Mothers’ self‐reported emotion dysregulation: A potentially valid method in the field of infant mental health

Abstract

In the current study, we evaluated the extent to which mothers reported emotion dysregulation on the Difficulties with Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (DERS) (a) converged with physiological indices of emotion dysregulation while parenting, (b) correlated with maternal sensitivity, and (c) predicted infant attachment disorganization and behavior problems in a sample of 259 mothers and their infants. When infants were 6 months old, mothers' physiological arousal and regulation were measured during parenting tasks and mothers completed the DERS. Maternal sensitivity was observed during distress-eliciting tasks when infants were 6 and 14 months old. Infant attachment disorganization was assessed during the Strange Situation when infants were 14 months old and mothers reported on infants' behavior problems when infants were 27 months old. Mothers who reported greater emotion regulation difficulties were more physiologically dysregulated during stressful parenting tasks and also showed lower levels of maternal sensitivity at 6 months. Mother-reported dysregulation predicted higher likelihood of infant attachment disorganization and more behavior problems. Results suggest that the DERS is a valid measure of maternal emotional dysregulation and may be a useful tool for future research and intervention efforts aimed toward promoting positive parenting and early child adjustment.

Influences of adversity across the lifespan on respiratory sinus arrhythmia during pregnancy

“…In considering lifespan influences on pregnant women's RSA, emotion dysregulation is a highly relevant construct that begs further exploration in perinatal samples (Leerkes et al., 2020; Lin et al., 2019; Ostlund et al., 2019). Emotion dysregulation is a trait‐like transdiagnostic vulnerability factor for psychopathology across the lifespan and is characterized by labile, intense, rigid, or prolonged emotional expressions that may interfere with goal‐directed and interpersonal behaviors (Beauchaine, 2015a; Cole et al., 2017; Crowell et al., 2020; Gratz & Roemer, 2004).…”

Associations between mothers’ emotion regulation and real‐time experiences of negative emotion: The moderating role of caregiving context

“…Our study highlights the importance of parents’ ability to modulate their own emotions for maintaining their emotional well‐being and healthy relationships with their children. Although previous studies have examined the relations between parents’ difficulties in emotion regulation and observed parenting and infant behavior (Leerkes et al., 2020; Morelen et al., 2014), this is the first study to show that mothers’ emotion regulation is related to their real‐time reports of negative emotion.…”

“…Conversely, parents who have better emotion regulation abilities use more supportive emotion socialization strategies when responding to their children's negative emotions (Hughes & Gullone, 2010). Similarly, parents’ self‐reported emotion regulation is related to more secure attachment relationships as well as to child emotional and behavioral adjustment (Leerkes et al., 2020; Morelen et al., 2014).…”

Bringing the laboratory into the home: A protocol for remote biobehavioral data collection in pregnant women with emotion dysregulation and their infants

“…A total score is computed to indicate participants' overall emotion dysregulation, with a higher score indicating greater emotion dysregulation. The DERS has demonstrated good psychometric properties (Gratz and Roemer, 2004) and has been proposed to be a valid measure of maternal emotion dysregulation, an indirect measure of potential future infant mental health conditions, and a useful tool for future research aimed toward promoting early adjust-ment (Leerkes et al, 2020). HF-HRV.…”