Vagal Suppression Buffers Against the Negative Effects of Psychological Inflexibility on Parenting Behaviors in Combat Deployed Fathers

Objective: Vagal suppression is a parasympathetic physiological indicator of emotion regulation and social engagement behaviors, often measured via heart rate variability. Experiential avoidance reflects psychological inflexibility or poor emotion regulation. We tested the interaction effects of parental vagal suppression and experiential avoidance on observed parenting behaviors among combat deployed fathers. Design. We analyzed data from 92 male National Guard/Reserve members who had returned from a deployment to Iraq and/or Afghanistan since 2001. They were mostly European American, in their 30s, middle-class, and married. All fathers participated in home-based assessments with their spouses (if married) and a target child aged 4–13 years. Fathers’ vagal suppression was measured as the decrease in cardiac vagal tone (i.e., high frequency heart rate variability) from a neutral reading task to a father-child conflict resolution task. Experiential avoidance was self-reported. Parenting behaviors were observed during family interaction tasks and coded into positive engagement and withdrawal avoidance using a macro-level coding system. Results. Multiple regression analysis showed no main effects of vagal suppression on observed parenting, but interaction effects of experiential avoidance by vagal suppression on observed parenting. Specifically, among fathers with higher vagal suppression, we found no relations between experiential avoidance and observed parenting; among fathers with lower vagal suppression, we found an inverse association between experiential avoidance and positive engagement as well as a positive association between experiential avoidance and withdrawal avoidance. Conclusions. The effect of psychological inflexibility on military fathers’ parenting behaviors was moderated by vagal suppression. The findings have implications for the linkage between emotion regulation and parenting in military fathers.研究目标：迷走神经抑制（Vagal suppression）是情绪调节与社会参与行为的副交感生理指标，通常通过心率变异性（heart rate variability）进行测评。经验回避（Experiential avoidance）反映心理僵化或情绪调节能力不足。本研究旨在检验作战部署归来的父亲群体中，父亲的迷走神经抑制与经验回避对观察性养育行为的交互效应。 研究设计：我们分析了92名自2001年起从伊拉克及/或阿富汗作战部署任务返回的国民警卫队/预备役（National Guard/Reserve）男性成员的相关数据。该样本以欧洲裔美国人为主体，年龄多集中于30多岁，属于中产阶级且均已婚。所有受试父亲均与配偶（已婚者）及4~13岁的目标子女完成了居家评估。父亲的迷走神经抑制水平通过中性阅读任务与父子冲突解决任务间的心脏迷走神经张力（cardiac vagal tone，即高频心率变异性（high frequency heart rate variability））下降幅度进行测算。经验回避采用自我报告法采集数据。养育行为通过家庭互动任务进行现场观察，并依托宏观编码系统划分为积极参与与退缩回避两个维度。 研究结果：多元回归分析（multiple regression analysis）结果显示，迷走神经抑制对观察性养育行为不存在主效应，但经验回避与迷走神经抑制对观察性养育行为存在显著交互效应。具体而言，在迷走神经抑制水平较高的父亲群体中，经验回避与观察性养育行为未呈现显著关联；而在迷走神经抑制水平较低的父亲群体中，经验回避与积极参与行为呈负相关关系，与退缩回避行为呈正相关关系。 研究结论：心理僵化对军人父亲养育行为的影响受迷走神经抑制的调节作用。本研究结果可为军人父亲的情绪调节与养育行为之间的关联机制提供理论参考与实践启示。