9.2 (5) 2nd Quarter

The Impact of Relationships on Individual Variation
The Fifth Interdisciplinary Dialogue
Spring Conference | April 17-18, 2010
Georgetown University
Washington, DC
Bowen Center for the Study of the Family

Georgetown Family Center
Frances A. Champagne Raghavendra Gadagkar Robert J. Noone

Patricia A. Comella Victoria Harrison Daniel V. Papero
Margaret Donley LeAnn Howard Mary Beth Saffo
Lynn A. Fairbanks Kathleen B. Kerr Barbara Smuts
Mark Flinn Michael E. Kerr Esther M. Sternberg
Jeffrey A. French Cynthia Larkby Stephen J. Suomi
Michael D. Lumpkin
F amily system
A Journal of Natural Systems
Thinking in Psychiatry and the Sciences
S
2013 Volume 9, Number 2
SECOND QUARTER
THE IMPACT OF RELATIONSHIPS ON INDIVIDUAL
VARIATION: THE FIFTH INTERDISCIPLINARY CONFERENCE
THIRD PANEL OF PRESENTATIONS 133

Introduction: Kathleen B. Kerr, MSN, MA
The Ultra-Modern Synthesis Michael E. Kerr, MD
Panel Discussion: Dr. Kerr
with Drs. Saffo and Fairbanks and Ms. Kerr
FOURTH PANEL OF PRESENTATIONS 145
Introduction: Kathleen B. Kerr, MSN, MA
Contribution of Nuclear Family Triangles to Variation
in Physiological Reactivity Victoria Harrison, MA
The Transgenerational Influence of Social Experiences:
Implications for Brain and Behavior Frances A. Champagne, PhD
Physiological Mediators in Family Emotional Process
Robert J. Noone, PhD
Panel Discussion: Ms. Harrison, Drs. Champagne and Noone
with Dr. Sternberg and Ms. Kerr
FIFTH PANEL OF PRESENTATIONS 161

Introduction: Robert J. Noone, PhD
Individual Variability of Stress and Immune Responses:
Contributing Factors and Implications for Mind-Body
Interventions Esther M. Sternberg, MD
Stress Physiology, Psychoneuroimmunology, and Mind-Body
Medicine Michael D. Lumpkin, PhD
Childhood Abuse, Maternal Differentiation, and Adolescent
Externalizing Behavior Cynthia Larkby, PhD
Panel Discussion: Drs. Sternberg, Lumpkin, and Larkby
with Drs. Noone and French
Vol. 9, No. 2 The Impact of Relationships on Individual Variation 133
INTRODUCTION TO THE THIRD PANEL

OF PRESENTATIONS
Kathleen B. Kerr, MSN, MA
The third panel was designed differently than the other panels.
It featured a keynote presentation intended to convey how Bowen
theory could potentially contribute to evolutionary theory and
might be relevant to the study of other species.
THE ULTRA-MODERN SYNTHESIS
Michael E. Kerr, MD
Using systems thinking to link facts about human emotional

functioning, particularly facts derived from family research during
the past six decades, with facts about Homo sapiens as a product of
evolution, Bowen family systems theory (Bowen 1978) provides a
valuable framework for appreciating how the forces that govern
human behavior are similar to those that govern the behavior of
other species. The important unique features of human beings not-
withstanding, understanding the processes the human species share
with all life is essential for understanding human nature. Since a
framework for integrating human behavior with the behavior of all
life is not part of the modern synthesis in biology, adding Bowen
theory to the modern synthesis could advance the pursuit of a sci-
ence of human behavior.
THE MODERN EVOLUTIONARY SYNTHESIS
The publication of On the Origin of Species (Darwin 1859) con-

vinced many people that evolution had occurred, but it convinced
fewer that evolution by natural selection was the primary mecha-
nism. The theory assumed inheritance of traits, but no one knew
how such inheritance took place. A theory of inheritance based on
a “blending” of traits was prominent at the time and was a serious
challenge to trace variations in one generation being passed undiluted
to the next, a fact on which evolution by natural selection rested.
Gregor Mendel (1865), a contemporary of Darwin, was studying
the inheritance of certain traits in pea plants and was disproving
the blending theory. The new facts and laws of genetics he discov-
ered supported the theory of evolution by natural selection, but
134 Family Systems 2013
Mendel’s work remained largely unrecognized until the turn of

the twentieth century.
Once Mendel’s work was rediscovered, lively intellectual
debates ensued over the next several decades between scientists
representing neo-Darwinism, which claimed that natural selec-
tion of randomly occurring particulate traits was the only force for
evolutionary change, and scientists representing neo-Lamarckism,
which claimed that the inheritance of acquired characteristics could
occur and was a force for evolutionary change. By the late 1930s,
the convergence of extensive research from experimental genetics,
mathematical modeling of populations, direct observation of natu-
ral populations, and the fossil record contributed to the eventual
marriage of neo-Darwinism and Mendelian genetics, known as
the modern synthesis. The neo-Lamarckian view faded from view.
CONTRIBUTIONS OF BOWEN FAMILY SYSTEMS THEORY
Seven core ideas illustrate Murray Bowen’s effort to develop

theoretical concepts about human emotional functioning and be-
havior that are consistent with facts about the human species as a
product of evolution.
The Emotional System

Bowen theory conceptualizes three interconnected systems in
the human body: the emotional system, feeling system, and intellectual
system. The emotional system is that part human beings have in
common with other forms of life. The human emotional system is
not identical to even closely related species such as chimpanzees,
but important commonalities exist. Bowen theory replaces Freud’s
concept of the unconscious with the emotional system as the force
that motivates human behavior.
The intellectual system encompasses those aspects of the most
recently evolved parts of the brain that make possible some of the
brain functions that appear to be unique to human beings, such as
abstract thinking, reasoning based on facts, and reflection. Addi-
tionally, the intellectual system allows for some voluntary control
over automatic emotional reactions. Importantly, at least to some
degree, the intellectual system enables human beings to distinguish
between thoughts and feelings and between objective and subjec-
tive thinking.
The feeling system functions as a bridge between the emotional
and intellectual systems by bringing some aspects of the emotional
system into awareness. If the intensity of a feeling state does not
overwhelm the intellectual system, the feeling system appears to

facilitate conscious decision-making in a variety of ways.
Neuroscientists study the structures and functions of the emo-
tional system in the brains of human beings and other species. Bowen
theory contributes another important way to study the emotional
system because it conceptualizes families functioning as emotional
units. The emotional processes within individuals drive the specific
patterns of interaction in families that result in the family functioning
as a unit. Furthermore, relationship patterns in families regulate the
emotional functioning of individual family members. Therefore, it
is possible to describe emotional functioning objectively by study-
ing the how, what, when, and where of family relationship patterns.
Theory of Human Development

