addressed in the existing litera-ture. First, it is unclear whether low baseline vagaltone or weak vagal suppression most accuratelyreflects childrens physiological risk. Second, the

relative contributions of protective overcontrol andsupportive parenting to anxious adjustment need tobe considered. Third, many previous studies havefocused on parental psychopathology or family prob-lems, rather than parental socialization styles orpractices, such that results may not speak directly tothe proposed roles of protective overcontrol andsupportiveness. Fourth, most studies have includeda single technique to assess parenting of preschoolers,either self-report or direct observation. Each has itsown strengths but carries well-identified limits tovalidity when used alone (Janssens, De Bruyn,

Manders, & Scholte, 2005; Miller, 1998). Using multi-ple methods to assess parenting could reveal con-vergent validity of predictive relations with childoutcomes. Fifth, studies have tended to assess eitherchildrens internalizing problems, or social wariness,or inhibition, and the biopsychosocial model mayvary for these. As well, the ecological validity of somemeasures of adjustment may be questioned, as child-rens social wariness has typically been measured inlaboratory observations of wary and reticent behaviorwith unfamiliar peers. Although related to parent andteacher reports of child behavior problems (e.g.,Coplan, 2000; Coplan, Rubin, Fox, Calkins, & Stewart,

1994), reticence with unfamiliar peers may not gen-eralize to childrens play with familiar peers in knownsettings, such as day care.

Sixth, and perhaps most important, little is knownabout relations between fathers socialization andchildrens anxious difficulties. Studies of adolescentssocialization have shown that fathers value promotingautonomy more than mothers (Kenny & Gallagher,2002) and mothers use more psychological controlthan fathers (Barber, Bean, & Erickson, 2002), al-though this has not been seen with younger children

Vagal Tone, Parenting, and Adjustment 47


4/20

(Nelson & Crick, 2002; Rubin, Nelson, Hastings, &Asendorpf, 1999). The limited research suggests thatthe links between fathers psychological control andchildrens characteristics are similar to those seenwith mothers (Park et al., 1997; Rogers, Buchanan, &Winchel, 2003). There is reason to propose, then,that fathers use of psychological control is alsomaladaptive for childrens development of anxiousdifficulties.

Goals of the Current Investigation

We tested a biopsychosocial model of childrensanxious difficulties. Vagal tone was used to measureparasympathetic regulation and was expected tomoderate the associations between mothers andfathers parenting and childrens adjustment. Pro-tective overcontrol was assessed as an aspect of

psychological control that could be particularly mal-adaptive for vulnerable children, and supportiveparenting was examined as a factor promoting morepositive functioning. We looked at both normativeaspects of childrens anxious difficulties, includingsocial wariness and temperamental inhibition, andmore clinically relevant internalizing problems. Thestudy was designed to address the six identifiedlimitations of the past literature.

Four main hypotheses were tested. (a) Childrenwere expected to manifest more inhibition, socialwariness, and internalizing problems when their

parents reported using more protective overcontroland less supportive parenting and (b) when theyshowed lower baseline vagal tone and less vagalsuppression to mild challenge. Parasympatheticregulation was expected to moderate parental social-ization, such that (c) mothers and fathers high pro-tective overcontrol and low supportive parentingwere expected to predict anxious difficulties morestrongly for children with lower vagal tone and lessvagal suppression. (d) Weak vagal suppression wasexpected to be a better index of childrens physiolog-ical vulnerability, moderating the relations of parentalsocialization and child adjustment more consistently

than baseline vagal tone.

Method

Participants

Recruitment strategy. Participants were recruitedthrough advertisements placed in newspapers, post-ers in community centers and libraries, and lettersdistributed to day cares and preschools. In order tofind children ranging in likelihood of manifesting

adjustment difficulty, some advertisements and post-ers were targeted toward parents of children withspecific characteristics, for example, Is your childquiet and cautious? or Is your child upbeat andeasy-going?

Sample. The final sample included 133 families,with 72 girls and 61 boys, from 2.08 to 4.92 years old atrecruitment (M 5 3.50, SD 5 0.76). A total of 87children were enrolled in day care and 44 were inpreschool (2 children were withdrawn from day careor preschool after the family enrolled in the study). Toassess the effectiveness of the recruitment strategy,mothers were administered the items composing theinternalizing problems scale of the Child BehaviorChecklist (CBCL) for 1.5 5 years (Achenbach &Rescorla, 2000) during the telephone screening (seemeasures below). Forty-two children were in theborderline clinical to clinical range for internalizing

problems (T! 60;M5 65.93, SD5 4.96, range5 60 76), 48 were less than 1 SD above their gender- andage-normed average (51 T 59; M 5 54.77, SD 52.17), and 43 were at or below that average (T 50;M 5 42.95, SD5 5.56, range5 2949).

There were 113 two-parent families, including 3separated couples who shared custody of the childand both parents participated, and 20 single-motherfamilies. All mothers and 105 fathers participated.Mothers age ranged from 19.75 to 50.50 years (M 535.32, SD5 5.10), and fathers age ranged from 23.58to 56.92 years (M 5 37.66, SD 5 5.65). There were 98

Caucasian families, 21 families with mixed ethnic-ities, 7 Asian families, and 7 families with otherethnicities (Hispanic, Black, Middle Eastern, or other).The families were predominantly middle class.Twenty percent of mothers and 22% of fathers hada graduate degree, 42% of mothers and 30% of fathershad an undergraduate degree, 26% of mothers and34% of fathers had some university education, 11% ofmothers and fathershad completed high school,and 1mother and 3 fathers had not finished high school.Annual household income before taxes ranged fromunder $20,000 to over $200,000 Canadian (M 5$80,229.17, mode 5 $50,000, SD5 $47,777.21).

Teacher reports were completed by 1 male and 107female teachers who worked in 97 establishments,with 1 to 4 participating children enrolled in each daycare and preschool.

Procedure

Data for this study were collected during a visit toeach familys home, a visit to each childs day care orpreschool, and a visit to the laboratory by each family.Parents completed measures at home and in the

48 Hastings et al.


5/20

laboratory. Teachers completed questionnaires thatwere returned by mail. An overview of the timelinefor the components of the study is provided inTable 1.

Temperamental inhibition. To assess childrens inhi-bition, mothers completed the Childrens BehaviorQuestionnaire (CBQ; Rothbart, Ahadi, Hershey, &Fisher, 2001) and teachers completed the Social Com-petence and Behavior Evaluation Preschool Edition(SCBE; La Freniere & Dumas, 1995). The Fearful andShy scales of the CBQ include 13 items each. For thissample of mothers,a5 .76 and .94 for the Fearful andShy scales, respectively. These scales were aggre-gated, r 5 .46, p , .001, to form an index of mother-reported inhibition (n5112,M5 3.54, SD50.98). TheAnxious and Isolated scales of the SCBE include 10items each. For this sample of teachers, as 5 .78and .82, respectively. These scales were aggregated,

r5 .65,p, .001, to form the index of teacher-reportedinhibition (n 5 115, M5 49.93, SD 5 8.69).

Internalizing problems. To assess internalizingproblems, mothers completed the full CBCL 1.5 5years and teachers completed the Caregiver TeacherReport Form (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000). TheInternalizing Problems scale includes 36 items forparents and 32 items for teachers and has demon-strated good internal reliability and 1-week testretest reliability (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000). Inthe current sample, the reliability coefficients a 5.87 for mothers (n 5 116, M5 50.17, SD5 10.98) anda 5 .87 for teachers (n 5 114, M5 51.39, SD 5 9.87).

Reported parenting. To assess patterns of socializa-tion, parents completed the Child-Rearing PracticesReport (CRPR; Block, 1981). The CRPR uses a 91-itemQ-Sort methodology to measure parenting attitudes,beliefs, and behaviors. The measure is well validated,

with an 8-month test retest average correlation ofr 5 .71 (Block, 1981) and has been used in previousstudies of parental psychological control (Chen et al.,1998; Hastings & Rubin, 1999; Kennedy, Rubin,Hastings, & Maisel, 2004) and authoritative parenting(Hastings, Zahn-Waxler, Robinson, Usher, & Bridges,2000; Kochanska, Kuczynski, & Radke-Yarrow, 1989).A total of 133 mothers and 105 fathers completed theCRPR during the home visit.

