Vagal suppression moderates the relationship between psychological flexibility and observed parenting in combat deployed fathers

Abstract

Vagal flexibility is a parasympathetic physiological indicator of emotion regulation and social engagement behaviors, often measured via heart rate variability (HRV). Experiential avoidance reflects psychological inflexibility or emotion dysregulation. We tested the influences of parental vagal flexibility and experiential avoidance on observed emotion-related parenting behaviors among combat deployed fathers. We analyzed data from 92 male National Guard/Reserve members who had been deployed to Iraq and/or Afghanistan since 2001 and recently returned. They were mostly White, in their 30s, middle-class, and married. All fathers participated in home-based assessments with their spouses (if married) and a target child aged between 4-13 years. Emotion-related parenting behaviors were observed during family interaction tasks using a macro-level coding system and quantified into four categories: positive engagement, withdrawal avoidance, reactivity coercion, and distress avoidance. Fathers’ vagal flexibility was measured as the change in cardiac vagal tone (i.e., high frequency HRV) from a neutral reading task to a father-child conflict resolution task. Experiential avoidance was self-reported. Results of multiple regression analysis showed no significant main effects of vagal flexibility on any observed parenting measures. There were significant moderation effects of experiential avoidance by vagal flexibility: among fathers with poorer vagal flexibility, a stronger relationship was found between experiential avoidance and emotion-related parenting behaviors (positive engagement and withdrawal avoidance), whereas among fathers with higher vagal flexibility, no such relationship was shown. These findings have implications for the linkage between emotion regulation and parenting in military fathers.