Clinical Presentation and Treatment of Early-Onset Behavior Disorders: The Role of Parent Emotion Regulation, Emotion Socialization, and Family Income

Chloe Zachary,Laura G. McKee,Raelyn Loiselle,Kaeley Jenkins,Rex Forehand,Madison McCall,April Highlander,Jennifer Youngstrom,Deborah J. Jones

doi:10.1177/01454455211036001

Abstract

Parent emotion regulation and socialization have been linked to various aspects of child functioning. In the case of early-onset behavior disorders in particular, parent emotion regulation may be an important correlate of the coercive cycle implicated in early-onset behavior disorders thus, symptom presentation at baseline. Further, emotion socialization may be complicated by a pattern of parent-child interactions in which both supportive or unsupportive parenting behaviors in response to behavioral dysregulation may increase vulnerability for problem behavior in the future. Some work suggests standard Behavioral Parent Training may impact parent emotion regulation and socialization. Still little is known, however, about how such processes may vary by family income, which is critical given the overrepresentation of low-income children in statistics on early-onset behavior disorders. This study explored parent emotion regulation, socialization, and family income in a sample of socioeconomically diverse treatment-seeking families of young (3–8 years old) children. Findings suggest relations between parental emotion regulation, socialization, and child behavior although the pattern of associations differed at baseline and post-treatment and varied by family income. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed.

Highlights

Estimates suggest that eight million (16%) U.S youth have a behavior disorder (BD), including Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), and Conduct Disorder (CD) (e.g., August et al, 1996; Ghandour et al, 2019; Larson et al, 2011; Merikangas et al, 2009)
This study explored the relationship between parental emotion regulation, socialization, and treatment response among families of young children who completed one evidence-based Behavioral Parent Training (BPT) program
While parent emotion regulation was not associated with child problem behavior at baseline, parents who reported greater emotion regulation difficulties reported lower levels of supportive emotion socialization

Summary

Introduction

Estimates suggest that eight million (16%) U.S youth have a behavior disorder (BD), including Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), and Conduct Disorder (CD) (e.g., August et al, 1996; Ghandour et al, 2019; Larson et al, 2011; Merikangas et al, 2009). The data suggests that it is important that parental socialization of emotion is not one-size-fits-all, but rather is tailored to or fits with the disposition and needs of the child (Eisenberg, 2020; Grolnick et al, 1997) This “fit” may be challenging for parents of children with early-onset BDs, given that unsupportive or supportive emotion socialization may serve as parental attention and inadvertently maintain or increase problem behavior. One contextual variable that may be important to consider in this line of work is family income

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Conclusion