Subscale scores were computed representing pro-tective overcontrol (8 items: 13, 20, 44-R, 54, 68, 75-R,79, and 80, e.g., I stop my child from playing rough

games or doing things where he/she might get hurt)and supportive parenting (10 items: 1, 11, 18, 22, 34,38, 40, 42, 51, and 52, e.g., I respect my childsopinions and encourage him/her to express them).For the latter, the original authoritative scale definedby Kochanska et al. (1989) was modified by removingfour items with poor item whole correlations tomaximize internal consistency. Coefficient alphas forprotective overcontrol and supportive parenting formothers were, respectively, as 5 .49 and .60, anddescriptive statistics were, respectively, Ms 5 3.34and 6.07, SDs 5 0.70 and 0.48. Coefficient alphas forfathers were, respectively, as 5 .43 and .62, and

descriptive statistics were, respectively, Ms 5 3.29and 5.96, SDs 5 0.69 and 0.54. Due to the forced-choice ranking procedure of the Q-Sort methodology,CRPR scales often have low internal consistencyscores (Hastings & Rubin, 1999) despite evidence fortheir convergent and predictive validity.

Observed parenting. Each parent (in counterbal-anced order for two-parent families) and child werevideotaped at home completing a series of activities.Parental behaviors were observed in the final threeactivities. In co-constructed narratives, the parent and

Table 1

Overview and Timeline of Data Collection Procedures

Months Procedure Measures

April to August Recruitment Phone screening:

Initial internalizing

problems

June to August Home visit Reported parenting: CRPR

Observed parenting:

Parent child interactionsco-constructed narratives

origami teaching

cleanup

Baseline vagal tone:

Video or story

Task vagal tone:

Challenging puzzle

October to

December

Preschool visit Social wariness: Familiar

peer interactions

January to April Teacher

questionnaire

Temperamental inhibition:

SCBE

Internalizing problems:

CTRF

February to April Laboratory visit Social wariness: Unfamiliarpeer interactions

Temperamental inhibition:

CBQ (mother)

Internalizing problems:

CBCL (mother)

Note. CRPR5Child-Rearing Practices Report (Block, 1981); SCBE5Social Competence andBehaviorEvaluation (La Freniere & Dumas,1995); CTRF 5 Caregiver Teacher Report Form (Achenbach &Rescorla,2000); CBQ5Childrens Behavior Questionnaire(Rothbart,Ahadi, Hershey, & Fisher, 2001); CBCL 5 Child Behavior Checklist(Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000).



6/20

childused a setof figures and toyprops to resolve twosocial situations involving peers. In origami teaching,the parent guided the child in how to fold paper intoan origami shape. In cleanup, the parent and childtidied the interaction area. In two-parent homes,activities were adapted slightly (e.g., different socialsituations for the co-constructed narratives; differentshapes for the origami teaching) so that children didnot repeat identical tasks with each parent. In single-mother homes, either the first or the second set ofactivities was randomly assigned to the family.Mechanical error, experimenter error, and/or failureto attain child cooperation with the tasks resulted inthe loss of all videotaped data for two mother childdyads (n 5 131) and three father child dyads(n 5 102).

The co-constructed narratives were based on pastresearch in which the MacArthur Story Stem Battery

was administered to parents and children together(Oppenheim, Emde, & Wamboldt, 1996; Oppenheim,Nir, & Warren, 1997) but adapted to tap parentalreactions to preschoolers coping with challengingpeer interactions. The experimenter set up two sce-narios for each parent child dyad, the first depictingthe dyad arriving at a situation (preschool, birthdayparty) in which three other children were alreadyplaying and the second depicting the dyad meetingone unfamiliar peer and adult (playdate, park) andthe target child acting shyly. After establishing thesituation, the experimenter said You finish the story.

Parent behaviors were observed from this point untilthe target childs first interaction with the otherchild(ren) or for a maximum of 5 min (mothers: M 51 min 51.33 s, SD5 1 min 33.89 s; fathers: M 5 2 min15.84 s, SD5 1 min 44.64 s; paired t52.30, p, .05).Two children with mothers and 2 children withfathers immediately (,10 s) moved their figurine intoboth social interactions without any behaviors byparents; these dyads were notincludedin theanalyses.

Coders used event sampling to record the fre-quency of 13 parent behaviors. Inter-rater agreementwas computed for 20% of tapes that were examinedby two coders using coefficient kappa, mean j 5 .86

(range 5 .61 1.00). Scores were proportionalized fortotal time observed. Six codes were seen as Protectiveor discouraging peer interaction (act as childs play-mate, enact joining peer play with child, enact otheradult interacting with child, support child interactingwith other adult, support nonsocial play by child, anddescribe child as shy or reluctant). Five were seen asEncouraging of Engagement (familiarize child withsetting, encourage child to interact, suggest how toinitiate interaction, enact peer interacting with child,and ask child why s/he isnt interacting with peers).

Two were seen as Supportive (model greeting orinteracting with others and provide reasons for childinteracting). Descriptive statistics for these three setsof codes for mothers were, respectively, Ms 5 0.09,0.30, and 0.19, SDs 5 0.12, 0.23, and 0.21, and forfathers were, respectively, Ms 5 0.08, 0.36, and 0.14,SDs5 0.08, 0.22, and 0.18.

For the origami task, parents were asked to followpictorial instructions to teach their child how to folda piece ofpaper intoa shape but not totouchthe paperthemselves. Parent behaviors were coded until theshape was completed, the parent gave up the task, or5 min passed (mothers:M5 3 min 48.20 s, SD5 1min23.88 s; fathers:M5 3 min 50.70s, SD5 1 min 30.32 s;paired t 5 0.65). Coders completed time-sampledratings of parents actions; for each 20-s time sample,coders rated each parent behavior from 1 (absent) to 5(strong and repeated). Inter-rater agreement was com-

puted for 25% of the tapes examined by two codersusing coefficient alpha, mean a 5 .77 (range5 0.67 0.93). Scores were proportionalized for total timeobserved. Codes used in the current analysesincluded Positive (warmth, affection, praising, andencouraging) and Supportive (point out steps, showillustrations, explain actions necessary, and providereasons). Descriptive statistics for these for motherswere, respectively,Ms5 1.46 and 1.94, SDs5 0.31 and0.45, and for fathers were, respectively,Ms5 1.39 and2.00, SDs 5 0.28 and 0.49.

For the cleanup task, parents were asked to get

their child to return all play materials to their originalboxes. Parent behaviors were coded until the playmaterials were returned to their containers, the parentstated that they were finished (even if they were not),or 6 min passed (mothers: M 5 4 min 37.52 s, SD 51 min 06.05 s; fathers: M5 4 min 37.81 s, SD 5 1 min01.03 s; paired t 5 0.49). Using time sample coding,coders evaluated each parent behavior as Absent orPresent in each 10-s time sample of the cleanup task.Inter-rater agreement was computed for 20% of tapes,mean j 5 .71 (range 5 .67 1.00). Scores were pro-portionalized for total time observed. Codes includedAssist (help child put object into box), Take Over (put

object away without childs assistance; accept childsnoncompliance with task), Positive (praise, affection),and Encourage (gentle control through requests andreasoning). Descriptive statistics for these four sets ofcodes for mothers were, respectively, Ms5 0.20, 0.08,0.12, and 0.14, SDs5 0.12, 0.09, 0.10, and 0.08, and forfathers were, respectively, Ms 5 0.23, 0.08, 0.12, and0.16, SDs 5 0.13, 0.08, 0.11, and 0.08.

Vagal tone. Each childs baseline cardiac activitywas recorded using the Mini-Logger 2000 (Mini-Mitter, Inc., Bend, OR), a light-weight ambulatory

50 Hastings et al.


7/20

monitor. Continuous interbeat interval (IBI) record-ing was obtained through a recording band that wasconnected to the childs chest using either two adhe-sive electrodes or an adhesive-free elasticized beltaround the torso. IBIs were recorded between succes-sive R-waves to the nearest millisecond. The recordingband transmitted the data to the Mini-Logger 2000unit, which the child wore in a fanny-pouch around hisor her waist and which could store up to 2 hr ofcontinuously recorded IBI data. Data were down-loaded from the Mini-Logger 2000 unit using cus-tomized software, andthen IBI files were transferred toMxedit (Delta-Biometrics Inc., Bethesda, MD) for edit-ing of recording artifacts and computation of cardiacRSA (equivalent to vagal tone or V; Porges, 1985).