Bowen theory describes the very involved early mother-infant
emotional attachment as a normal symbiotic state that functions to
promote the survival of the infant. The process of emotional separa-
tion between mother and offspring in human beings is similar to
what occurs in all mammalian species, but significant differences
between species exist in how mature the offspring are at birth (hu-
mans are quite immature) and how long the relationship endures
beyond weaning (unusually long in human beings).
Bowen theory is unique in that it describes within-species differ-
ences in human beings in the degree to which the mother-offspring
symbiosis has been resolved by the time the offspring normally
moves into the adult world. The differences range on a continuum
from very little to considerable resolution. The separation process
occurs gradually as the child matures biologically and psychologi-
cally. Differences typically occur between siblings in the degree of
resolution of the emotional attachment to the parents and family.
The degree of resolution of the early symbiotic attachment de-
pends primarily on parents separating from the child in ways that are
appropriate to the developing capabilities of the child. The child also
separates from the parents but, if the parents do not separate from
the child, the child’s default mechanism is to remain dependent on
the parents. When the parents separate appropriately from the child
at myriad points during the course of his or her development, the
child moves predictably toward more independence and a realistic
acceptance of responsibility for himself or herself. If the parents are
unable to do their part, the opposite occurs. Emotional separation
is not the same as physical separation. Successful emotional separa-
tion means that people are closely connected but maintain distinct
identities. Emotional separation is the opposite of emotional fusion.
The outcome of a high degree of resolution is a young adult
with a well-developed “self” and the outcome of little resolution is
a young adult with little or no “self.” Many gradations of levels of
self or differentiation of self occur between these extremes.
Because the primary caretaker (usually the mother) and off-
spring relationship in human beings usually occurs in the context of
a larger family unit, explaining variation in the degree of resolution
of that relationship requires an understanding of what is playing out
in the family as a whole. A marital relationship and a parent-child
relationship are both emotional attachments that can meet people’s
needs for emotional closeness. If the marital relationship is tense
and unsatisfactory, the primary caretaker is vulnerable to looking
to a child rather than to her spouse to meet emotional needs. This
results in the mother-offspring relationship fulfilling a need in the
family, not just meeting the reality needs of the child. Both parents
are complicit in this process and typically unaware of the adverse
impact it can have on the child. The adverse impact stems from the
parents having less motivation to separate appropriately from the
child, coupled with the child’s default mode not to separate from the
parents. The lack of separation correlates with the child developing
less differentiation of self than would have otherwise been the case.
Emotional Programming
Emotional programming refers to the specific effects that the
nature of the parents’ interactions with a child during development
have on the child’s ability to separate emotionally and develop a
self. The more the parents focus on a child out of their own needs
and fears, the more the child focuses automatically on the parents.
This reciprocal and ongoing process, which can be harmonious or
contentious, heightens the child’s reactivity to parental attention,
approval, expectations, and distress. Myriad variations of content
exist in this child focus, but these four “social cues” are consistent
elements of the programming that occurs.
All human beings react to these social cues and ideally they
facilitate smooth social interactions. However, anxiety-driven pa-
rental over involvement with a child not only heightens his or her
reactivity to the cues, but it also constrains the child’s ability to
formulate thoughts, opinions, and ideas on their own. Heightened
reactivity, for example, to approval coupled with unsureness about
one’s own ideas (or the reactive opposite, which is arrogance) renders
people vulnerable to automatically complying with or automati-
cally resisting others.
If one child in a sibling group fulfills the family need, his or
her siblings are relatively “off the hook.” The parents’ relationships
with the “freer” child are governed less by their needs and fears
and more by the reality needs of the sibling. The sibling learns more
moderated reactions to social cues and has more emotional freedom
to explore his environment. This facilitates the child’s learning about
many people’s ideas and gradually sorting out his own thoughts
about important subjects. The less involved child is less likely to
misperceive social interactions, less likely to overreact to them, and
better able to self-regulate. He or she functions as more of a “self”
than the overly involved brother or sister.
Multigenerational Transmission Process

The predictable variation in levels of differentiation of self
between members of a sibling group coupled with the repeated
clinical observation that people attract marital partners who match
their level of “self” leads to every family, over the course of multiple
generations, producing a continuum of levels of “self” that ranges
from fairly high to very low levels. For example, the sibling most
involved in the family problem typically develops somewhat less
“self” than his or her parents. His or her marriage then consists of
two people with less “self” than their parents (their marriage is more
emotionally fused than their parents’) and this constrains the levels
of “self” their children will develop. The opposite is true for a freer
sibling who develops more “self” than his parents. Furthermore, if
each of their marriages has a more involved and less involved off-
spring, one line of a family can exhibit a decline in differentiation in
successive generations and another line can exhibit just the opposite.
Other factors affect the rapidity with which changes in levels of dif-
ferentiation occur but, given enough generations, every family will
produce its unusually adaptive members (high levels of “self”) and
poorly adaptive members (low levels).
How successfully nuclear family units (one-parent, two-parent,
three-generational, long-term partners without offspring, or other
constellations) adapt to potentially stressful life challenges is influ-
enced primarily by the levels of “self” of the members. Because of
heightened levels of reactivity of family members to each other and
difficulty regulating these reactions, poorly differentiated families
are unusually vulnerable to the infectious spread of anxiety through
the family in face of potentially stressful circumstances. Better-

differentiated families are less vulnerable. This means that poorly
differentiated families can maintain a low level of chronic anxiety
in the system if stressors are low and they are reasonably connected
to supportive networks, especially extended family. However, they
are much more vulnerable or less adaptive than better differenti-
ated families. Consequently, some multigenerational lines of a
family become increasingly vulnerable to frequent and sustained
escalations of chronic anxiety and other lines become decreasingly
vulnerable. The anxiety undercuts the stability of relationships and
fuels clinical symptoms of all types.
MULTIGENERATIONAL TRANSMISSION PROCESS

