A Longitudinal Study of Emotion Regulation, Emotion Lability‐Negativity, and Internalizing Symptomatology in Maltreated and Nonmaltreated Children

Abstract

The longitudinal contributions of emotion regulation and emotion lability/negativity to internalizing symptomatology were examined in a low-income sample (171 maltreated and 151 nonmaltreated children, from age 7 to 10 years). Latent difference score models indicated that, for both maltreated and nonmaltreated children, emotion regulation was a mediator between emotion lability/negativity and internalizing symptomatology, whereas emotion lability/negativity was not a mediator between emotion regulation and internalizing symptomatology. Early maltreatment was associated with high emotion lability/negativity (age 7) that contributed to poor emotion regulation (age 8), which in turn was predictive of increases in internalizing symptomatology (from age 8 to 9). The results imply important roles of emotion regulation in the development of internalizing symptomatology, especially for children with high emotion lability/negativity.

Cumulative childhood trauma, emotion regulation, dissociation, and behavior problems in school-aged sexual abuse victims

“…A study involving a sample of young adults found that emotional dysregulation mediated the association between high-betrayal trauma (i.e., abuse perpetrated by a close individual, as opposed to abuse perpetrated by a stranger or trauma that are not caused by another human being) and various mental health symptoms including anxiety, depression, intrusions, and avoidance (Goldsmith et al, 2013). Emotion regulation was also found to mediate the association between maltreatment and internalized and externalized behavior problems in school-age samples (Alink et al, 2009;Kim-Spoon et al, 2013). In one of these studies, the mediation effect was only found in insecurely attached children (Alink et al, 2009).…”

The Emotion Regulation Checklist – Italian translation. Validation of parent and teacher versions

“…Emotion regulation, as the ability to decrease, maintain, or increase one's emotional arousal to facilitate engagement with the context, plays a fundamental role in affective, social, and cognitive development (e.g., Kim-Spoon, Cicchetti, & Rogosch, 2013). The relevance of this construct is suggested by the large amount of literature studying it from infancy to adolescence, also documenting its role in most forms of psychopathology (e.g., Blair & Diamond, 2008;Kim-Spoon et al, 2013;Suveg & Zeman, 2004).…”

“…The relevance of this construct is suggested by the large amount of literature studying it from infancy to adolescence, also documenting its role in most forms of psychopathology (e.g., Blair & Diamond, 2008;Kim-Spoon et al, 2013;Suveg & Zeman, 2004).…”

“…Emotion regulation, one of the factor at the basis of children's individual differences from the preschool period, is conceptualized as the capacity to adjust one's own arousal to adapt to the environment; negativity, emerging already in the first year, relates both to children's promptness against emotional antecedents and to their coping responses following negative emotions (Kim-Spoon et al, 2013;Rothbart & Bates, 2006;Rothbart, Ellis, & Posner, 2004). The ERC may be completed by parents, teachers, or other adults familiar with the child (Hyson, 2004;Shields & Cicchetti, 2001).…”

Violência sexual na adolescência, perfil da vítima e impactos sobre a saúde mental

“…This leads to less empathy and less involvement with others in such a way that the result for the 'Friends' variable is larger for this group. Since women have greater emotional regulation, they are able to cope with the problem before people, however, they end up running greater risks of internalizing the adverse effects of trauma, which is portrayed by the results for solitude and insomnia [31][32][33][34] . It should be emphasized that the impacts already commented on may be even more serious if we consider the fact that psychological disorders can last a lifetime.…”