Baseline vagal tone (baseline V) recordings wereobtained near the start of the home visit prior toinitiating the parent child interaction tasks. Children

were allowed to inspect the monitor and pretend toput it onto a stuffed animal until they felt comfortableenough to wear it themselves (5 children refused towear the monitor). Baseline recording began approx-imately 5 min after attaching the monitor. To keepchildren still and calm during the baseline recordings,parents were asked to sit with their children andwatch a low-action animated videotape (Dragon Tales)or read a childrens picture book (Curious George).These techniques have been found to be effective forkeeping children stationary and arousing little affect(see Calkins & Dedmon, 2000; Rubin et al., 1997). The

goal was to record at least 3 min of cardiac activitywhile the child was in a stationary and calm state (M54 min 43.89 s, SD 5 1 min 2.52 s). Baseline Vdid notdiffer depending on the use of video or book, t , 1.0.

Following the baseline, a portable video camerawas set up to record parent child interactions. Intwo-parent homes, the order of observing child withmother versus father first was counterbalanced acrossfamilies. Children were given a difficult puzzle tosolve in order to record vagal tone (task V) under mildchallenge conditions (Calkins & Keane, 2004). Chil-dren aged 2 3.5 years were given a puzzle recom-mended for children 4 years and older, and children

aged 3.5 4.9 years were given a puzzle recommen-ded for children 6 years andolder. Parents were askedto give only as much help as they thought their childneeded. For all children, cardiac recording duringpuzzle completion with the first parent was used tocompute task V. Five more children removed thecardiac monitor between the baseline and the puzzletask procedure.

The files of sequential IBIs were examined inMxedit software (Delta-Biometrics Inc., Bethesda,MD) to visually identify artifacts and outliers pro-

duced by movement or recording error (e.g., twosuccessive IBIs added together because the monitorfailed to detect the intervening R-wave). Baseline datahad to be discarded for 4 children because it wasunusable (multiple consecutive recording errorsthroughout the baseline period), such that baselinedata were available for 124 children. Three or moreminutes of usable IBI data were obtained for 107children; for the remaining 17 children, at least 60 s oferror-free baseline data were available. Puzzle taskdata had to be discarded for 7 children because it wasunusable. In total, puzzle task data were obtainedfrom 112 children, all but 1 of whom also providedusable baseline data. Cardiac data throughout thepuzzle task were usable for most children (M5 4min21.31 s, SD5 1 min 35.91 s), and all children providedat least 60 s of error-free puzzle task data.

Mxedit uses a moving 21-point polynomial algo-

rithm that isolates heart rate variability at the ampli-tude and period of the oscillations associated withbreathing, reported in units of ln(ms)2. Age-specificfrequency band-pass parameters are used to quantifyRSA that corresponds to developmentally normativespontaneous respiration. The frequency band for RSAcomputation used for this preschool-age sampleranged from 0.24 to 1.04 Hz. RSA was computed foreach sequential 20-s interval in each IBI data file, andthe mean of these sequential values was used as themeasure of RSA for each child.

The durations of usable IBI data during baseline

and puzzle task were not significantly correlated withV, rs 5 .15 and .01, respectively. Children showeda significant decrease in V from baseline (M 5 5.25,SD 5 1.35, range 5 2.20 9.46) to puzzle (M 5 4.05,SD5 1.11, range 5 1.46 6.45), paired t(110) 5 13.45,p , .001. Vagal suppression (task Vlower than base-line V) was shown by 90.1% (100/111) of the children.Although there has been debate about how best tomeasure and analyze change scores (e.g., Llabre,Spitzer, Saab, Ironson, & Schneiderman 1991; Wainer,1991), residualized change scores have becomewidely used in recent studies of cardiovascular reac-tivity (e.g., Krantz et al., 1996; Nazzaro et al., 2005),

and they are recognized as particularly appropriatewhen there is significant and positive relationbetween baseline and episode measures (Calkins &Keane, 2004, p. 107). Baseline V and task V weresignificantly positively correlated, r 5 .71, p , .001;therefore, the standardized residual of the predictionof task V from baseline V was used as the index ofchange in vagal tone (DV) under mild cognitivechallenge conditions. DV corresponds to the inverseof vagal suppression, as higher values ofDVreflectincreases (or smaller decreases) in Vfrom baseline to



8/20

puzzle task. DVdid not differ between children whocompleted the puzzle with mother or with father,t(109) 5 1.47.

Observations of social wariness. Social wariness wasobserved in two contexts. First, 122 children werevisited at their day care or preschool on a day thatbegan with a free-play period. Each childs play withhis or her familiar preschool peers was observed for12 min, beginning2 5 min after the child had enteredthe playroom and separated from the parent.

Second, triads of same-sex, same-age unfamiliarchildren were invited to the laboratory for a visit.Arrival times of families were staggered, and eachfamily was greeted by an examiner and taken toa separate waiting room so that children would notsee each other prior to entering the laboratory play-room. The 20 ft 20 ft playroom contained a varietyof age-appropriate toysthat were conducive for either

individual or social play. The first activity was a 10-min free-play period; this was videotaped for 112children from three corner-mounted cameras.

Childrens displays of wariness during play ses-sions with familiar peers at preschool and unfamiliarpeers in the laboratory were made using the PlayObservation Scale (POS; Rubin, 1989). In both con-texts, play behavior was coded in 10-s time samples.Live observations were done in the preschool visits,and laboratory visits were coded from videotape.Coders had to attain j ! .70 for POS coding of60 min of videotaped play and at least two 1-hr live

preschool visits before being the primary coder ona preschool visit for a participant. Repeated reliabilitycoding of videotaped laboratory interactions ensuredthat all coders maintained j ! .70. Social wariness ineach context was defined as the proportion ofobserved 10-s time segments spent as onlooker/unoccupied: watching others play without trying tojoin, not playing on ones own, inactivity or lack offocus, and isolation. For observed wariness at pre-school, M 5 .17, SD 5 0.16 (range 5 0.00 0.81), andfor observed wariness in the laboratory, M 5 0.23,SD 5 0.26 (range 5 0.00 1.00), paired t 5 1.33.

Results

Preliminary Analyses: Data Reduction

Observed parenting. Observed parenting behavioracross tasks was aggregated to form scores forobserved protective overcontrol and supportiveness.Protective overcontrol included Protect and Encour-age Engagement (reversed) scores from narrativesand Assist and Take Over scores from cleanup. Scoreswere z-transformed and averaged (single-factor sol-

utions were supported for both mothers and fathers,with eigenvalues5 1.20 and 1.41, respectively, and allfactor loadings !.48). Supportive parenting includedthe Supportive score from narratives, Positive andSupportive scores from origami, and Positive andEncouraging scores from cleanup; scores were z-transformed and averaged (single-factor solutionswere supported for both mothers and fathers, witheigenvalues 5 1.53 and 1.72, respectively, and allfactor loadings ! .30). Observed parenting scoreswere computed for 131 mothers and 102 fathers.

Temperamental inhibition. Mothers and teachersreports of inhibition were significantly correlated,r 5 .26, p , .01. Thus, their reports were first z-transformed and then averaged (n5 128). When onlyone report was available, this was used as the index.

Internalizing problems. The correlation betweenmothers and teachers reports of childrens inter-

nalizing problems approached significance, r 5 .17,p , .10, comparable to the correspondence betweenseparate CBCL reports on young childrens inter-nalizing problems seen in prior studies (e.g., Hay etal., 1999). Mothers and teachers reports of internal-izing problems were averaged (n5 127), M5 50.72,SD 5 8.72 (range 5 33 72). When only one reportwas available, this was used as the index.

