On Measuring and Modeling Physiological Synchrony in Dyads
Open accessAbstract
Physiological synchrony within a dyad, or the degree of temporal correspondence between two individuals' physiological systems, has become a focal area of psychological research. Multiple methods have been used for measuring and modeling physiological synchrony. Each method extracts and analyzes different types of physiological synchrony, where 'type' refers to a specific manner through which two different physiological signals may correlate. Yet, to our knowledge, there is no documentation of the different methods, how each method corresponds to a specific type of synchrony, and the statistical assumptions embedded within each method. Hence, this article outlines several approaches for measuring and modeling physiological synchrony, connects each type of synchrony to a specific method, and identifies the assumptions that need to be satisfied for each method to appropriately extract each type of synchrony. Furthermore, this article demonstrates how to test for between-dyad differences of synchrony via inclusion of dyad-level (i.e., time-invariant) covariates. Finally, we complement each method with an empirical demonstration, as well as online supplemental material that contains Mplus code.
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References 81 · Cited by 112
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- Authors
- Helm, J. L., Miller, J. G., Kahle, S., Troxel, N. R., & Hastings, P. D.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Davis (US)
- Corresponding author
- Helm, Jonathan L.
- Venue
- Multivariate Behavioral Research
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2018-04-23
- Volume
- 53
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 521-543
- ISSN
- 0027-3171 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-7906
- OpenAlex
- W2801190986
- Cited by
- 112
- References
- 81
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 4
- FWCI
- 13.23
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- escholarship.org
- Locations
- Multivariate Behavioral Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Fetzer Institute
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Mental Health Research Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control
- Keywords
- physiological synchrony, dyads, interpersonal synchrony, physiological signals, statistical assumptions
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Child, Preschool, Data Interpretation, Statistical, Electrocardiography, Female, Heart, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Models, Theoretical, Parent-Child Relations, Time Factors
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