Abstract
The current study tested a preliminary cascade model of parent dysfunction—i.e., internalizing psychopathology and emotion dysregulation—whereby parent dysfunction is transmitted to children through the impact of parental emotion socialization on child emotion regulation. Participants were 705 mothers (Mage = 36.17, SD = 7.55) and fathers (Mage = 35.43, SD = 6.49) of children aged 8 to 12 years who self-reported on their internalizing psychopathology, emotion regulation difficulties, and emotion socialization practices, and on their child’s internalizing psychopathology and emotion regulation. Using a split sample method, we employed a data-driven approach to develop a conceptual model from our initially proposed theoretical model with the first subsample (n = 352, 51% mothers), and then validated this model in a second subsample (n = 353, 49% mothers). Results supported a model in which the transmission of dysfunction from parent to child was sequentially mediated by unsupportive parental emotion socialization—but not supportive parental emotion socialization—and child emotion dysregulation. The indirect effects from the final model did not differ by parent gender. Findings provide preliminary support for a mechanism by which maternal and paternal internalizing psychopathology and emotion dysregulation disrupt parental emotion socialization by increasing unsupportive emotion socialization practices, which impacts children’s development of emotion regulation skills and risk for internalizing psychopathology.
Highlights
Parent internalizing psychopathology and emotion dysregulation are well-established risk factors for child psychopathology (e.g., Goodman and Brumley, 1990; Lapalme et al, 1997; DelBello and Geller, 2001; Buckholdt et al, 2014)
While it is clear that parent dysfunction contributes to child dysfunction, the current study aims to build upon the extant literature by testing a preliminary cascade effect of parent internalizing psychopathology and emotion dysregulation
We propose an emotion socialization transmission framework whereby parent dysfunction is transmitted to children through the impact of supportive and unsupportive emotion socialization on child emotion dysregulation
Summary
Parent internalizing psychopathology and emotion dysregulation ( referred to as “dysfunction”) are well-established risk factors for child psychopathology (e.g., Goodman and Brumley, 1990; Lapalme et al, 1997; DelBello and Geller, 2001; Buckholdt et al, 2014). Several mediators have been identified and examined independently, an investigation of how these factors function in tandem has only briefly been explored (e.g., Suveg et al, 2011; Kerns et al, 2017; Thomassin et al, 2017). This is important to examine given that these factors likely interact in complex ways in the transmission of dysfunction. We conducted a preliminary test of a cascade model accounting for the transmission of parent internalizing psychopathology and emotion dysregulation to children via the impact of emotion socialization on child emotion dysregulation
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