Observed social wariness. Preschoolers onlooker/unoccupied behaviors with familiar peers at pre-school and unfamiliar peers in the laboratory weresignificantly correlated, r 5 .22, p , .05. Therefore,

onlooker/unoccupied behaviors at preschool and inthe laboratory were averaged to form the index ofobserved social wariness (n 5 128), M 5 0.20, SD 50.18 (range 5 0.00 1.00). Wariness was based onbehavior in only one context when observations inboth contexts were not available.

Relations Between Predictors and Outcomes

The first-order correlations between baseline V,task V, DV, maternal and paternal reported andobserved parenting, and the three measures of child-rens anxious difficulties are presented in Table 2.

There were no significant correlations involving themeasures of vagal tone. The corresponding indices ofmothers observed and reported protective overcon-trol, and of fathers supportiveness, were positivelycorrelated, indicative of moderate convergence acrossmeasures. Two of the four corresponding maternaland paternal parenting scores were positively corre-lated, indicative of moderate consistency in childrenssocialization experiences across parents in two-parenthomes. Children with more internalizing problemshad mothers who were more protective (reported)

52 Hastings et al.


9/20

and less supportive (observed and reported). Fathersand mothers reported protective overcontrol wasalso positively correlated with internalizing problemsand temperamental inhibition, respectively. Moreinhibited children had more internalizing problems

and showed more social wariness, although the lattertwo were not significantly correlated.

Regression Analyses

Check for control variables. Six potentially con-founding variables were examined to determine ifthey were associated with the variables of interest inthis study: sex and age of child, family structure(number of parents), order of observing parent childinteractions, type of school, and availability of teacherreports. Four of these were associated with thevariables of interest. (a) Girls internalizing problems

scores (M5 52.25, SD5 8.92) were higher than thoseof boys (M5 48.67, SD5 8.75), t(104)5 2.08, p, .05.(b) Older children had higher baseline V, r(109)5 .27,p , .01. (c) Mothers in two-parent homes reportedmore supportiveparenting than single mothers(Ms56.14, 5.74; SDs5 0.42, 0.67, respectively), t(109)5 3.27,p , .01. (d) Compared to families for which teacherreports were returned, in families lacking teacherreports mothers were less supportive on reported(Ms5 6.12, 5.72; SDs5 0.42, 0.75, respectively), t(109)5 2.87, p , .01, and observed measures (Ms 5 0.12,

0.54; SDs 5 0.96, 0.96, respectively), t(107) 5 2.34,p , .05. The same difference in fathers reportedsupportiveness was seen (Ms 5 6.01, 5.50; SDs 50.53, 0.71, respectively), t(83)5 2.22,p, .05. Childrenlacking teacher reports also had more internalizing

problems (Ms5

56.89, 49.93; SDs5

11.01, 8.60,respectively), t(104) 5 2.27, p, .05.Preliminary analyses were conducted to examine

whether any of these six variables needed to becontrolled in the predictive regressions. Age, familystructure, observation order, and type of school didnot affect the strength of the regressions. Sex andavailability of teacher reports predicted childrensinternalizing problems (across analyses, maximumbs5 .20 and.22, respectively,p, .05), and includingthem influenced whether some associations betweentargeted predictors and outcomes reached traditionallevels of significance. Therefore, sex of child and

availability of teacher reports were entered as controlvariables in all analyses.

Preliminary regression analyses were also per-formed to determine whether sex and age of childmoderated the relations between V, DV, maternal andpaternal parenting, as predictors, and anxious diffi-culties, as outcomes. None of the two-way interactionterms involving sex significantly predicted child out-comes. Only 1 of 18 interactions (5.6%) involving agewas significant at p , .05, attributable to chance.Therefore, sex and age of child did not appear to

Table 2

Intercorrelations of Predictor and Outcome Variables

Variable 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Child Physiology

1. Baseline V .07 .04 .11 .01 .02 .17y .03 .03 .03 .09 .04

2. Task V .01 .01 .07 .01 .01 .13 .05 .00 .03 .09 .08

3. DV .08 .04 .01 .01 .02 .04 .02 .01 .03 .04 .08

Mothers Parenting

4. Reported protective .27** .28** .13 .23* .05 .01 .14 .25** .20* .09

5. Reported supportive .11 .17y .10 .10 .06 .15 .34*** .05 .10

6. Observed protective .04 .14 .07 .11 .10 .07 .09 .00

7. Observed supportive .15 .07 .09 .24* .19* .09 .05

Fathers Parenting

8. Reported protective .14 .08 .02 .20* .19y .05

9. Reported supportive .20* .24* .07 .08 .06

10. Observed protective .11 .03 .03 .13

11. Observed supportive .12 .13 .13

Child Outcomes

12. Internalizing problems .45***

.0513. Inhibited temperament .33***

14. Social wariness

Note. Reported parenting is from Child-Rearing Practices Report (Block, 1981); observed parenting is from home visits.yp , .10. *p , .05. **p , .01. ***p , .001.



10/20

influence the relations of principal interest in thisinvestigation.

General format for regression analyses. Hierarchicallinear regression analyses were used to predict inter-nalizing problems, temperamental inhibition, andsocial wariness from baseline Vand DVand mothersand fathers reported and observed parenting. Withtwo indices of vagal regulation and two methods ofassessing parenting used to predict three outcomes,there were 12 regressions examined for fathers and 12for mothers. For each regression, the control variablesof child sex and availability of teacher reports wereentered first,DV(or V) and the measures of protectiveovercontrol and supportive parenting were enteredon the second step, and the two interactions ofDV(orV) Parenting were entered third. As recommendedby Aiken and West (1991), predictor variables werecentered prior to computing interaction terms, and

centered variables were entered into the regressionanalyses. Significant (p , .05) interaction terms wereexamined by regressing the dependent variable onthe parenting score at low (1 SD) and high (+1 SD)values ofDV(or V) in order to clarify how childrensDV(or V) moderated the association between parent-ing and the index of anxious adjustment.

Predictions from paternal parenting and DV. Theregression analyses involving paternal parentingand vagal suppression are presented in Table 3. Twoof the six interactions were significant, and two moreapproached significance. There were no significant

direct effects, but fathers who were observed to bemore supportive had children who tended (.08,p,.11) to show less of all three anxious difficulties. Fiveof the 12 interactions (42%) involving DVand fathersparenting were significant; two illustrative effects aredepicted in Figure 1. All the significant interactioneffects were consistent with the hypothesis that pro-tective overcontrol would predict more anxious diffi-culties and supportive parenting would predict feweranxious difficulties, specifically for children with lessparasympathetic self-regulation as indexed byweaker vagal suppression. From the measures ofreported parenting, DV Protective Overcontrol

predicted childrens inhibition (Figure 1a) and DVSupportive predicted their wariness. More protectiveparenting predicted more inhibition when vagalsuppression was weaker (b 5 .40, p , .02) but notwhen vagal suppression was stronger (b 5 .07, ns).More supportive parenting was associated withless wariness when vagal suppression was weaker(b 5 .30, p , .20) but not when vagal suppressionwas stronger (b5 .13). For the analyses with observedparenting, DV Supportive predicted both internal-izing problems (Figure 1b) and inhibition and DV

Protective predicted wariness. When vagal suppres-sion was weaker, more supportive parenting byfathers predicted fewer internalizing problems (b 5.41, p , .01) and less inhibition (b 5 .39, p , .01)and more protective parenting was weakly associatedwith more wariness (b 5 .25, p , .20). With strongervagal suppression, supportive parenting did notpredict either internalizing problems or inhibition(bs5 .08 and .04, respectively) and protective parent-ing predicted less wariness (b 5 .40, p , .01).

Predictions from maternal parenting and DV. Theregression analyses involving maternal parentingand vagal suppression are presented in Table 4. Threeof the six regressions were significant. Children withmore internalizing problems had mothers who re-ported significantly less supportive parenting andwho tended to report more protective overcontrol.Mothers observed supportive parenting predicted

fewer internalizing problems. In the prediction ofwariness from reported parenting, the DV Pro-tective interaction was significant and the DV Supportive interaction approached significance.Examining the significant interaction, the moderationeffect was counter to the hypothesis (Figure 2): Moreprotective parenting predicted more wariness whenvagal suppression was stronger (b 5 .38, p, .01) butnot when vagal suppression was weaker (b 5 .27,p , .10).