(Basic Levels of Differentiation)
Figure 1.
Differentiation of Intellectual and Emotional Functioning

The capacity to maintain a “self” depends on a person’s ability
to distinguish between his or her intellectual process and feeling
process. The capacity to distinguish between them, which also in-
cludes an awareness of whatever bias exists in his or her own point
of view, enables a person to choose not to act automatically on the
feelings and subjective “thoughts” of the moment. More objective
thinking and reflections can guide, regulate, or overrule feelings
and subjectivity as a basis for action.
The following clinical vignette illustrates when self-regulation

does not occur. A man with a low level of “self” begins to feel that his
wife is not paying enough attention to him. This attitude activates
an emotional system anchored in the mid-brain that is triggered by
the perception of social isolation and that sets in motion a process
that generates a feeling of panic (Panksepp 1998). The panic reac-
tion floods the reasoning capabilities of the advanced parts of the
forebrain, which allows the husband’s automatic feeling reaction
to dominate his thinking, decision-making, and actions. The action
may take the form of becoming silent and withdrawing.
In contrast, if a man with a high level of “self” begins to feel
his wife is paying too little attention to him, his reaction is not as
strong as that of the person with little “self.” His feeling of not re-
ceiving enough attention triggers the isolation sensitive emotional
system but with less force than the more reactively programmed
person with less “self.” Thus, the panic feeling is less and is less
likely to flood and co-opt the intellectual system. Additionally, his
reasonably well-developed “self” allows him to reflect on what is
happening, and his ability to self-regulate modulates automatic feel-
ing responses. Counterbalanced by objective thinking, the feeling
response to a perceived lack of attention quiets down. His behavior
remains fairly relaxed and fairly defined. He might say to his wife,
“You seem distracted lately.” This gives her the emotional space to
respond thoughtfully to his question.
To summarize, the greater the lack of resolution of the attach-
ment to one’s family of origin, the less “self” a person has, the more
the tendency for “emotional fusion” in adult relationships, and
the more the vulnerability to escalations of chronic anxiety in the
relationship system that are fueled by a predominance of automatic
reactions to others rather than more integrated responses.
Emotional Regression
Bowen theory describes a distinction between an individual’s
ability to adapt to potentially stressful circumstances (basic level
of differentiation of self) and periods of progression or regression in
that same individual’s emotional functioning (functional level of dif-
ferentiation of self). Chronic anxiety governs these ups and downs
in emotional functioning. Because basic levels of differentiation of
the members of the same family system are not markedly different,
family units vary in their ability to adapt to challenges and, further-
more, they can also undergo periods of progression or regression
depending on the level of chronic anxiety in the family system.
Family and other emotionally significant relationships can
promote health or promote illness depending on how comfortable

and stable they are. To illustrate this idea, imagine the following
family scenario:
One day a mother, father, older teenage daughter, and

younger teenage son are together and relating fairly calmly
and openly. The next day the daughter and her boyfriend get
into a horrible fight and break up. She returns home in a tearful
state. This triggers an intense flow of emotional reactions
between family members that lead to everyone becoming
increasingly anxious and reactive. Useful communication
evaporates, blaming intensifies, mother feels fearful and
hopeless, father feels angry and frustrated, the son retreats
to his room and slams the door, and the daughter becomes
deeply distraught and begins cutting herself. (Kerr 2012, 4)
The key point is that, based on how family members are dealing
with each other, the daughter’s level of distress has gotten magnified
far beyond anything related to the breakup.
Thoughts, feelings, and emotional reactions are operating

within each individual, but a cause for the internal processes
does not reside within each individual. The family system
process regulates the internal processes of family members,
which in turn regulate the system’s process. The clinical
problem of the daughter cutting herself reflects the family
system’s failure to adapt to the stressor of the daughter’s
relationship breakup. (Kerr 2012, 4)
If an important member of the system can avoid getting caught

up in the infectious spread of anxiety and define a “self” in the form
of thoughtful and firm decisions and actions, it will predictably stop
the regression, and family functioning will improve. A regression
can also subside on its own over time as anxiety lessens.
Patterns of Emotional Functioning

When chronic anxiety increases in a family or other relation-
ship system, it accentuates the activity of four patterns of emotional
functioning that function to “bind” the anxiety in certain parts of
the system. The binding can stabilize the overall system, but at the
expense of those individuals and relationships that “absorb” the
anxiety. The patterns that operate in human families appear to be
identical to those occurring in the social groups of nonhuman spe-
cies. Typically, more than one pattern is active at the same time.
One pattern is emotional distance. In this pattern, people reduce
the tension in a relationship by closing off from one another, either
by physically distancing or by internal mechanisms such as not
discussing emotionally charged subjects. A second pattern is emo-
tional conflict. By arguing, blaming, and not giving in, each person
externalizes their anxieties into the relationship. A third pattern is
dominant/subordinate, which is characterized by one person accom-
modating more than the other to preserve relationship harmony. The
fourth pattern is the triangle. In this pattern, two “insiders” avoid
tensions in their relationship by defining the “outsider” as the cause
of tension in the triangle. The outsider absorbs tensions that are
generated by the nature of the interactions among all three people.
As is true in other species, up to a certain level of activity these
patterns can help stabilize a system, but, when chronic anxiety
escalates further, the intensity of the patterns can contribute to the
development of clinical symptoms somewhere in the system. Emo-
tional distance is always a component of the other three patterns.
In the conflictual pattern, the symptom is disruptive interactions;
in the dominant-subordinate pattern, the one in the subordinate
position (often feeling isolated and out of control) is at high risk
for clinical symptoms of some type; in the triangle pattern, a child
often absorbs the anxiety and is at high risk for a clinical problem.
CONCLUSION
These seven core ideas in Bowen theory illustrate how firmly

