For healthy child development , it’s crucial children can form secure attachment bonds with their parents. Decades of research identified one key ingredient for this process: the co-ordination of parents’ and children’s brains and behaviour during social interactions. Humans connect with each other by synchronising in many ways.
Called bio-behavioural synchrony , this involves imitation of gestures and the alignment of heartbeats and hormone secretion (like cortisol and oxytocin). Even brains can synchronise - with brain activity decreasing and increasing in the same areas at roughly the same time when we spend time with others. My colleagues and I carried out research which showed brain-to-brain synchrony between parent and child can be helpful for children’s attachment, and tends to rise when a parent and child play, talk or solve problems together.
However, we started wondering whether more synchrony is always better. Our recent study, published in Developmental Science , suggests it can sometimes be a sign of relationship difficulties. Is current parenting advice up to date? A lot of current parenting advice recommends parents be constantly “in sync” with their kids.
It tells parents to be physically close and attuned to their children and anticipate and immediately respond to their every need. The advice is building upon attachment theory and research which shows higher parental sensitivity and reflective functioning are beneficial for child development and s.