Predictions from paternal parenting and baseline V. Ofthe six regression analyses involving paternal parent-

ing and baseline V, only the prediction of socialwariness from observed parenting was significant,adjusted R2 5 .116, F(7, 83) 5 2.70, p , .05. (In theinterests of conserving space, the predominantly non-significant regression analyses involving baseline Vare not presented in tables. Readers interested in thedetailed results of these analyses may contact the firstauthor for copies.) Social wariness was significantlypredicted by Baseline V Observed Protective (b 5.25, p , .05); this was the only 1 of the 12 testedinteraction effects that was significant. Protectiveovercontrol did not predict wariness at higher levelsof baseline V (b 5 .10, ns), but counter to the

hypothesis, protective predicted less wariness atlower levels of baseline V (b 5 .38, p , .01). Therewere no significant direct effects in any analyses, butthe children of fathers who reported more protectiveovercontrol tended to have more internalizing prob-lems and greater inhibition (both p , .10).

Predictions from maternal parenting and baseline V. Ofthe six regression analyses involving maternalparenting and baseline V, only the prediction of inter-nalizing problems from reported parenting was sig-nificant, adjusted R25 .161, F(7, 110)5 4.21, p, .001.

54 Hastings et al.


11/20

Table3

PredictionofInternalizingProblems(IP

),TemperamentalInhibition(TI),a

ndSocialW

ariness(SW)FromDVandFathersReportedandObservedParenting

IP

TI

SW

MultR

DR2

B

p

MultR

DR2

B

p

MultR

DR2

B

p

ReportedParenting

Step2

.347

.051

ns

.303

.038

ns

.151

.014

ns

DV

.0

5

ns

.02

ns

.04

ns

FProtective

.16

ns

.14

ns

.11

ns

FSupportive

.1

2

ns

.1

2

ns

.00

ns

Step3

.348

.001

ns

.409

.075

.039

.296

.065

.079

DV

FProtective

.02

ns

.32

.012

.1

8

ns

DV

FSupportive

.04

ns

.09

ns

.3

2

.029

Modelsummary

AdjustedR2

5

.039,

F(7,

75)5

1.48,

ns

AdjustedR2

5

.089,F

(7,7

5)5

2.1

5,p,

.05

AdjustedR2

5

.001,F(7,

74)5

1.01,n

s

ObservedParenting

Step2

.320

.036

ns

.314

.049

ns

.298

.063

ns

DV

.0

5

ns

.04

ns

.06

ns

FProtective

.0

1

ns

.1

0

ns

.1

3

ns

FSupportive

.1

8

.103

.1

8

.105

.1

9

.089

Step3

.406

.063

.071

.408

.068

.056

.418

.086

.028

DV

FProtective

.00

ns

.13

ns

.31

.010

DV

FSupportive

.2

6

.022

.2

5

.028

.1

1

ns

ModelSummary

AdjustedR2

5

.085,F

(7,

73)5

2.0

6,p,

.06

AdjustedR2

5

.087,F

(7,7

3)5

2.0

9,p,

.06

AdjustedR2

5

.094,

F(7,72

)5

2.1

7,p,

.05

Note.Sexofchildandavailabilityof

teacherreportwereenteredinStep1ofallanalyses.F5

father.



12/20

The same direct effects of maternal parenting forchildrens internalizing problems noted previouslywere evident in these analyses. Only 1 of the 12 testedinteraction effects was significant. The Baseline VReported Protective Overcontrol interaction signifi-cantly predicted social wariness (b 5 .29, p , .01).Examining the significant interaction (Figure 3), and

in accord with the hypothesis, maternal protective-ness predicted more wariness at lower levels ofbaseline V (b 5 .26, p , .05) but tended to predictless wariness at higher levels of baseline V(b5.20,p , .10).

Summary. Overall, compared to baseline V, vagalsuppression appeared to be a more consistent indica-tor of child vulnerability and susceptibility to social-ization and specifically to fathers parenting. All fivesignificant associations between paternal socializa-tion measures and childrens anxious difficulties thatwere moderated by vagal suppression matched thevulnerability hypothesis. Conversely, mothers sup-

portive parenting was directly associated with inter-nalizing problems, there were only two moderatedeffects of maternal parenting, and baseline Vwas themoderator of associations between protective over-control and social wariness that matched the hypoth-esis. Finally, the patterns of predictive relations werefairly consistent across reported and observed par-enting, although few direct comparisons matched.

Do maternal and paternal parenting jointly predictchildrens anxious difficulties? The predictions of inter-nalizing problems from DVand observed parenting

included significant effectsfor mothersand fathers, asdid the predictions of social wariness from DVandreported parenting. To determine whether fathersandmothers made significant unique contributions tochildrens anxious difficulties, two additional analy-ses were conducted. (a) In a prediction of internaliz-ing problems from DVand observed parenting, the

control variables were entered on Step 1,D

V andmaternal and paternal supportive were entered onStep 2, and the DV Paternal Supportive interactionwas entered on Step 3. The analysis was significant,adjusted R2 5 .155, F(6, 72) 5 3.39, p , .01, and boththe direct effect of maternal supportive (b 5 .24,p , .05) and DV Paternal Supportive interaction(b 5 .28, p , .05) were significant. (b) A similarlystructured regression predicting social wariness fromDV and reported parenting included DV, maternalprotective, and paternal supportive on Step 2 and DV Paternal Supportive and DVMaternal Protectiveinteraction terms on Step 3. The overall model was not

significant, but Step 3 was significant, DR2 5 .079,F(2, 72) 5 3.20, p , .05. Both the paternal and thematernal interaction terms approached significance(bs 5 .25 and .21, respectively, p , .10).

Discussion

In this investigation, we obtained support for a biopsy-chosocial model of the contributions of fathers social-ization to the anxious difficulties of physiologically

-0.5

-0.375

-0.25

-0.125

0

0.125

0.25

Low Protective High Protective

Fathers' Parenting

Inhibition

45

46

47

48

49

50

51

52

53

54

55

Low Supportive High Supportive

Fathers' Parenting

InternalizingP

roblems

Less Vagal

Suppression

More Vagal

Suppression

Less Vagal

Suppression

More Vagal

Suppression

(a) (b)

Figure 1. (a) Childrens vagal suppression moderates the relation between fathers reported protective overcontrol and childrenstemperamental inhibition. (b) Childrens vagal suppression moderates the relation between fathers observed supportive parenting andchildrens internalizing problems.

56 Hastings et al.


13/20

Table4

PredictionofInternalizingProblems(IP

),TemperamentalInhibition(TI),a

ndSocialW

ariness(SW)FromDVandMothersReportedandObservedParenting

IP

TI

SW

MultR

DR2

B

p

MultR

DR2

B

p

MultR

DR2

B

p

ReportedParenting

Step2

.474

.139

.001

.210

.033

ns

.242

.023

ns

DV

.00

ns

.0

6

ns

.1

0

ns

MProtective

.17

.076

.16

ns

.05

ns

MSupportive

.3

1

.002

.0

4

ns

.1

1

ns

Step3

.486

.012

ns

.216

.003

ns

.430

.127

.001

DV

MProtective

.0

1

ns

.0

5

ns

.2

8

.005

DV

MSupportive

.1

1

ns

.0

3

ns

.18

.061

Modelsummary

Adju

stedR2

5

.182,

F(7,98)5

4.34,

p,

.001

AdjustedR2

5

.000,

F(7,

98)5

0.69

,ns

AdjustedR2

5

.126,F

(7,96

)5

3.12,p,

.01

ObservedParenting

Step2

.372

.058

.091

.163

.015

ns

.211

.009

ns

DV

.08

ns

.0

1

ns

.0

9

ns

MProtective

.11

ns

.08

ns

.0

3

ns

MSupportive

.2

2

.027

.1

0

ns

.0

1

ns

Step3

.384

.009

ns

.213

.019

ns

.285

.037

ns

DV

MProtective

.0

6

ns

.03

ns

.1

2

ns

DV

MSupportive

.0

7

ns

.14

ns

.17

.106

ModelSummary

AdjustedR2

5

.085,

F(7,96)5

2.37,p,

.05

AdjustedR2

5

.000,

F(7,

97)5

0.66

,ns

AdjustedR2

5

.014,F

(7,96)5

1.2

1,ns

Note.Sexofchildandavailabilityof

teacherreportwereenteredinStep1ofallanalyses.M5

mother.



