Sensory Processing Sensitivity and the Subjective Experience of Parenting: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Objective To explore the relationship between sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) and parental subjective experience (PSE). Background SPS is a temperament trait characterized by greater sensitivity to environmental and social stimuli; no previous research has examined the relation of SPS to PSE (e.g., how much parents feel parenting is difficult or feel connected to their child). Method In the first of two online studies, mothers were unaware of the study's relation to SPS (N = 92). In the second, mothers (n = 802) and fathers (n = 65) were recruited through an SPS‐related website. SPS was assessed by the short version of the Highly Sensitive Person Scale; PSE by 27 items with three components—Parenting Difficulties, Good Coparenting Relationship, and Attunement to Child. Results Controlling or not for external stressors, negative affectivity, children's age, and socioeconomic status, high‐SPS mothers in both studies scored meaningfully higher on Parenting Difficulties and Attunement to Child; high‐SPS fathers scored higher on Attunement to Child. SPS had little association with Coparenting Relationship. Conclusion Parents high in SPS report more attunement with child, although mothers found parenting more difficult. Implications This information could aid family researchers, particularly by considering the role of adult temperament. It also suggests that interventions focused on high‐SPS parents could improve their parenting experience and hence perhaps enhance child development. Thus, this research and what may follow from it could advance both theory and practice.

How do highly sensitive persons parent their adolescent children? The role of sensory processing sensitivity in parenting practices

“…These results, compatible with prior research, showed that highly sensitive individuals are prone to more negative emotional states under challenging conditions (e.g., Aron et al, 2005). More specifically, Aron et al (2019) found that mothers high in SPS experienced parenting as more difficult than mothers low in SPS. That may also be the case in the current study, where the vast majority of the participants were mothers.…”

“…These behaviors also might be experienced as inconsistent parenting. Aron et al (2019) explored the relationship between SPS and parental subjective experience and found that although mothers high in SPS experienced parenting as more difficult, parents (both fathers and mothers) high in SPS were more in attunement with their child (i.e., child centeredness).…”

“…Parents high in SPS have been found to be more in attunement with their child (Aron et al, 2019). Yet individuals high in SPS are likely to experience distress and neuroticism (Aron & Aron, 1997; Meredith et al, 2016), which has been found to be associated with intrusiveness, harsh discipline, and less responsiveness (Coplan et al, 2009; Prinzie et al, 2009).…”

Fathering and children's relational aggression: Moderating effects of children's temperament and gender

“…So, physiological self‐regulation and negative emotional reactivity seem to be susceptibility markers during the early sensitive period, but they are not later during development, when it would be other temperamental traits that capture this susceptibility. Whereas in early adolescence, sensory processing sensitivity is a temperament trait that has been widely studied as a marker of susceptibility (Aron et al, 2019), our findings point to low SH as a possible candidate for this at the beginning of middle childhood.…”

“…So, physiological self-regulation and negative emotional reactivity seem to be susceptibility markers during the early sensitive period, but they are not later during development, when it would be other temperamental traits that capture this susceptibility. Whereas in early adolescence, sensory processing sensitivity is a temperament trait that has been widely studied as a marker of susceptibility(Aron et al, 2019), our findings point to low SH as a possible candidate for this at the beginning of middle childhood.4.1 | Strengths, limitations, and future studiesOur study contributes to the scarce body of knowledge regarding the effects of fathering on RA in children with different temperament.First, the study focused on the role of fathers in childrearing; most parenting studies do not include fathers nor do they control for fathers' effects on children's outcomes. Moreover, when fathers are included, measures of fathering are often derived from assessments made by mothers.…”