Abstract
The present study tested a theoretical model of emotion regulation between parent-offspring dynamics and emerging adults’ adjustment. The mediating role of emotion regulation strategies, including cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression, were investigated for the effects of mother-offspring and father-offspring dynamics on emerging adults’ adjustment. A sample of 352 Chinese emerging adults in Hong Kong (230 female, 121 male) participated in this study. Participants were asked to complete a set of self-reported questionnaires. Findings based on structural equation modeling indicated that greater mother-offspring intimacy and father-offspring intimacy predicted emerging adults’ better cognitive reappraisal and psychological, social, and general health. Greater mother-offspring conflict also predicted more expressive suppression and poorer psychological and social functioning. Distinctive mediation pathways as a function of parents’ gender were identified. These findings enrich the literature for parent-offspring dynamics and emotion regulation as explanatory processes of emerging adults’ adjustment.
Highlights
The study of emotion regulation and well-being has received much scholarly attention over the last decade [1,2]
Extending the tripartite model [11] to the Chinese context, the present findings demonstrated differential effects of parent-offspring dynamics on emerging adults’ adjustment via emotion regulation
One of the key findings of this study was that expressive suppression mediated between mother-offspring dynamics and adjustment outcomes
Summary
The study of emotion regulation and well-being has received much scholarly attention over the last decade [1,2]. According to Thompson [3], emotion regulation is defined as “internal and external processes involved in initiating, maintaining, and modulating the occurrence, intensity, and expression of emotions.”. Previous research suggested that emotion regulation changes from early adolescence to middle adulthood, with individuals’ use of adaptive emotion regulation strategies increasing with age [4]. Despite the variation of emotion regulation strategies in our lifetime, little is known about the precedents and correlates of emotion regulation in emerging adulthood. Emerging adulthood is a transition period from adolescence to adulthood, whereby individuals develop new values and identities [5].
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