14/20

vulnerable children. Assessing parasympathetic reg-ulation as a dynamic process within appropriatelychallenging contexts appeared to be most revealing ofits developmental role, as childrens adaptive vagalsuppression to a mild cognitive challenge was a moreconsistent moderator of paternal socialization thanwas their baseline vagal tone. Conversely, all childrenappeared to benefit from mothers supportive parent-ing, and the evidence for maternal protective over-control predicting social wariness most strongly inchildren with poor parasympathetic self-regulationwas mixed. There were more associations betweenchildrens anxious difficulties and their receipt ofsupport than their experiences of protective over-control, although for both aspects of parenting, rela-tions were predominantly in accord with the

socialization hypotheses. As well, there were moreassociations for reported than observed measures ofmothers parenting, whereas the converse tended tobe true for fathers parenting, but when mothers andfathers parenting were considered simultaneously,both mothers and fathers in two-parent familiescontributed to their childrens anxious difficulties.The results for paternal socialization were particu-larly noteworthy, as only fathers parenting predictedchildrens inhibition, and fathers supportivenesscontributed to the predictions of childrens internal-izing problems and anxious difficulties independentof maternal socialization.

The principal goal of this investigation was toexamine a possible mechanism by which childrenmanifest adaptive versus maladaptive social, emo-tional, and behavioral adjustment. Physiological vul-nerability, as indexed by less vagal suppression under

conditions requiring attention and active coping(Beauchaine, 2001; Calkins & Keane, 2004; Porges,1995), was expected to demarcate children who wererelatively lacking in internal self-regulatory resour-ces. These children were expected to be more depen-dent upon external sources of regulation throughparental socialization, such that they would bothexperience more benefit from supportive parentingbut also be more susceptible to the adverse influencesof parents psychological control. Intriguingly, sup-port for these hypothesized moderation effects wasevident only for fathers parenting.

Our results indicated that, on their own, baselinevagal tone and vagal suppression were not stronglyassociated with childrens anxious difficulties, mir-roring the literatures generally weak associationsbetween vagal tone and childrens inhibition, wari-ness, and internalizing problems (e.g., Rubin et al.,1997; Schmidt et al., 1999). The moderating functionsof vagal suppression on the relations between pater-nal socialization and adjustment were more salient,and there was also evidence of vagal tone moderatingthe relations between maternal protective overcontroland adjustment. This may shed light on the apparentinconsistency of the links between vagal tone and

childrens adjustment (e.g., El-Sheikh et al., 2001;Schmidt et al., 1999). Parasympathetic regulation doesnot function in isolation, and physiological vulnera-bility is not tantamount to biological determinism.Whether a vulnerable child develops problems, andthe natureand severity of those problems, depends onthe childs socialization experiences.

Examining low vagal suppression as a physiologi-cal risk factor thereby extended the findings of pre-vious studies that have used behavioral inhibition asa marker of dispositional vulnerability (Rubin et al.,

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3


Mothers' Parenting

Warine

ss

Less Vagal

Suppression

More Vagal

Suppression

Figure 2. Childrens vagal suppression moderates the relationbetween mothers reported protective overcontrol and childrenssocially wary behaviors with peers.

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25


Mothers' Parenting

Wariness

Lower

Baseline

Vagal Tone

Higher

Baseline

Vagal Tone

Figure 3. Childrens baseline vagal tone moderates the relationbetween mothers reported protective overcontrol and childrenssocially wary behaviors with peers.

58 Hastings et al.


15/20

1999, 2002). Children with lower vagal suppression tothe puzzle task were described as having moreinternalizing problems and being more inhibited bytheir mothers and teachers, and they displayed moresocial wariness with peers, when their fathers weremore protective and less supportive. Conversely, theadjustment of children with greater vagal suppres-sion was relatively independent of paternal socializa-tion, and there was a notable lack of robust directrelations between fathers parenting and childrensadjustment. Thus, we have provided some of the firstevidence of biopsychosocial processes involving fa-thers socialization of young children. Overprotectivefathers may perceive their less well-regulated chil-dren as incapable of autonomous activity or in need ofextra assistance, causing them to be intrusive, over-bearing, and restricting of the childrens experiences.This could suggest to children that they are incapable

or that the world is unsafe, such that they requireparental assistance (Mills & Rubin, 1998). Conversely,more supportive fathers may structure interactions ororganize situations in ways that their vulnerablechildren find manageable, such that they have oppor-tunities to practice autonomous coping and experi-ence positive results, building their self-confidenceand reducing their likelihood of developing anxiousadjustment difficulties.

It was also intriguing that there were more associ-ations of paternal parenting with childrens inhibitionand wariness than with their internalizing problems.

Whereas inhibition and wariness may be conceptual-ized as normative aspects of social behavior that allyoung children manifest to greater or lesser degrees,high levels of internalizing problems are more clearlyindicative of atypical and clinical maladjustment.It has often been argued that positive paternalsocialization is particularly important for childrensdevelopment of social competence within peer rela-tionships (Parke, 1995; Pettit, Brown, Mize, & Lindsey,1998). The current results may be seen as convergentwith this view, as physiologically vulnerable child-rens shyness and withdrawal from social engage-ment werelower if their fatherswere more supportive

and less overprotective.The only inconsistencies in the current results

concerned the role of childrens vagal regulation inthe relations between social wariness with peers andparental protective overcontrol. Vagal suppressionmoderated fathers observed protective in accordwith the vulnerability hypothesis, but fathersobserved protective predicted less wariness in chil-dren with low baseline vagal tone. In direct contrast,mothers reported protective predicted greater wari-ness both in children with low baseline vagal tone and

in children with stronger vagal suppression. Consid-ered another way, these results showed that lowbaseline vagal tone characterized children vulnerableto the protective overcontrol of mothers but not that offathers, whereas weak vagal suppression demarcatedchildren susceptible to the protective overcontrol offathers but not that of mothers. Resting and reactivemeasures of physiological regulation, therefore, maydemarcate different qualities of vulnerability. Base-line vagal tone is conceptualized as more reflectiveof a childs typical or trait-like level of arousal(Beauchaine, 2001), akin to temperament, and vagalsuppression as a more dynamic and state-like indica-tor of adaptive allocation of resources under demand-ing conditions (Porges, 1995). Despite generationalchanges in family roles and great variability acrossfamilies, it is still the case that mothers have greaterresponsibility for child care, are involved in a greater

range of activities, and share more time with theiryoung children than do fathers (Coltrane, 2000;Wood & Repetti, 2004); fathers interactions are morelimited in context, activity, and time. Thus, childrenmay experience maternal parenting as amalgama-tions of diverse kinds of contact throughout day-to-day routines and across their typical range of arousalstates. Paternal parenting may be experienced asmore in the moment or situation specific whenchildren are in moreactivated states. Correspondingly,it is plausible that childrens trait-like self-regulatorycapacity would moderate mothers socialization efforts,

whereas their state-like reactivity would moderatesocialization by fathers. Of course, this is a highlyspeculative post hoc explanation for a small set ofrelated results and only one of the several possibleinterpretations of these data. It will require replicationand rigorous evaluation in future studies to clarify themeanings of these relations.

The more consistent pattern for maternal sociali-zation was that, overall, it was similarly important forchildrenwith bothweaker and stronger self-regulatorycapacities. The strongest finding for mothers parent-ing was that internalizing problems were most severein those children who had less supportive mothers.

Mothers who described themselves as more support-ive also reported being less protective, and thesignificant first-order correlation between internaliz-ing problems and maternal protective overcontrolwas weakened when maternal supportiveness wascontrolled. Thus, it was chiefly young childrensexperiences with mothers who were appropriatelywarm, more encouraging, and more prone to the useof teaching and gentle control that were associatedwith their displays of fewer internalizing problemsmonths later, echoing the results of one recent report



16/20

that examined both supportive parenting and psy-chological control (Bayer et al., 2006).