Bowen theory is based in an evolutionary understanding of hu-
man emotional functioning and behavior. The rapid and extensive
evolution of the human neocortex has endowed the human spe-
cies with many unique cognitive and emotional features, but these
recently evolved capacities are functionally linked to more ancient
processes that are major driving forces in human behavior. This
link is especially evident as the capacity for self-regulation declines
during periods of emotional regression.
Bowen theory is especially important because the evolution of
the intellectual system enables human beings to use the theory as
a lens to view relationship systems and their own part in what can
sometimes be a highly toxic process of the system. The ability to
see a system more objectively helps people get beyond blame and
self-blame and provides a rationale for changing self, not attempt-
ing to change others.
I will close with a quote by Edward O. Wilson and a comment:
It may not be too much to say that sociology and the other
social sciences, as well as the humanities, are the last branches
of biology waiting to be included in the modern synthesis.
One of the functions of sociobiology, then, is to reformulate
the foundations of the social sciences in a way that draws
these subjects into the modern synthesis. Whether the social
sciences can be truly biologicized in this fashion remains to
be seen. (Wilson 1975, 4)
My comment to Dr. Wilson’s challenge as to whether the social

sciences can be biologicized is the following: Bowen theory is already
biologicized and belongs in the modern synthesis.
REFERENCES
Bowen, Murray. 1978. Family Therapy in Clinical Practice. New York: Jason Aronson.
Darwin, Charles. 1859. On the Origin of Species. London: John Murray, Albemarle St.
Darwin, Charles. 1872. Expression of Emotions. London: John Murray, Albemarle St.
Kerr, Michael. 2012. “From the Editor.” Family Systems 9(1):3-7.
Mendel, Gregor. 1865. “Experiments in Plant Hybridization.” Paper presented to
the Natural History Society of Brunn, Germany.
Panksepp, Jaak. 1998. Affective Neuroscience. New York: Oxford University Press.
Wilson, Edward O. 1975. Sociobiology: The New Synthesis. Cambridge: Harvard
University Press.
PANEL DISCUSSION
Dr. Kerr
with Drs. Saffo and Fairbanks and Ms. Kerr
This panel discussion epitomized both the advantages and the

challenges of interdisciplinary exchange. Dr. Saffo and Dr. Fairbanks
noted that Bowen theory and animal observations flow from each
other. For example, the way the emotional system regulates relation-
ships and relationships program the emotional system, variation
in degree of independence, and the multigenerational transmission
process can all be seen in other species. Bowen theory’s base in
careful observation of nature or its “comparative feel” was noted
as a real strength. At the same time questions for Dr. Kerr from the
panelists seemed to come from areas where the natural scientists had
difficulty thinking about some human phenomena as objectively as
they might with other species—prolonged dependence of offspring,
offspring with defects, the function of symbiosis, especially where
one party in the symbiosis seems diminished by it. Isn’t this the
challenge for all of us—to think neutrally and objectively about
processes of emotional systems in which we play a part?
INTRODUCTION TO THE FOURTH

PANEL OF PRESENTATIONS
Kathleen B. Kerr, MSN, MA
These three presentations coalesced around the theme of

stress reactivity and how it is transmitted. Scienctists can tease
out in rodent models the way individual differences in brain and
behavior can be induced by experiences in the social environment.
Family triangles are one example of a social environment that can
contribute to variation in reactivity. Bowen theory suggests that
relationship interactions are a principal mechanism of transmission
of and activation of stress reactivity. They can affect both the stress
response system and the calm and connection system. The panel
conveyed the excitement of the rapidly expanding knowledge of the
physiological substrate of behavior and the mutual contributions
that such data can contribute to Bowen theory and that theory can
contribute to understanding the findings of the natural sciences.
CONTRIBUTION OF NUCLEAR FAMILY TRIANGLES TO

VARIATION IN PHYSIOLOGICAL REACTIVITY
Victoria Harrison, MA
The theory states that the triangle, a three-person emotional

configuration, is the molecule or basic building block of any
emotional system. . . .The triangle has definite relationship
patterns that predictably repeat in periods of stress and calm.
(Bowen 1978, 373 and 199)
Bowen theory provides a framework to study how physiological

reactivity and anxiety reactions in family members are regulated
in nuclear family triangles. Five patterns are predictable in family
triangles: distance, conflict, symptoms in a spouse, projection of
anxiety onto a child and symptoms in the child, and functioning for
others with reciprocal dependence and under-functioning. These
can be observed in all families to some extent. This paper describes
physiological measures for five family members (mother, father and
their three adult children) and relationship patterns associated with
variation in symptoms and functioning. It investigates whether
particular patterns of family triangles contribute toward variation
in anxious physiological reactions.
Summary of Family System and Triangles

The research participants are five members of the A family: Ms.
A and her daughter, Sally, the second child, were referred for fam-
ily systems psychotherapy with biofeedback and neurofeedback by
Sally’s physician after the twenty-year-old woman developed constant
vomiting and nausea that did not respond to medical treatment. She
had returned home for medical care within weeks of beginning her
junior year in college. Ms. A had participated in therapy, off and on,
for five years when the family agreed to participate in the research
project in 2006. Though Sally’s health and the family’s functioning
had improved, the family was not symptom-free. The parents’ mar-
riage remained strained, and the younger daughter was having a
difficult summer prior to college. All five family members agreed
that a great deal could be learned about physiological reactions and
patterns of emotional fusion and anxiety in the family.
The family diagram and family history were developed as part
of family systems psychotherapy and expanded for the research
project. The nuclear family history and extended family history
include facts and factors that indicate patterns of reacting in family
triangles and the functioning of each family member. Ms. A described
a history of distance from families of origin that was repeated in
reaction to intensity and tension in the marriage. Mr. and Ms. A
avoided discomfort in their relationship and both focused on each
child. The father’s focus was negative worry, and the mother’s,
protective worry. The eldest distanced into sports and later into
living away from family. The first daughter developed health prob-
b. 1927 b. 1922
d. 2009 b. 1922 d. 2002 b. 1927
m. 1945 div. 1967
b.‘54 b.‘55 b.‘58 b.‘60 b.‘62 b.‘65 b. 1947 b.‘48 b. ‘49 b.‘55 b.‘59
d. 1990
Mr. A Ms. A
b. 1952 b. 1953
1st m. of Ms. A
m. 1973 div. 1980 Living together 1980 m. 1991
b. 1980 b. 1982 b. 1987
m. 10/09
b. 2004 b. 11/09
Figure 1. The A Family Diagram

lems early in life, and Ms. A and she organized around each other.
The third child, a daughter, who experienced more critical focus
from her father and anxious focus from her mother, rebelled into
drinking and an intensely dependent relationship with a boyfriend
during high school.
RESEARCH PROTOCOL
Physiological markers of reactivity and anxiety were measured for

all five family members, one triangle at a time, in the same afternoon.
Mr. and Ms. A and one child sat side by side while each was con-
nected to F1000 equipment, which measures skeletal muscle activity
(EMG), fingertip temperature (DST), skin sweat response (EDR), and
brain electrical activity (EEG) (Deits 2004). Everyone sat quietly for
one minute. Two family members were then instructed to “have a
personal conversation” for three minutes while the third observed.
Mother and child talked with each other; then father and child; then
mother and father, with a one-minute pause between conversations.
Measures of Physiological Reactivity and Anxiety

