Parent–child coregulation as a dynamic system: a commentary on Wass et al. (2024)

Abstract

In this commentary, I argue that including and operationalizing allostatic processes will become increasingly important in future research on parent–child biobehavioral coregulation. In particular, the conceptualization and modeling of dyadic oscillatory rhythms that align in expected ways with the child's developmental stage and that distinguish typical and atypical development will be useful in future work. Despite the inherent asymmetry characteristic of parent–child relationships, we should not forget to consider the child's effects on the parent within and across time, the additional environmental demands upon parents that shape parent–child coregulation, and variations in parent–child asymmetry by parental risk factors. Studying risk factors that are dyadic in nature, such as child maltreatment, may be particularly informative in gaining a deeper understanding of how parent–child coregulation interfaces with developmental psychopathology. To best model parent–child coregulation as a dynamic system, it will be critical to employ more nonlinear analytic models and better represent the multiple hierarchical domains of coregulation and their interactions, including affect, cognition, behavior, and biology. Finally, in future research, a deeper application of existing dyadic and dynamic theories, as well as the generation of new dyadic developmental theories, will aid us in obtaining a stronger understanding of the developmental function and intervention implications of parent–child biobehavioral coregulation.