Father-Infant Synchrony and Infant Vagal Tone as an Index of Emotion
Regulation: Father-Infant Shared Times in Switzerland as Moderators
Abstract
Research has shown that the quality of mother-infant interactions, such
as the way the mother and the infant are in synchrony during
interactions, is associated with infants’ vagal tone, a physiological
indicator of emotion regulation. However, little is known about the
association between the infant’s vagal tone and the quality of
father-infant interactions. The existing literature suggests that the
greater quantity of time a father spends with the infant, either alone
(dyadic time) or with others (social time) may strengthen the
association between the quality of father-infant interactions and infant
emotion regulation. In this study, we aimed to investigate the
association between father-infant synchrony and infants’ vagal tone
during interactions and whether dyadic time and social time have a
moderating role. Fathers (N = 77) and 3-month-old infants were observed
interacting and the infants’ electrocardiogram was recorded to compute
indices of vagal tone. Fathers reported dyadic and social time in
questionnaires. Results showed that father-infant synchrony has no
direct associations with infants’ vagal tone. Moderation analyses
revealed that more social time increases the association between
synchrony and vagal tone. This study suggests that the interactive
processes during shared family time may influence dyadic father-infant
interactions and the infant’s vagal regulation.