Aspects of the social environment have been linked to the physiological mechanisms underlying behavioral self-regulation. Play, a behavior connected to regulatory behaviors such as delay of gratification and regulation of emotions, might be an aspect of social environments that is supportive of healthy physiological adaptation. We examined whether opportunities for social free play with peers, as reported by mothers, would predict children's autonomic regulation (via respiratory sinus arrhythmia; RSA) in a sample of 78 five-year-old children. As a proxy for play experience generally, frequency of social free play in the past week predicted higher levels of RSA functioning across both baseline and stress conditions, but did not account for physiological rate of change between conditions. Thus, frequent social free play opportunities might be a general positive influence on children's autonomic regulation by supporting increased parasympathetic activation but not a significant influence on children's response to stress in the moment. Attention to the role of play in autonomic regulation is critical, as children's free play opportunities might be declining.

中文翻译：

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自由玩耍和幼儿自主调节的机会

社会环境的各个方面与行为自我调节的生理机制有关。玩耍是一种与调节行为相关的行为，例如延迟满足和调节情绪，可能是支持健康生理适应的社会环境的一个方面。我们在 78 名 5 岁儿童样本中研究了母亲报告的与同龄人进行社交自由游戏的机会是否可以预测儿童的自主调节（通过呼吸性窦性心律失常；RSA）。作为一般游戏体验的代表，过去一周社交自由游戏的频率预测了在基线和压力条件下更高水平的 RSA 功能，但没有考虑条件之间的生理变化率。因此，频繁的社交自由游戏机会可能通过支持增加的副交感神经激活对儿童的自主调节产生普遍的积极影响，但对儿童当下对压力的反应没有显着影响。注意游戏在自主调节中的作用至关重要，因为儿童的自由游戏机会可能正在减少。