Emotion regulation strategies and goals as predictors of older mothers’ and adult daughters’ helping-related subjective well-being.

Abstract

We examined emotion regulation (ER) in intergenerational helping relationships involving 77 older mother-adult daughter dyads. Participants' ER strategies (passive, proactive) and ER goals (self-oriented, other oriented) were considered as predictors of their own and their partners' satisfaction with, and their positive and negative affective reactions to, the helping relationship. For mothers and daughters, greater use of passive ER strategies predicted greater negative affect, lower satisfaction, and less positive affect for themselves, as well as partner reports of lower satisfaction and (for daughters only) greater negative affect. Mothers' and daughters' use of proactive strategies predicted lower negative affect for themselves, and daughters' use of proactive ER strategies predicted lower negative affect for their mothers. Mothers' and daughters' endorsement of other-oriented ER goals predicted greater satisfaction and positive affect for themselves. Results are considered in the context of the larger literature concerning intergenerational helping relationships.