This study compares the averages of EMG, DST, and EDR
(physiological measures of reactivity and anxiety) for each person
during each interaction.
Criteria for evaluating measures of physiological reactions
were established through numerous studies compiled in Standards
and Guidelines for Biofeedback Applications in Psychophysiological Self-
Regulation (Amar 1993). Specific physical reactions have been as-
sociated with increased anxiety or stress while others are associated
with relaxation and with being active but at ease (Rosenbaum 1989).
Porges’ polyvagal theory of nervous system functioning provides
an additional perspective for interpreting physiological measures
associated with chronic anxiety and an old vagal state of collapse
(Porges 2009). Criteria in this protocol were: DST or digital skin
temperature reflects the constriction of blood vessels in fingertips
produced when increased SNS activity and adrenalin stimulate
hollow vessels throughout the body. DST of 93° to 95° F is charac-
teristic of active but at ease, without SNS activity. DST below 93° F
indicates vasoconstriction produced by increased SNS activity. DST
above 95° F shows activation of the “old vagal reaction,” a shutdown
or collapsed state following sustained and ineffective SNS activity
and somatic reactions.
Figure 2. Physiological Measures of Triangle 1
with Mother, Father and Child #1
EMG 6.42 EMG 13.92

DST 91.94 DST 90.07
EDR 11.62 EDR 8.94
EMG 11.28
DST 86.27
EDR 9.05
EMG 4.32 EMG 13.53

DST 92.10 DST 92.24
EDR 10.86 EDR 8.24
EMG 6.60
DST 87.18
EDR 7.67
EMG 12.43 EMG 17.94

DST 92.50 DST 91.95
EDR 14.33 EDR 8.06
EMG 6.51
DST 89.45
EDR 5.56
EMG (Skeletal muscle activity)

2 – 4 µV indicates a relaxed state.
4 – 8 µV is characteristic of an active but at ease state.
8 – 50 µV indicates tension.
DST (Fingertip temperature)

Below 93˚F indicates increased sympathetic nervous
system constriction of blood vessels.
93 to 95˚F is characteristic of an active but at ease state.
Above 95˚F shows activation of a vagal reaction.
EDR (Palm sweat levels)

1 – 2 µmhos signals exhaustion.
2 – 4 µmhos indicates active but at ease levels of adrenalin.
4 – 20 µmhos shows increased adrenalin.
Figure 2. Physiological measures of Triangle 1 with Ms. A, Mr. A,

and Child #1.
EMG 6.24 EMG 20.36

DST 92.80 DST 90.49
EDR 8.69 EDR 9.45
EMG 24.16
DST 92.36
EDR 11.52
EMG 7.72 EMG 19.75

DST 93.19 DST 91.71
EDR 11.88 EDR 7.74
EMG 21.53
DST 95.57
EDR 10.08
EMG 14.55 EMG 21.94

DST 93.34 DST 90.36
EDR 15.35 EDR 8.31
EMG 18.08
DST 96.18
EDR 8.48




and Child #2.
EMG 7.31 EMG 18.52

DST 92.50 DST 90.56
EDR 19.51 EDR 13.79
EMG 13.88
DST 88.36
EDR 16.67
EMG 5.37 EMG 12.63

DST 92.08 DST 91.84
EDR 17.33 EDR 13.53
EMG 12.76
DST 89.49
EDR 16.67
EMG 14.18 EMG 8.91

DST 92.76 DST 89.66
EDR 18.58 EDR 13.52
EMG 10.79
DST 92.43
EDR 8.65




and Child #3
Palm sweat levels, or electrodermal response (EDR), are an-

other indicator of adrenalin level stirred by SNS. A flat EDR at 1-2
µ℧ signals exhaustion. EDR of 2-4 µ℧ indicates active but at ease
levels of adrenalin. EDR of 4 – 20 µ℧ shows increased SNS activity.
Skeletal muscle activity (EMG) of 2 – 4 µV indicates relaxation.
EMG between 4 – 8 µV is characteristic of active but at ease. Between
8 and 50 µV indicates tension.
Constriction of small blood vessels in the fingertips (DST) signals
reactions to an immediate threat with a shift in blood flow and oxygen
away from the body’s perimeter and toward the muscles or brain,
where it can fuel fight, flight or problem solving activity. Increased
adrenalin, evident in palm sweat response (EDR), is another signal
of increased SNS activity. Elevated skeletal muscle activity (EMG)
signals mobilizing or bracing the body as a reaction to threat. Indi-
cators of chronic, ongoing, or cumulative anxiety reactions also are
evident in fingertip temperature, levels of palm sweat and muscle
activity. Fingertip temperature (DST) above 95°F indicates vagal ac-
tivity that occurs in the presence of sustained SNS activity without
effective action or problem solving. This reaction is characteristic of
what Porges has described as an immobilization or shut-down reac-
tion, reflecting the unmyelinated vagal visceral pathway connecting
the brain to the heart and abdomen (Porges 2009). Adrenalin, with
sustained activation over time, becomes flat and exhausted. Skeletal
muscle activity may be high, inhibited, or exhausted.
The averages of physiological reactions for each family member
in each of the three family triangles are presented in Figures 2-4.
Although no member of this family exhibits “at ease” physiol-
ogy in any angle of any triangle, individuals vary in the physical
reaction in which anxiety or stress is expressed. These differences
indicate differences in the level and duration of anxiety. Ms. A ex-
perienced high EMG with moderate vasoconstriction and moderate
to high EDR. Mr. A experienced high EDR with relatively low EMG
and warm fingertip temperature in every triangle, indicating high
anxiety maintained over a period of time long enough to create
fatigue, but not the vagal state his daughter experiences. Child #1
experienced vasoconstriction (cool DST) and relatively low EMG
and moderate EDR. Child #2 experiences vagal overactivity with
high EMG, high EDR and fingertip temperature (DST) rising above
95°, indicating sustained high anxiety. Child #3 experiences elevated
EMG and elevated EDR with vasoconstriction, indicating fight or
flight instead of a collapsed state of vagal overactivity.
The three patterns of reaction in these family triangles are

