Chilean Family Reminiscing About Emotions and Its Relation to Children’s Self-Regulation Skills

Abstract

Research Findings: This study examined the relation between Chilean parents’ narrative participatory styles (i.e., the way in which parents scaffold children’s participation in conversations) and children’s self-regulation skills. A total of 210 low-income Chilean parent–child dyads participated in the study. Dyads were videotaped talking about a past negative and a positive experience at the beginning of prekindergarten. Children’s self-regulation skills (attention and impulse control) were assessed using teacher ratings at the beginning of prekindergarten and at the end of kindergarten. Several parents adopted an elicitor style (i.e., asked a significant number of questions) in conversations about past negative and positive experiences. Parents’ elicitor style in conversations about negative but not positive experiences was predictive of gains in children’s self-regulation skills (attention and impulse control) at the end of kindergarten. Practice and Policy: The findings from this study suggest that parent–child narratives about emotional experiences might be a privileged context to develop children’s attention and impulse control—in particular conversations about past negative experiences. Intervention programs working with low-income Latin American parents may capitalize on these family practices to support children’s self-regulation skills and, in doing so, might help children better prepare for school.