The report by Bayer et al. (2006) is rather excep-tional, as few researchers have assessed both adaptiveor appropriate parenting and maladaptive or inap-propriate parenting within the same investigation. Inparticular, most past studies of the relations betweenparental protective overcontrol and young childrensproblems have not also consideredthe possible role ofpositive parenting. The inverse relation betweenmaternal supportive and overprotective parentingraises the possibility that the often replicated linksbetween psychological control and anxious adjust-ment (e.g., Hudson & Rapee, 2001; Mills & Rubin,1998) may be attributable to young childrens simul-taneous experiences of less supportive parenting. Theimportance of appropriate maternal warmth, nurtur-ance, and support for autonomy may be particularly

important for the developmental period targeted inthis study (Early et al., 2002). Such parenting wouldcontribute to a young childs felt security and devel-opment of an attachment relationship, promotingexploration and a childs developing competence(Bretherton, Golby, & Cho, 1997). Lacking the benefitsconferred by such positive maternal socializationexperiences may leave all toddlers and preschoolersvulnerable to the kinds of anxious difficulties thatcharacterize early emerging internalizing problems(Zahn-Waxler et al., 2000). It is also possible that theadverse effects of maternal psychological control

become more pronounced or directly associated withadjustmentbeyond the preschool years (Barber, 2002).This investigation documented a number of addi-

tional findings worthy of attention. To begin, weprovided moderate support for the utility and vali-dity of the CRPR as a measure of socialization byshowing that mothers reported protective overcon-trol and fathers reported supportive parenting weresignificantly associated with direct observations ofcorresponding parenting behavior during interac-tions with children. Although low in magnitude, thecorrespondences between observed and reportedparenting were comparable or better than those

reported in other recent studies (e.g., Bayer et al.,2006; Janssens et al., 2005). The similarity in therelations of both observed and reported parentingwith childrens anxious difficulties also providedmultimethod evidence of convergent validity forthese socialization influences.

In addition, we demonstrated correspondencebetween preschoolers wary behaviors with familiarpeers in the natural settings of day cares and pre-schools and with unfamiliar peers in the novel settingof a laboratory playroom. To our knowledge, this is

the first direct demonstration of the ecological vali-dity of the unfamiliar peer procedure that has beenwidely used to assess inhibition and reticence (e.g.,Kochanska & Radke-Yarrow, 1992; Rubin et al., 1997,2002). Although the correlation across contexts wassignificant, it was of small magnitude, suggesting thatthere were a number of children with discordantdisplays of wariness across social contexts. Attentionto the factors contributing to behavioral rigidity orflexibility appears warranted.

It was also intriguing to note that reported childinhibition was associated with both observed warinessand reported internalizing problems, although the lattertwo were not significantly correlated. This might sug-gestthattemperamentalinhibition is a common elementof both normative shy behaviors and clinical anxietyproblems (Prior et al., 2000). However, direct briefobservations of childrens social behaviors with peers

may not be effective means of identifying which chil-dren are likely to have serious and persistent problems.

Finally, although the rather low correspondencebetween mothers and teachers reports of pre-schoolers internalizing problems is in accord withpast research (Hayet al., 1999), it suggests that parentsare not the most accurate reporters of their youngchildrens risk for maladjustment within early edu-cational settings. Most mothers have limited oppor-tunity to observe their preschool-age children inlarge-group social settings with peers, which mayleave them somewhat unaware of their childrens

levels of social comfort or difficulties at day care orpreschool. Still, this has implications for the identifi-cation of risk for school maladjustment and theeffective targeting of children or families who maybenefit from early assistance.

Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research

Despite evidence for convergent and predictivevalidity, the low internal consistency of the self-reportmeasures of parenting may have limited the ability toshow their association with childrens anxious diffi-culties. Conversely, mothers reports of their child-

rens functioning were components of the scores forinhibition and internalizing problems, such that com-mon source variance may have contributed to theassociations between these variables and mothersreported parenting. Given the correlational design,causality cannot be inferred and the presumed direc-tion of effects of parental socialization cannot be takenfor granted; despite being measured later in time,childrens anxious difficulties may have influencedparents socialization techniques. Furthermore, giventhe contemporaneous measurement of parental

60 Hastings et al.


17/20

socialization and childrens physiology, the role ofparasympathetic regulation as a moderator is hypo-thetical only; it would have been just as plausible tosuggest that socialization moderated the relationsbetween vagal tone or vagal suppression and child-rens anxious difficulties. One could also questionwhether the puzzle task was an appropriate challengefor assessing dynamic vagal change as it pertains tosocial and emotional functioning. Although pastresearch has shown that young childrens vagalchange to a puzzle task is positively correlated withvagal change to emotionally demanding procedures(Calkins & Keane, 2004), it is still plausible that thelatter would be uniquely linked to problems.

In response to these issues, researchers shouldexpand upon the range of contextual modifiers ofself-regulatory processes that have been considered.Examining childrens dynamic physiological pro-

cesses under such naturalistic social conditions aspeer play, or in response to emotionally challengingtasks such as mood induction procedures, might yieldstronger associations with their social and emotionalfunctioning. Similarly, improving and refining instru-ments to measure salient aspects of parental sociali-zation will continue to be important. Repeatedassessment of self-regulation, parenting, and adjust-ment over a longer developmental time course wouldhelp to disentangle direction-of-effect issues andcould reveal whether the identified relations haveenduring impacts on childrens well-being.

Despite recognizing the limits of the current studyand the need for further research, this investigationhas provided novel and important information on thecontributions of childrens physiological functioningand parental socialization to childrens internalizingproblems and anxious adjustment. This work empha-sizes the connections in childrens experiences acrosshome, school, and peer contexts, the varying needs ofindividual children, and the contributions made byboth mothers and fathers to their childrens well-being. Building on these insights will be essential forimproving the identification of children who may beat risk for maladjustment and developing more

effective interventions to support childrens develop-ment of social comfort and competence.

References

Achenbach, T. M., & Rescorla, L. A. (2000). Manual for theASEBA preschool forms and profiles. Burlington: Univer-sity of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.

Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testingand interpreting interactions. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Barber, B. K. (2002). Intrusive parenting: How psychologicalcontrol affects children and adolescents. Washington, DC:American Psychological Association.

Barber, B. K., Bean, R. L., & Erickson, L. D. (2002).Expanding the study and understanding of psycholog-ical control. In B. K. Barber (Ed.), Intrusive parenting: How

psychological control affects children and adolescents (pp.263 289). Washington, DC: American PsychologicalAssociation.

Barber, B. K., & Harmon, E. L. (2002). Violating the self:Parental psychological control of children and adoles-cents. In B. K. Barber (Ed.), Intrusive parenting: How

psychological control affects children and adolescents (pp.15 52). Washington, DC: American Psychological Asso-ciation.

Baumrind, D., & Black, A. E. (1967). Socialization practicesassociated with dimensions of competence in preschool

boys and girls. Child Development, 38, 291 327.Bayer, J. K., Sanson, A. V., & Hemphill, S. A. (2006). Parent

influences on early childhood internalizing difficulties.Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 27, 542559.

Beauchaine, T. P. (2001). Vagal tone, development, andGrays motivation theory: Toward an integrated modelof autonomic nervous system functioning in psychopa-thology. Development and Psychopathology, 12, 183 214.

Blair, C. (2003). Behavioral inhibition and behavioralactivation in young children: Relations with self-regulationand adaptation to preschool in children attending HeadStart. Developmental Psychobiology, 42, 301 311.

Block, J. (1981). The Child-Rearing Practices Report (CRPR):A set of Q items for the description of parental socializationattitudes and values. Berkeley: University of California,Institute of Human Development.

Bretherton, I., Golby, B., & Cho, E. (1997). Attachment andthe transmission of values. In J. E. Grusec & L. Kuczynski(Eds.), Parenting and childrens internalization of values: Ahandbook of contemporary theory (pp. 103 134). New York:Wiley.

Calkins, S. D. (1997). Cardiac vagal tone indices of tem-peramental reactivity and behavioral regulation in youngchildren. Developmental Psychobiology, 31, 125 135.

Calkins, S. D., & Dedmon, S. E. (2000). Physiological andbehavioral regulation in two-year-old children withaggressive/destructive behavior problems. Journal of

Abnormal Child Psychology, 28, 103118.Calkins, S. D., & Fox, N. A. (1992). The relations among

infant temperament, security of attachment, and behav-

ioral inhibition at 24 months. Child Development, 63,1456 1472.

