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Sungeun Kang, assistant professor of school psychology, is leading a project to better understand physiological co-regulation and the effects of breathing-based relaxation strategies for children with autism.
Connected Calm: Understanding Emotion Regulation and Physiological Responses to Breathing-Based Relaxation in Autistic Children and Their Caregivers
Research Team
Principal Investigator: Sungeun Kang
Co-Principal Investigators: Carrie Clark
Funding Information
Funding Agency: CYFS Signature Research Impact Program
Award Date: Jul 1, 2026
End Date: Jun 30, 2027
Abstract
Autistic children experience significantly higher rates of emotion dysregulation (ED) compared to their peers in the general population, which has been linked to increased hospitalization, school disciplinary actions, difficulties with transitions to college and employment and greater use of psychotropic medications.
Caregivers play a critical role in supporting emotion regulation by recognizing children's signs of distress, managing their own stress and responding in ways that help soothe the child.
These emotional interactions, known as co-regulatory processes, often lead to physiological synchrony (e.g., correlated heart rhythms), as caregiver and child work toward a shared state of calm. Although caregiver involvement is critical in ASD interventions, our understanding of co-regulatory processes in autistic children remains limited.
Given the high prevalence of communication difficulties, alexithymia, and complex ED profiles in ASD, this exploratory study aims to better understand physiological co-regulation and the effects of breathing-based relaxation strategies on co-regulation, using heart rate variability (HRV).
Researchers aim to assess caregiver and child autonomic function through HRV, including independent and synchronized responses to breathing-based relaxation. They will also examine associations between child ED, caregiver stress and caregiver HRV, and explore caregivers' experiences with their children's ED and their own co-regulation efforts using surveys.
This study will generate pilot data to support a subsequent external proposal to test caregiver-assisted, physiology-informed ED supports.
Social, Emotional and Behavioral Well-being, Academic Intervention & Learning
Sungeun Kang, assistant professor of school psychology, is leading a project to better understand physiological co-regulation and the effects of breathing-based relaxation strategies for children with autism.