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The impact of allostatic load on maternal sympathovagal functioning in stressful child contexts: Implications for problematic parenting

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 July 2011

Melissa L. Sturge-Apple ,
Michael A. Skibo ,
Fred A. Rogosch ,
Zeljko Ignjatovic  and
Wendi Heinzelman
Melissa L. Sturge-Apple*
Affiliation:
University of Rochester
Michael A. Skibo
Affiliation:
University of Rochester
Fred A. Rogosch
Affiliation:
Mt. Hope Family Center, University of Rochester
Zeljko Ignjatovic
Affiliation:
University of Rochester
Wendi Heinzelman
Affiliation:
University of Rochester
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Melissa Sturge-Apple, Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, 14627; E-mail: [email protected].
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Abstract

The present study applies an allostatic load framework to an examination of the relationship between maternal psychosocial risk factors and maladaptive parenting behaviors. Specifically, the implications of low socioeconomic status and maternal depressive symptoms for maternal sympathovagal functioning during young children's distress were examined, as well as whether that functioning was, in turn, associated with maternal insensitivity, hostility, intrusiveness, and disengagement during mother–child dyadic interaction. Consistent with an allostatic framework, three patterns of sympathovagal functioning were expected to emerge: normative arousal, hyperarousal, and hypoarousal profiles. Furthermore, meaningful associations between maternal psychosocial risk factors, maladaptive parenting behaviors, and the three profiles of sympathovagal functioning were anticipated. Participants included 153 mother–toddler dyads recruited proportionately from lower and middle socioeconomic status backgrounds. Mothers’ sympathovagal response to their child's distress was assessed during the Strange Situation paradigm, and mothers’ parenting behavior was assessed during a dyadic free-play interaction. As hypothesized, normative arousal, hyperarousal, and hypoarousal profiles of maternal sympathovagal functioning were identified. Maternal depressive symptomatology predicted the hyperarousal profile, whereas socioeconomic adversity predicted hypoarousal. Moreover, allostatic load profiles were differentially associated with problematic parenting behaviors. These findings underscore the role of physiological dysregulation as a mechanism in the relationship between proximal risk factors and actual maladaptive parenting behaviors.

Type
Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 23 , Issue 3: Allostatic Load: Part 1 , August 2011 , pp. 831 - 844
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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