Calkins, S. D., & Keane, S. P. (2004). Cardiac vagalregulation across the preschool period: Stability, conti-nuity, and implications for childhood adjustment. Devel-opmental Psychobiology, 45, 101112.

Chen, X., Hastings, P. D., Rubin, K. H., Chen, H., Cen, G., &Stewart, S. L. (1998). Child rearing practices and be-havioral inhibition in Chinese and Canadian toddlers:A cross-cultural study. Developmental Psychology, 34,677686.



18/20

Coltrane, S. (2000). Research on household labor: Modelingand measuring the social embeddedness of routinefamily work. Journal of Marriage and Family, 62, 12081233.

Coplan, R. J. (2000). Assessing nonsocial play in earlychildhood: Conceptual and methodological approaches.

In K. Gitlin-Weiner, A. Sandgrund, & C. Schaefer (Eds.),Play diagnosis and assessment (2nd ed., pp. 563 598).New York: Wiley.

Coplan, R. J., Barber, A. M., & Lagace-Seguin, D. G. (1999).The role of child temperament as a predictor of earlyliteracy and numeracy skills in preschoolers. Early Child-hood Research Quarterly, 14, 537553.

Coplan, R. J., Rubin, K. H., Fox, N. A., Calkins, S. D., &Stewart, S. L. (1994). Being alone, playing alone, andacting alone: Distinguishing among reticence and pas-sive and active solitude in young children. Child Devel-opment, 65, 129 137.

Crockenberg, S. C., & Leerkes, E. M. (2006). Infant andmaternal behavior moderate reactivity to novelty topredict anxious behavior at 2.5 years. Development andPsychopathology, 18, 17 34.

Early, D. M., Rimm-Kaufman, S. E., Cox, M. J., Saluja, G.,Pianta, R. C., Bradley, R. H., et al. (2002). Maternalsensitivity and child wariness in the transition to kin-dergarten. Parenting: Science and Practice, 2, 355 377.

El-Sheikh, M. (2001). Parental drinking problems andchildrens adjustment: Vagal regulation and emotionalreactivity as pathways and moderators of risk. Journal of

Abnormal Psychology, 110, 499 515.El-Sheikh, M., & Harger, J. (2001). Appraisals of marital

conflict and childrens adjustment, health, and physio-logical reactivity. Developmental Psychology, 37, 875885.

El-Sheikh, M., Harger, J., & Whitson, S. (2001). Exposure tointerpersonal conflict and childrens adjustment andphysical health: The moderating role of vagal tone. ChildDevelopment, 72, 1617 1636.

El-Sheikh, M., & Whitson, S. (2006). Longitudinal relationsbetween marital conflict and child adjustment: Vagalregulation as a protective factor. Journal of Family Psy-chology, 20, 30 39.

Fox, N. A., & Field, T. M. (1989). Individual differences inpreschool entry behavior. Journal of Applied Developmen-tal Psychology, 10, 527540.

Garcia Coll, C., Kagan, J., & Reznick, J. S. (1984). Behavi-oral inhibition in young children. Child Development, 55,1005 1019.

Gerlach, A. L., Wilhelm, F. H., & Roth, W. T. (2003). Em-barrassment and social phobia: The role of parasympa-thetic activation. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 17, 197 210.

Hastings, P. D., & Rubin, K. H. (1999). Predicting mothersbeliefs about preschool-aged childrens social behavior:Evidence for maternal attitude moderating child effects.Child Development, 70, 722741.

Hastings, P. D., Zahn-Waxler, C., Robinson, J., Usher, B., &Bridges, D. (2000). The development of concern forothers in children with behavior problems. Developmen-tal Psychology, 36, 531546.

Hay, D. F., Pawlby, S., Sharp, D., Schmucker, G., Mills, A.,Allen, H., et al. (1999). Parents judgements about youngchildrens problems: Why mothers and fathers mightdisagree yet still predict later outcomes. Journal of ChildPsychology and Psychiatry, 8, 1249 1258.

Hirshfeld-Becker, D. R., & Biederman, J. (2002). Rationale

and principles for early intervention with young chil-dren at risk for anxiety disorders. Clinical Child andFamily Psychology Review, 5, 161 172.

Hudson, J. L., & Rapee, R. M. (2001). Parent-child inter-actions and anxiety disorders: An observational study.Behavior Research and Therapy, 39, 1411 1427.

Janssens, J. M. A. M., De Bruyn, E. E. J., Manders, W. A., &Scholte, R. H. J. (2005). The multitrait-multimethodapproach in family assessment. European Journal ofPsychological Assessment, 21, 232239.

Kagan, J. (1997). Temperament and the reactions to unfa-miliarity. Child Development, 68, 139 143.

Kagan, J., & Snidman, N. (1999). Early childhood predic-tors of adult anxiety disorders. Biological Psychiatry, 46,1536 1541.

Katz, L. F., & Gottman, J. M. (1995). Vagal tone protectschildren from marital conflict. Development and Psycho-

pathology, 7, 83 92.Katz, L. F., & Gottman, J. M. (1997). Buffering children

from marital conflict and dissolution. Journal of ClinicalChild Psychology, 26, 157 171.

Kennedy, A. E., Rubin, K. H., Hastings, P. D., & Maisel, B.(2004). Longitudinal relations between child vagal toneand parenting behavior: 2 to 4 years. DevelopmentalPsychobiology, 45, 10 21.

Kenny, M. E., & Gallagher, L. A. (2002). Instrumental andsocial/relational correlates of perceived maternal and

paternal attachment in adolescence. Journal of Adoles-cence, 25, 203 219.

Kochanska, G., Kuczynski, L., & Radke-Yarrow, M. (1989).Correspondence between mothers self-reported andobserved child-rearing practices. Child Development, 60,5663.

Kochanska, G., & Radke-Yarrow, M. (1992). Early child-hood inhibition and the dynamics of the childs inter-actions with an unfamiliar peer at age five. ChildDevelopment, 63, 325 335.

Krantz, D. S., Kop, W. J., Gabbay, F. H., Rozanski, A.,Barnard, M., Klein, J., et al. (1996). Circadian variationof ambulatory myocardial ischemia. Circulation, 93, 1364 1371.

La Freniere, P. J., & Dumas, J. E. (1995). Manual for the socialcompetence and behavior evaluation preschool edition. LosAngeles: Western Psychological Services.

Leary, A., & Katz, L. F. (2004). Coparenting, family-levelprocesses, and peer outcomes: The moderating role ofvagal tone. Development and Psychopathology, 16, 593 608.

Llabre, M. M., Spitzer, S. B., Saab, P. G., Ironson, G. H., &Schneiderman, N. (1991). The reliability and specificityof delta versus residualized change as measures ofcardiovascular reactivity to behavioral challenges. Psy-chophysiology, 28, 701711.

62 Hastings et al.


19/20

Majcher, D., & Pollack, M. H. (1996). Childhood anxietydisorders. In L. T. Hechtman (Ed.), Do they grow out of it?Long-term outcomes of childhood disorders (pp. 139 169).Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.

Marshall, P. J., & Stevenson-Hinde, J. (1998). Behavioralinhibition, heart period, and respiratory sinus arrhyth-

mia in young children. Developmental Psychobiology, 33,283292.

Miller, S. A. (1998). Research methods in developmentalpsychology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Mills, R. S. L., & Rubin, K. H. (1998). Are behavioural andpsychological control both differentially associated withchildhood aggression and social withdrawal? Canadian

Journal of Behavioural Science, 30, 132 136.Nazzaro, P., Seccia, T., Vulpis, V., Schirosi, G., Serio, G.,

Battistia, L., et al. (2005). Measures of total stress-induced blood pressure responses are associated withvascular damage. American Journal of Hypertension, 18,1226 1232.

Nelson, D. A., & Crick, N. R. (2002). Parental psychologicalcontrol: Implications for childhood physical and rela-tional aggression. In B. K. Barber (Ed.), Intrusive parent-in

Documents

Parental Socialization, Vagal Regulation, and PreschoolersÔÇÖ Anxious