associated with differences in the level and duration of anxious
physiology. Mr. and Ms. A are most anxious when interacting
with each other in all the family triangles, something they avoid
in real life. Neither is completely “at ease” while interacting with
any of the three children but, without more sophisticated analysis
of the physiological measures, it is not possible to distinguish who
is reacting to whose anxiety in the triangle. The father appears to
experience slightly less anxiety while interacting with each child
while the mother sustains heightened anxiety during interactions
with each child.
There are distinct differences in how the adult children react
in their triangles with parents. Child # 1 and Child #3 experience
a decrease in anxiety while observing their parents interact. Child
#1 moves closest toward “at ease” physiology. Child #2 sustains
high anxiety in all configurations and experiences indicators of va-
gal over-activity associated with sustained, uninterrupted tension.
The differences in anxious physiology and in patterns of reacting
in nuclear family triangles in this research scenario are consistent
with variation in functioning and symptoms for the adult children
and their parents. The distance that Ms. A describes in the marriage
makes sense in light of the increased anxiety husband and wife
experience while interacting with each other. Neither parent has
physical symptoms but each does enjoy too much food and drink.
Father can be depressed and withdrawn. Mother is most comfort-
able while interacting with her children, though those interactions
are also anxious.
Child # 1, living at a distance from the family, maintains intense
and emotionally close relationships with his sisters and friends.
He has a hard time defining a direction for his career and life and
organizes around the pull of relationships. While distance may
interrupt anxious physiology and provide a certain comfort, this
pattern should not be confused with the ability to remain separate
while interacting closely with others.
Child #2 experienced symptoms of chronic fatigue, nausea, and
endometriosis consistent with her physiological reactions during
the research interactions (Harrison, Rowan, and Mathias 2005). She
had a longer period of dependence on the family, maintains the
closest relationship with her mother, and may reflect the anxiety
in the family to a greater degree than her siblings.
Child #3 experiences some interruption of anxious physiology
while observing her parents interact and while interacting with her
father. She still lives at home and depends upon her parents. Her
rebellious reactivity is consistent with the “fight or flight” physiol-
ogy she experiences in the research interactions. The anxiety in this
triangle may predict problems that she encounters after leaving
home for college.
This research is part of work to investigate physiological re-
activity and brain activity that reflect the connectedness between
family members as well as the capacity of an individual to function
more independent of relationships. Patterns of reactivity in nuclear
family triangles, particularly distance, dependence, and focus on
the children, appear to be associated with variation in physiological
reactivity and anxiety. This variation should not be confused with
emotional independence, however. Further analysis of physiologi-
cal measures may provide observations of when family members
are reacting in relation to each other and when or if they react with
some degree of emotional independence. Expanding this study to
include a wider range of families will provide important opportu-
nities for comparison.

REFERENCES
Amar, Paula. 1993. Standards and Guidelines for Biofeedback Applications in

Psychophysiological Self-Regulation. Wheat Ridge, CO: Association for Applied
Psychophysiology and Biofeedback.
Deits, Frank. 2004. Focused Technology F1000 Instrumentation System Manual.
http://www.focused-technology.
Harrison, Victoria, Karen Rowan, and John Mathias. 2005. “Stress Reactivity and
Family Relationships in the Development and Treatment of Endometriosis.”
Fertility and Sterility 83:857-864.
Porges, Stephen W. 2009. “The Polyvagal Theory: New Insights into Adaptive
Reactions of the Autonomic Nervous System.” Cleveland Clinic Journal of
Medicine 76:86-90.
Rosenbaum, Lilian. 1989. Biofeedback Frontiers. New York: AMS Press.
THE TRANSGENERATIONAL INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL

EXPERIENCES: IMPLICATIONS FOR BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR
Frances A. Champagne, PhD
Development occurs within a social context. The critical role

of social interactions in driving phenotypic variation in brain and
behavior has long been inferred from the association between early
social deprivation and adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes. For
example, among orphans raised in institutions where social neglect
is well documented, neuroimaging studies have indicated decreased
overall white and grey-matter volume and increased amygdala
volume as well as decreased metabolic activity within several brain
regions (Chugani et al. 2001, Mehta et al. 2009). Levels of vasopressin
and oxytocin have also been found to be blunted in children who
experienced early neglect (Fries et al. 2005). Consequent to these
neurobiological effects, severe social neglect in infancy is associated
with delays in growth, and social and cognitive development leading
to impairments in attachment, heightened inattention, and increased
autistic-like behaviors (Rutter and O’Conner 2004, MacLean 2003).
To better understand the mechanisms through which these effects
occur, animal models have been developed in which experimental
exposure to adversity in infancy can be induced and biobehavioral
outcomes explored. Recent evidence from studies in rodents has
implicated molecular pathways involved in the regulation of gene
expression as one possible route through which these long-term
outcomes are achieved. This interplay between genes and the en-
vironment is a critical feature of the emerging field of epigenetics
and behavior. The term “epigenetic” can be used broadly to refer
to variation in phenotype that is not exclusively related to genetic
variation or more specifically to refer to the molecular mechanisms
that regulate gene transcription without modifying gene sequence.
Chemical modifications to DNA, such as DNA methylation, are one
of the molecular mechanisms that display both plasticity in response
to environmental signals and stability in maintaining the effects of
early life experiences. Epigenetic effects, though not exclusive to
social experiences, may be a mechanism through which the qual-
ity of the social environment becomes embedded at a biological
level. Rodent models of prenatal stress (Mueller and Bale 2008),
variation in maternal care (Weaver et al. 2004), maternal separa-

