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The current study tested a preliminary cascade model of parent dysfunction-i.e., internalizing psychopathology and emotion dysregulation-whereby parent dysfunction is transmitted to children through the impact of parental emotion socialization on child emotion regulation. Participants were 705 mothers (M age = 36.17, SD = 7.55) and fathers (M age = 35.43, SD = 6.49) of children aged 8 to 12 years who selfreported on their internalizing psychopathology, emotion regulation difficulties, and emotion socialization practices, and on their child's internalizing psychopathology and emotion regulation. Using a split sample method, we employed a data-driven approach to develop a conceptual model from our initially proposed theoretical model with the first subsample (n = 352, 51% mothers), and then validated this model in a second subsample (n = 353, 49% mothers). Results supported a model in which the transmission of dysfunction from parent to child was sequentially mediated by unsupportive parental emotion socialization-but not supportive parental emotion socialization-and child emotion dysregulation. The indirect effects from the final model did not differ by parent gender. Findings provide preliminary support for a mechanism by which maternal and paternal internalizing psychopathology and emotion dysregulation disrupt parental emotion socialization by increasing unsupportive emotion socialization practices, which impacts children's development of emotion regulation skills and risk for internalizing psychopathology.

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The present study tested whether mothers and fathers differed in their implicit attitudes about the expression of sadness and anger in middle childhood boys and girls (ages 8 -12) and whether these implicit attitudes are associated with emotion socialization practices. Two implicit association tests (IATs) focusing on children's expression of sadness (sad) and anger (ang) were developed. A total of 302 and 289 parents completed the IAT sad and IAT ang , respectively, and parents self-reported on their explicit emotion beliefs and emotion socialization practices. Results indicated that mothers show more favorable attitudes toward sadness and anger expression by girls versus boys. Fathers showed no preference in either IAT, suggesting a lack of bias about the expression of sadness and anger. Mothers' performance on IAT ang was negatively associated with supportive sadness socialization and positively associated with unsupportive sadness and anger socialization. Findings suggest that mothers, but not fathers, may possess gender-related implicit biases about emotion expression in children, with implications for socialization practices. Public Significance StatementOur research shows that mothers have biases about emotion expression that are consistent with gender stereotypes. These biases occur on an implicit level and likely influence how mothers choose to parent their children.