Effects of Attachment-Based Intervention on Low-Income Latinx Infants' and Mothers' Cardiac Vagal Regulation

根据生物嵌入模型，早期环境通过压力调节进入“皮肤下”， 影响身体健康。与这一模式相一致，依恋研究将支持性依恋与健康联系起来 结果，但潜在的心理生理机制还没有得到很好的理解。本R 03提案的重点是 心脏迷走神经张力，一个重要的应激调节指标，与早期死亡有关， 身体健康特别是，我们将检查婴儿和母亲在休息时的呼吸性窦性心律失常（RSA）， 对轻微压力的反应。我们假设，基于依恋的干预措施，促进敏感的 婴儿和母亲的压力调节以及婴儿和母亲的压力调节有可能支持良好的身体健康。的 现有文献表明，母亲的敏感性可能会影响婴儿RSA，母亲RSA和RSA 同步，但因果关系尚未得到检验。这些影响需要严格的调查，以阐明 有效调节压力的发展途径。结果将反过来为改进和评价提供信息， 基于依恋的干预措施及其对儿童健康的影响。因此，依恋的实验研究- 有必要进行基于基础的干预，以测试是否以及如何因果地影响发展 对RSA的人来说，这种干预措施最有效。拟议的研究将扩展PI柏林的 最近完成的随机对照试验测试的附件和生物行为追赶（ABC）计划与低收入， 拉丁裔母亲及其婴儿（N = 181）。迄今为止的RCT结果表明对母体敏感性有积极影响 以及婴儿行为和皮质醇调节。在补充数据收集中，心电图记录， 从婴儿和母亲中收集了一系列轻度的RSA评分， 压力源需要补充资金来（a）清理、编辑和计算RSA值;以及（B）进行数据处理 分析.样本反映了一个代表性不足和潜在的高信息量的人口中进行研究 社会文化背景可能会在压力调节中发挥特别重要的作用， 在拉丁裔家庭压力调节中的重要作用。因此，母亲敏感性增加可能更多 重要的-和依恋为基础的干预更有效-为拉丁裔家庭的特点是高风险 （低资源）社会文化背景。我们将测试ABC干预对婴儿RSA、母亲RSA和 婴儿-母亲RSA同步性（目的1）。我们还将测试社会文化背景的两个方面（母亲 文化适应和邻里社会凝聚力）作为干预效果的调节因素（目标2）。通过利用 现有的RCT涉及代表性不足的人群，潜在影响将很高：这项研究将打破新的 通过产生效应量和统计功效估计， 本研究的下一阶段：对基于依恋的潜在性进行更全面的（R 01）研究 在低收入的拉丁裔家庭中，干预改善儿童的健康结果。

According to the biological embedding model, early environments get “under the skin” via stress regulation to influence physical health. Consistent with this model, attachment research links supportive caregiving to health outcomes, but underlying psychophysiological mechanisms are not well understood. This R03 proposal focuses on cardiac vagal tone, an important index of stress regulation that has been associated with early caregiving and physical health. In particular, we will examine infants' and mothers' respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) at rest and in response to mild stressors. We hypothesize that attachment-based interventions that promote sensitive caregiving and infants' and mothers' stress regulation have the potential to support good physical health. The extant literature suggests that mothers' sensitive caregiving may influence infant RSA, maternal RSA, and RSA synchrony, but causal effects have not been tested. These effects require rigorous investigation to elucidate the developmental pathways to effective stress regulation. Results will in turn inform improvement and evaluation of attachment-based interventions and their effects on child health. Thus, experimental studies of attachment- based interventions are necessary to test whether and how caregiving causally affects the development of RSA, and for whom such interventions are most effective. The proposed study will extend PI Berlin's recently completed RCT testing the Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC) program with low-income, Latinx mothers and their infants (N = 181). RCT findings to date illustrate positive effects on maternal sensitivity and infant behavioral and cortisol regulation. In a supplemental data collection, electrocardiographic recordings, from which RSA scores can be constructed, were collected from both infants and mothers during a series of mild stressors. Supplemental funding is required to (a) clean, edit, and calculate RSA values; and (b) conduct data analysis. The sample reflects an underrepresented and potentially highly informative population in which to study the associations among caregiving and stress regulation, as sociocultural context may play an especially important role in stress regulation for Latinx families. Therefore, increased maternal sensitivity may be more important – and attachment-based intervention more effective - for Latinx families characterized by higher-risk (lower-resourced) sociocultural contexts. We will test ABC intervention effects on infant RSA, maternal RSA, and infant-mother RSA synchrony (Aim 1). We will also test two aspects of sociocultural context (maternal acculturation and neighborhood social cohesion) as moderators of intervention effects (Aim 2). By leveraging an existing RCT involving an underrepresented population potential impact will be high: This study will break new ground and will create, through the generation of effect sizes and statistical power estimations, a foundation for the next phase of this research: a more comprehensive (R01) study of the potential of attachment-based intervention to improve children's health outcomes in low-income Latinx families.