tion (Murgatroyd et al. 2009), and parental abuse (Roth et al. 2009)
have all identified specific gene targets that undergo epigenetic
modification. During prenatal and postnatal development, there
may be greater sensitivity to these environmental signals; however,
there also appears to be continued plasticity within these pathways
among juveniles (in response to socially complex environments)
and adults (in response to social stress).
Studies of the impact of early life experiences suggest that
the variation in brain and behavior that are induced can persist
in subsequent generations and there is emerging evidence for the
transgenerational impact of these early experiences mediated either
through changes in social and reproductive behavior exhibited in
adulthood or through changes in the germline epigenome. For
example, studies in rodents suggest that the experience of varia-
tions in maternal care in infancy can shape gene expression in the
developing hypothalamus such that females who receive high lev-
els of maternal care subsequently have elevated levels of estrogen
and oxytocin receptors in hypothalamic brain regions that regulate
maternal behavior. Thus, when these females are adults and caring
for their own offspring their brains are “primed” by their early ex-
perience such that they also engage in high levels of maternal care
(Champagne 2008). Consequently, offspring of these mothers also
engage in increased maternal care and exhibit other neurobiological
and behavioral “benefits” of increased mother-infant interactions.
Epigenetic mechanisms play an important role in this transmission
of behavior from one generation to the next by stably maintaining
the changes in gene expression that have been induced by the quality
of the mother-infant contact. A second route of transgenerational
effects involves epigenetic “marks” which are induced in the male or
female germ cells and that persist in offspring and grand-offspring.
Though the role of this route of inheritance in perpetuating the ef-
fects of the social environment are still unclear, studies of epigenetic
effects in this context may broaden our perspective on the nature
of inheritance and the origins of individual differences in behavior.
Overall, studies of the epigenetic factors mediating developmen-
tal plasticity both within and across generations provides a novel
framework for understanding the inheritance of individual varia-
tions in phenotype and the role of the environment in inducing
heritable modifications.
REFERENCES
Champagne, Frances A. 2008. “Epigenetic Mechanisms and the Transgenerational

Effects of Maternal Care.” Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology 29:386-97.
Chugani, Harry T., Michael E. Behen, Otto Muzik, Csaba Juhasz, F. Nagy,
and Diane Chugani. 2001. “Local Brain Functional Activity Following
Early Deprivation: A Study of Postinstitutionalized Romanian Orphans.”
Neuroimage 14:1290-1301.
Fries, Alison B. Wismer, Toni E. Ziegler, Joseph K. Kurian, Steve Sacoris, and Seth
D. Pollak. 2005. “Early Experience in Humans Is Associated with Changes
in Neuropeptides Critical for Regulating Social Behavior.” Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 102:17237-17240.
MacLean, Kim. 2003. “The Impact of Institutionalization on Child Development.”
Developmental Psychopathology 15:853-84.
Mehta, Mitul A., Nicole I. Golembo, Chiara Nosarti, Emma Colvert, Ashley Mota1,
Steven C. R. Williams, Michael Rutter, and Edmund J. S. Sonuga-Barke. 2009.
“Amygdala, Hippocampal and Corpus Callosum Size Following Severe
Early Institutional Deprivation: The English and Romanian Adoptees Study
Pilot.” Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 50:943-951.
Mueller, Bridget. R. and Tracy L. Bale. 2008. “Sex-Specific Programming of
Offspring Emotionality after Stress Early in Pregnancy.” The Journal of
Neuroscience 28:9055-9065.
Murgatroyd, Chris, Alexandre V. Patchev, Yonghe Wu, Vincenzo Micale, Yvonne
Bockmühl, Dieter Fischer, Florian Holsboer, Carsten T Wotjak, Osborne
F.X. Almeida, and Dietmar Spengler. 2009. “Dynamic DNA Methylation
Programs Persistent Adverse Effects of Early-Life Stress.” Nature Neuroscience
12:1559-1566.
Roth, Tania L., Farah D. Lubin, Adam J. Funk, and J. David Sweatte. 2009.
“Lasting Epigenetic Influence of Early-Life Adversity on the BDNF Gene.”
Biological Psychiatry 65 (9):760-769.
Rutter, Michael and Thomas G. O’Connor. 2004. “Are There Biological
Programming Effects for Psychological Development? Findings from
a Study of Romanian Adoptees.” Developmental Psychology. 40: 81-94.
Weaver, Ian C., Nadia Cervoni, Frances A. Champagne, Ana C. D’Alessio,
Shakti Sharma, Jonathan R Seck, Sergiy Dymov, Moshe Szy, and Michael
J Meaney, 2004. “Epigenetic Programming by Maternal Behavior.” Nature
Neuroscience 7:847-854.
PHYSIOLOGICAL MEDIATORS IN
FAMILY EMOTIONAL PROCESS
Robert J. Noone, PhD
Relationships both within and between species are involved

in the co-regulation of behavior and physiology in many species.
The evolution of a central nervous system and brain, along with
the immune and endocrine systems, has lead to a greater capacity
to assess and respond to the environment and to self-regulate in
relation to the environment. This increased sensitivity in responsive-

ness has also led to more complex forms of co-regulation among
the members of social species.
The rapid evolution of complex brains occurred in tandem
with prolonged periods of development and parental care. The
co-evolution of the brain and family entailed not only a prolonged
period of attachment between mother and child but also a significant
level of interdependence among members of the larger family unit.
Among humans and other primates this interdependence entails a
complex balance of self-regulating and co-regulating processes cen-
tral to survival and reproduction. The increase in interdependence
among family members includes many expressions of emotional
reactivity, among which are stress reactivity and attachment. Both
are seen as contributing to the co-regulation of physiology and
behavior observable in the human family.
Bowen’s research (Bowen 1978) led to the observation of four
adaptive mechanisms that contribute to the stability of the family
unit. The activation and extent to which they are utilized in a fam-
ily unit are related to the level of interdependence in the unit and
stressors the members are faced with. When the relationship system is
disturbed, emotional reactivity is increased and the mechanisms are
activated to maintain a balance in the unit. As automatic emotional
responses, they function as co-regulatory processes and necessarily
have physiological substrates.
In this presentation, two counterbalancing neuroendocrine
processes believed to be at play in family emotional process will be
described. The first, the stress response system, which entails the
hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the autonomic nervous
system, functions to mobilize the individual to respond to a threat
or challenge (McEwen and Seeman 1999). The second, referred to
as the “calm and connection system,” involves the synthesis and
release of the neuropeptides, oxytocin and vasopressin, and functions
to relax the individual and promote bonding, as well as growth,
healing, and recovery (Carter 2005, Uvnas-Moberg 2003). The two
systems are evolutionary ancient systems found in all mammals
and are seen as physiological factors involved in the co-regulation
and self-regulation processes observable in family/self interactions.
The stress response systems mobilize an individual to respond

