Disorganized/controlling attachments, emotion regulation, and emotion communication in later middle childhood

Abstract

We assessed how disorganized and controlling attachments (disorganized/disoriented, caregiving/role-confused, hostile/punitive) in later middle childhood relate to children's emotion regulation and emotion communication skills (N = 87). Disorganized and controlling behaviors were assessed with the Middle Childhood Attachment Strategies Coding System (MCAS). Concurrent assessments of children's emotion regulation and communication included maternal and child self-reports, as well as observer ratings. Children with greater disorganization/disorientation showed lower emotion awareness, more difficulty managing their emotions, and poorer emotion expressiveness. Unique to children with greater hostile/punitive behaviors was greater affect intensity. In contrast, children with more caregiving/role confused behaviors spoke more in emotion conversations with their mothers and were part of mother-child dyads who rely on more positive words when discussing conflicts, suggesting that they have greater communication responsibility. Our findings underscore the importance of assessing each disorganized and controlling pattern in middle childhood to understand how disorganization and emotion development are related.