Coregulation Between Parents and Elementary School-Aged Children in Response to Challenge and in Association With Child Outcomes: A Systematic Review

Parent-child coregulation, the active dyadic adaptation of biological states, behaviors, and emotions, is an important developmental process. Especially in challenging situations, children need coregulatory support from their parents, which supports the formation of their self-regulation skills. While research has established that coregulation occurs in various contexts across the developmental period, less is known about what constitutes coregulation in terms of child adjustment and the contextual factors that affect coregulation. This systematic review examined what constitutes parent-child coregulation in response to an experimentally induced challenge and in association with child socioemotional outcomes. Systematic searches were conducted in Web of Science, APA PsycInfo, and PubMed, adhering to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Fourteen full-text, peer-reviewed, empirical journal articles that were available in English were included. Children were between the ages of 3 and 12 (Mage = 5.37 years, 44%-100% male, 6.3%-90% White). Findings indicate that behavioral and emotional coregulation in response to challenge is positively associated with better child self-regulation. Coregulation associated with positive child outcomes seems to be characterized by high flexibility and dyadic synchrony in mutually responsive and engaged states. Findings regarding physiological coregulation suggest that high levels of physiological synchrony can be maladaptive for child outcomes in the presence of risk (e.g., poverty, maltreatment). In addition, this review highlighted the current ambiguity surrounding the diverse terminologies and concepts used to measure coregulation. The findings of this review reveal a significant link between parent-child coregulation and child socioemotional outcomes, while supporting the idea that contextual factors need to be considered to understand its significance.