Relationships Between Parent and Child Emotion Regulation Strategy Use: A Brief Report

Abstract

We examined the direct relationships between parent and child emotion regulation (ER) strategy use during the transitionary and understudied developmental periods of middle childhood through to adolescence. Three hundred and seventy-nine participants aged between 9 and 19 years, completed the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents. In addition, 358 of their mothers and 207 of their fathers completed the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. Providing partial support for the hypothesis, maternal use of the ER Expressive Suppression strategy was significantly predictive of their child's use of Suppression. However, paternal ER strategy use was unrelated to their child's ER strategy use. Child age did not moderate the relationships investigated. These findings suggest that children's ER during middle childhood and adolescence is more closely related to the ER of their mother than their father. It is proposed that this may be accounted for by emotion socialization processes.

Struggling with one’s own parenting after an upbringing with substance abusing parents

“…Children are dependent upon having positive emotional support from their parents in order to be able to understand and express their own feelings (Bariola et al, 2012) (Buckholdt, Parra, & Jobe-Shields, 2014; Zeman, Cassano, Perry-Parrish, & Stegall, 2006). …”

“…From birth onwards it is important that the child gets effective support to manage emotions (Bariola, Hughes, & Gullone, 2012). Children who have difficulties in this area are at risk for becoming either aggressive and hostile or isolated and socially anxious (Cumberland-Li, Eisenberg, Champion, Gershoff, & Fabes, 2003; Frick & Morris, 2004; Howe, 2005; Silk, Steinberg, & Morris, 2003).…”

Emotion regulation in parenthood

“…An individual’s capacity to regulate their emotions appears to change across the lifespan, with developmental studies of emotion regulation typically focusing on childhood (Bariola, Hughes, & Gullone, 2012). However, there are significant changes to cognitive and affective systems through adolescence into young adulthood that may influence emotion regulation (Steinberg, 2005; Steinberg & Morris, 2001).…”

Parenting Style of Emotions Socialization. Theoretic Models and Measurement Instruments

“…Morris says that the parents emotional expressions valence and frequency can be means by which the emotional adjustment strategies (AS) are transmitted from parent to child; the child's exposure at a various range of the parents' verbal and behavioral responses by their confrontation to different emotions will allow subsequently the child to use similar adjustment strategies when it will confront itself to similar emotional situations (Bariola, Hughes, & Gullone, 2012). Zeman, Perry-Parish and Cassano (2010) argues that the parents have the biggest influence in the emotional adjustment development in early childhood (up to five years).…”