Development and validation of a scale assessing parental varied responses to Chinese adolescents' negative emotions

Abstract

ObjectivesParental responses to children's negative emotions (PRCNE) constitute a critical construct in the study of emotion socialization in children and adolescents. The objective of this research was to develop and validate a concise scale for assessing how adolescents perceive PRCNE in a Chinese context, resulting in the creation of the parental varied responses to Chinese adolescents' negative emotions (PVRCANE) scale. The PVRCANE aims to evaluate seven forms of PRCNE, including the six types encompassed by the commonly used Coping with Children's Negative Emotions Scale‐Adolescent Version (CCNES‐AV), as well as an additional, culturally specific category frequently seen in Chinese families: didactic talk and teaching.MethodsIn Study 1, a group of participants (N = 901, Mage = 13.39 years, SD = 0.92) completed the initial PVRCANE and the CCNES‐Adolescent Version. In Study 2: A separate group of participants (N = 320, Mage = 13.54 years, SD = 0.57) filled in PVRCANE and scales evaluating parental socialization goals and adolescents' depressive symptoms.ResultsIn Study 1, factor analyses showed that a four‐factor structure best fit the data, leading to the final version of the PVRCANE, which includes 35 items. PVRCANE scores exhibited good internal consistency (Omega > 0.79) and convergent validity, demonstrated by their close correlation with traditional CCNES scores. Study 2 confirmed the PVRCANE's measurement invariance for both male and female parents and demonstrated criterion validity by showing significant relationships between PVRCANE scores, parental socialization goals, and adolescents' symptoms of depression.ConclusionThe PVRCANE is a brief, valid, and reliable scale for assessing PRCNE in Chinese adolescents. The study concludes with a discussion on future directions and how this research enhances the existing literature on emotion socialization, with a particular emphasis on the scale's potential application in other cultural settings.

Unpacking maternal minimization responses to children’s negative emotions: “Person-oriented” versus “emotion-oriented”.

“…Mothers rated the items on a 7-point Likert scale from 1 ( very unlikely ) to 7 ( very likely ). Ding and associates designed the scale with Chinese families with teenage children in mind, affirming its dependability and accuracy for Chinese samples (Ding, Liu, et al, 2023). In this study, the Omega reliability coefficient ranged from .80 to .93 for each subscale.…”

“…The brief scale for parental responses to adolescents’ negative emotions (Ding, Liu, et al, 2023) was used to assess expressive encouragement (four items; e.g., “encourage my child to express his/her emotions”), emotion-focused responses (five items; e.g., “tell my child that I understand his/her feelings”), problem-focused responses (four items; e.g., “discuss with the child about how to solve the upsetting issue”), parental distress (four items; e.g., “become very uneasy and avoid the child”), and punitive responses (four items; e.g., “threaten to punish the child”), and didactic talk (five items, e.g., “Let the child reflect on what he/she didn’t do well.”). Mothers rated the items on a 7-point Likert scale from 1 ( very unlikely ) to 7 ( very likely ).…”

“…Accordingly, emotion minimization was expected to correlate positively with supportive and validating responses such as expressive encouragement, emotion-focused responses, and problem-focused responses, while person minimization should correlate positively with nonsupportive responses such as parental distress and punitive responses. Research concerning the role of didactic talk in adolescents’ development is limited and inconsistent (Ding, Liu, et al, 2023; Raval et al, 2018), the examination of its relations with two types of minimization was thus exploratory.…”