Parental Emotion Coaching and Dismissing in Family Interaction

Abstract

We observed the positive emotion socialization practice of parental emotion coaching (EC) and the negative socialization practice of emotion dismissing (ED) during a family interaction task and examined their effects on children's emotion regulation and behavior problems in middle childhood. Participants were 87 sociodemographically diverse families (children aged 8-11 years; 46 girls). Outcome measures included mother, father and teacher reports of emotion regulation and behavior problems. ED was a risk factor, contributing to poorer emotion regulation and more behavioral problems. EC did not offer direct benefits for children's emotional and behavioral outcomes, but interacted with ED such that it protected children from the detrimental effects of ED. This protective effect was found for parents' coaching of negative but not positive emotions. Findings suggested that in family emotion conversation, EC and ED interact in complex ways as risk and protective dimensions of family process.Parental emotion socialization plays a vital role in the quality of children's early

Parent emotion coaching buffers the psychological effects of poor peer relations in the classroom

“…On the other hand, parent behaviors that are inconsistent with emotion coaching have been shown to be associated with poorer functioning. Parents' minimization of their child's emotions predicts lower social competence, more avoidant coping, poorer emotion regulation, and greater behavior problems in middle childhood and early adolescence (Eisenberg et al, 1996;Lunkenheimer, Shields, & Cortina, 2007). Other research has shown that negative reactions to emotions and neglect of emotions predict low social and behavioral competence in a range of age-groups, from childhood through adolescence (Eisenberg, Cumberland, & Spinrad, 1998).…”

Factors that Influence Parents’ Meta-Emotion Approaches: Implications for Families

“…Therefore, the findings from this study has significant implications for families as a whole, in terms of their roles and how they may influence children's brain anatomy as well as social and emotional development. As previous research has indicated, the types of meta-emotion approaches parents adopt may influence children's emotion regulation abilities and social competence skills (Lunkenheimer & Cortina, 2007;Wilson et al, 2012).…”

“…The types of meta-emotion approaches parents adopt are quite significant, as they have been found to be associated with children's socialization and emotion regulation abilities (Lunkenheimer & Cortina, 2007;Wilson et al, 2012). Children's abilities to regulate their emotions is associated with executive functions in their brains, which are also responsible for higher level thinking processes, such as attention, inhibitions of negative emotions, and memory (Graziano, Reavis, Keane, & Calkins, 2007).…”

“…The ways in which children gain skills to regulate their emotions is associated with guidance provided by their caregivers (Lunkenheimer & Cortina, 2007;Wilson et al, 2012). For example, parents exhibiting an emotion coaching meta-emotion approach may provide positive guidance if they see their child expressing their negative emotions in a physical, aggressive manner.…”

Emotion socialization and families of children with and without ADHD.

“…Exclusion criteria for the study included the following: children being outside of the age or grade range; mothers/female caregivers not residing with the child at least fifty percent of the time; and mothers/female caregivers being unable or unwilling to attend the laboratory session with their child. Father-child pairs were not eligible to participate, as some studies suggest mothers and fathers differ in their usage of direct ES (Eisenberg et al, 1996;Lunkenheimer, Shields, & Cortina, 2007;McElwain, Halberstadt, & Volling, 2007).…”