Parenting sense of competence and dynamic physiological self-regulation before and during parent-child conflict
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Parenting sense of competence encompasses both parenting self-efficacy, or parent’s appraisal of their parenting skills, and parenting satisfaction, the affective feelings of gratification from parenting. Parents’ sense of competence may be linked to psychophysiological self-regulation during challenges, which for parents of adolescents with emotion dysregulation difficulties may begin during the anticipation of conflict. 162 clinically-referred, parent-adolescent dyads (adolescents: Mage = 12.59, SD = .59, range 10-14 yrs, 47% girls, 41% African American, 60% minoritized race/ethnicity; caregivers: Mage = 40.35, SD = 7.23, 94% female, 40% African American, 48% minoritized race/ethnicity) completed an ecologically valid, conflict protocol, including a 2-minute conflict anticipation and 8-minute conflict discussion, during which their respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was recorded. Results of dynamic growth curve models indicated that parenting satisfaction, but not self-efficacy, was associated with parents’ RSA trajectories, = .33, SE = .12, p = .005, and this effect was robust to respiration adjustment and relevant behavioral confounds. Lower satisfaction was associated with greater anticipatory RSA withdrawal followed by sharp RSA augmentation at conflict onset; higher parenting satisfaction was associated with a more flexible RSA trajectory, beginning with anticipatory augmentation followed by modest, theoretically appropriate withdrawal at conflict onset. Parents’ self-regulation before and during conflict may be especially relevant to the experience of parenting.
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W7204530569
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