to challenge by activating or inhibiting various physiological sys-
tems (cardiovascular, immune, inflammatory, nervous, digestive,
reproductive). The calm and connection system both activates and
responds to positive social interactions and provides a counterbal-
ancing response to the stress response by decreasing stress hormone
levels, heart rate, blood pressure, pain sensitivity, and inflammation
and increasing growth hormone levels, sociability, skin circulation,
and nutritional uptake and storage.
Chronic anxiety, as defined in Bowen theory, along with dif-
ferentiation of self are seen as central factors determining the de-
gree of intensity found in a family’s adaptive mechanisms. While
chronic anxiety may entail more than the stress response systems,
they appear to be central to it. And while attachment entails more
than the calm and connection system, this system appears to be
an important element in family emotional process. The calm and
connection system is a central mammalian mechanism involving
peptide hormones that play a part not only in attachment but also
in the regulation of anxiety.
The stress response and the calm and connection systems may
play an important part in the nature and functioning of the fam-
ily adaptive mechanisms described in Bowen theory. It is posited
that: (1) Relationships are utilized to alleviate anxiety. (2) Elevated
anxiety can result in an increase in the seeking of connection.
(3) Connection can trigger increased reactivity. It is posited that
differentiation of self, chronic anxiety, and the effort to alleviate
anxiety through connection interact in a way that can be behaviorally
observed in family emotional process. The stress response and the
calm and connection systems are elements in family self-regulation/
co-regulation processes.
REFERENCES
Carter, C. Sue. 2005. “Biological Perspectives on Social Attachment and Bonding.”
in Attachment and Bonding: A New Synthesis. C. Sue Carter, Lieselotte Ahnert,
K. E. Grossmann, Sarah B. Hrdy, Michael E. Lamb, Stephen W. Porges,
Norbert Sachser, eds. Cambridge: The MIT Press.
McEwen, Bruce and Teresa Seeman. 1999. “Protective and Damaging Effects
of Mediators of Stress: Elaborating and Testing the Concepts of Allostasis
and Allostatic Load.” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 896:30-47.
Uvnas-Moberg, Kerstin. 1998. “Oxytocin May Mediate the Benefits of Positive
Social Interaction and Emotions.” Psychoneuroendocrinology 23:819-835.
PANEL DISCUSSION
Ms. Harrison, Dr. Champagne, and Dr. Noone

with Dr. Sternberg and Ms. Kerr
Multidisciplinary examples of how you get from the social

world to the inner world continued to be put forward. An impor-
tant point was that offspring are not passive recipients of maternal
care but interact reciprocally with their caretaker, each mutually
influencing the other. Also a caveat about high reactivity is that it
is not necessarily negative. In a stressful environment more reactive
individuals can fare better.
Discussants highlighted the value of Bowen theory being
“where the rubber meets the road” as a practical method for helping
people. Likewise, therapists noted that science can be very helpful
to individuals, decreasing blaming and having a healthy respect
for how difficult it is to change automatic stress related responses.

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The Impact of Relationships on Individual Variation

The Fifth Interdisciplinary Dialogue

Spring Conference | April 17-18, 2010

Bowen Center for the Study of the Family

Frances A. Champagne Raghavendra Gadagkar Robert J. Noone

THIRD PANEL OF PRESENTATIONS 133

FIFTH PANEL OF PRESENTATIONS 161

INTRODUCTION TO THE THIRD PANEL

Kathleen B. Kerr, MSN, MA

THE ULTRA-MODERN SYNTHESIS

Using systems thinking to link facts about human emotional

THE MODERN EVOLUTIONARY SYNTHESIS

The publication of On the Origin of Species (Darwin 1859) con-

Mendel’s work remained largely unrecognized until the turn of

CONTRIBUTIONS OF BOWEN FAMILY SYSTEMS THEORY

Seven core ideas illustrate Murray Bowen’s effort to develop

The Emotional System

overwhelm the intellectual system, the feeling system appears to

Theory of Human Development

Multigenerational Transmission Process

the family in face of potentially stressful circumstances. Better-

MULTIGENERATIONAL TRANSMISSION PROCESS

Differentiation of Intellectual and Emotional Functioning

The following clinical vignette illustrates when self-regulation

promote health or promote illness depending on how comfortable

One day a mother, father, older teenage daughter, and

Thoughts, feelings, and emotional reactions are operating

If an important member of the system can avoid getting caught

Patterns of Emotional Functioning

These seven core ideas in Bowen theory illustrate how firmly

I will close with a quote by Edward O. Wilson and a comment:

My comment to Dr. Wilson’s challenge as to whether the social

This panel discussion epitomized both the advantages and the

INTRODUCTION TO THE FOURTH

Kathleen B. Kerr, MSN, MA

These three presentations coalesced around the theme of

CONTRIBUTION OF NUCLEAR FAMILY TRIANGLES TO

The theory states that the triangle, a three-person emotional

Bowen theory provides a framework to study how physiological

Summary of Family System and Triangles

b. 1980 b. 1982 b. 1987

Figure 1. The A Family Diagram

Physiological markers of reactivity and anxiety were measured for

Measures of Physiological Reactivity and Anxiety

EMG 6.42 EMG 13.92

EMG 4.32 EMG 13.53

EMG 12.43 EMG 17.94

EMG (Skeletal muscle activity)

DST (Fingertip temperature)

EDR (Palm sweat levels)

Figure 2. Physiological measures of Triangle 1 with Ms. A, Mr. A,

EMG 6.24 EMG 20.36

EMG 7.72 EMG 19.75

EMG 14.55 EMG 21.94

EMG (Skeletal muscle activity)

DST (Fingertip temperature)

EDR (Palm sweat levels)