Relations Between Emotion Regulation, Parenting, and Psychopathology in Young Maltreated Children in Out of Home Care

Abstract

Young maltreated children, birth to three years, represent the age group with the highest rates of maltreatment in the United States (ACYF 2007). There are few studies to date that have investigated early childhood maltreatment and its effects on emotion regulatory processes and psychopathology. In response, the current investigation uses a dyadic assessment procedure to examine the relationship between parenting, emotion regulation, and symptoms of psychopathology among maltreating and non-maltreating parent-child interactions. The participants in this study were 123 children (66 maltreated and 57 nonmaltreated) from ages 1-3. Child and parent affect and child effortful control were observed during a parent-child interaction task. Symptoms of psychopathology were measured using the Child Behavior Checklist. The maltreated children exhibited more anger, more internalizing symptomatology, and less positive affect compared to non-maltreated children. Among maltreated children, emotion dysregulation was associated with internalizing symptomatology. Moreover, these data reveal parental positive affect was associated with lower child internalizing symptomatology and parental anger was associated with higher child internalizing symptomatology in the entire sample. This investigation offers evidence that emotion dysregulation subsequent to poor dyadic interactions is associated with early child maltreatment. These data suggest that maltreated children experience difficulties in emotion regulation which may be related to their higher levels of behavioral symptomatology.

Maltreated Children’s Social Understanding and Empathy: A Preliminary Exploration of Foster Carers’ Perspectives

“…It has been suggested that affect regulation is a precursor of mentalization (Fonagy et al 2002); our findings would suggest that even when mentalizing abilities have developed, the regulation of affect and behaviour is a necessary requirement for children to put this ability into practice. This may prove more difficult for children in foster care, as maltreatment has been linked to inferior affect regulation (Robinson et al 2009).…”

Parent-to-child physical aggression, neighborhood cohesion, and development of children's internalizing and externalizing

“…Without trusting and secure parental relationships, children subjected to PCPA are at risk of poor self-regulation of negative emotions and impulsive behaviors, which in turn increases their likelihood of experiencing internalizing and externalizing problems (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978;Sroufe, 1979). For example, compared to non-maltreated children, those who experience PCPA are more likely to perceive parents as emotionally unavailable, which is related to low self-esteem, depression, and anxiety (Alink, Cicchetti, Kim, & Rogosch, 2009;Hankin, 2005;Kim & Cicchetti, 2010;Kim-Spoon, Cicchetti, & Rogosch, 2013;Robinson et al, 2009). Dysregulated emotions and behaviors can also contribute to aggression and delinquency among maltreated children (Alink et al, 2009;Kim & Cicchetti, 2010;Maughan & Cicchetti, 2002).…”

Maltreatment and Advanced Theory of Mind Development in School-aged Children

“…Conversely, a child's victimization by parental abuse is a known risk factor for delayed or maladaptive psychological, emotional, and social development (Cicchetti and Toth 2005;Higgins and McCabe 2003;Robinson et al 2009). In addition to being a severe threat to the child's immediate wellbeing and future developmental prospects, maltreatment is associated with a number of disruptions in social life and social experience that might influence the child's pace of ToM mastery.…”

“…In addition to being a severe threat to the child's immediate wellbeing and future developmental prospects, maltreatment is associated with a number of disruptions in social life and social experience that might influence the child's pace of ToM mastery. These include (a) impaired family communication (e.g., Ramírez et al 2011), (b) low rates of positive verbal interaction with parents (Robinson et al 2009), (c) difficult and limited peer relationships (e.g., Luke and Banerjee 2012), and (d) an unstable household and family situation (e.g., Nightingale and Walker 1991;Pears and Fisher 2005). Variously defined "as any nonaccidental behavior by parents… that is outside the norms of conduct and entails substantial risk of causing physical or emotional harm to the child" (Price-Robertson and Bromfield 2011, p. 1), maltreatment is multifaceted.…”