Parental Emotion Regulation Research Articles

ПСИХОМЕТРИЧЕСКИЕ СВОЙСТВА РУССКОЯЗЫЧНОЙ ВЕРСИИ ОПРОСНИКА «РЕГУЛЯЦИЯ ЭМОЦИЙ У РОДИТЕЛЕЙ»

The study is devoted to preliminary investigation Russian-language version of the questionnaire "Revised Parental Emotion Regulation Inventory" psychometric properties. The sample consists of 211 parents raising 1 child - 4 children, with 184 mothers (M=36,5) and 27 fathers (M=36,9). All five scales and total scale have good consistency (Cronbach's alpha from 0.78 and 0.84). Moderate retest reliability (one month interval) is shown (r = 0.75 to r = 0.61), which can indicate measurement of more situational characteristics of parental emotions regulation. Construct validity of the questionnaire was evaluated by means of correlations with scales that theoretically are connected with the emotional regulation in parents. It is generally acceptable. A higher levels of cognitive reassessment of unwanted child-related situations and suppression of thoughts about such situations were observed in parents raising children with autism spectrum disorders than in parents of neurotypical children. This indicates the criterion validity of the inventory. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis show incomplete compliance of the four-factor model with empirical data.

청소년의 부모애착, 정서조절과 삶 만족도 간의 종단적 관계 : 청소년 초 · 중기 패널의 비교와 중학교 2학년에 대한 코호트 효과

청소년의 부모애착, 정서조절과 삶 만족도 간의 종단적 관계 : 청소년 초 · 중기 패널의 비교와 중학교 2학년에 대한 코호트 효과

Broken bonds: A meta-analysis of emotion reactivity and regulation in emotionally maltreating parents.

Emotional maltreatment is the most pervasive but least studied form of abuse. In the present study, we examined the role of emotion reactivity and emotion regulation in emotional child maltreatment. We identified nine studies that compared levels of parental emotion reactivity and regulation in emotionally maltreating families with levels in non-maltreating families. Our meta-analytic findings revealed that, in comparison to non-maltreating parents, parents who are emotionally maltreating their children report higher levels of negative affect, depression, verbal aggression, and anger. We also found that in comparison to non-maltreating parents, emotionally maltreating parents report lower levels of emotional control, emotion regulation, and coping strategies. We outline the theoretical and practical implications of these results, and emphasize how research into the etiology of child maltreatment may provide the basis for more effective prevention, screening, and treatment practices designed to eradicate emotional maltreatment.

The Relation of Parental Emotion Regulation to Child Autism Spectrum Disorder Core Symptoms: The Moderating Role of Child Cardiac Vagal Activity.

This study investigated the role of parental emotion regulation (ER) on children’s core symptoms in families of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in middle childhood; the study also explored whether children’s physiological ER functioning served as a risk or protective factor with respect to parental relationships. Thirty-one Chinese children with ASD (age 6–11) and their primary caregivers participated in this study. Parental ER and child ASD symptoms were collected via questionnaires from parents. Child cardiac vagal activity (derived from heart rate variability) was measured at rest and during a parent-child interaction task. Using moderation analyses, the results showed that parental ER was not directly associated with children’s core ASD symptoms; rather, it interacted significantly with children’s resting cardiac vagal activity, but not task-related changes of cardiac vagal activity, to exert an impact on children’s core ASD symptoms. Specifically, our findings suggested that parents’ difficulties with their own ER significantly impacted their children’s core ASD symptoms only for the children who showed blunted resting cardiac vagal activity. Implications for the future measurement of ER in the family context and future directions for intervention are discussed.

Attributions of Conflict: Impact on the Relation between Parental Physical Maltreatment and Emotion Regulation Difficulties

ABSTRACTStudies have revealed that childhood physical maltreatment is a risk factor for emotion regulation difficulties; however, less is known about the underlying processes that may mediate or moderate this relation. This study examined the mediating effect of blame attribution and moderating effect of gender in the relation between physical maltreatment and emotion regulation difficulties. A total of 415 undergraduate students (89 males and 326 females) who ranged in ages from 18 to 25 years were recruited for the study. Participants completed the Parent–Child Conflict Tactics Scale, Child Relationship Attribution Measure, and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. Results showed that blame mediated the relation between parental physical maltreatment and emotion regulation difficulties. However, gender did not moderate the effect of physical maltreatment and blame. Gender also did not moderate the mediating effect of blame in the relation between physical maltreatment and emotion regulation difficulties. The present study can contribute to a better understanding of how physical maltreatment is associated with emotion regulation difficulties. Our results suggest that attributions of conflict may be a worthwhile target of intervention for both genders.

A randomized controlled trial and economic evaluation of the Parents Under Pressure program for parents in substance abuse treatment

BackgroundThere is growing interest in the provision of parenting support to substance misusing parents. MethodsThis pragmatic, multi-center randomized controlled trial compared an intensive one-to-one parenting program (Parents under Pressure, PuP) with Treatment as Usual (TAU) in the UK. Parents were engaged in community-based substance misuse services and were primary caregivers of children less than 2.5 years of age. The primary outcome was child abuse potential, and secondary outcomes included measures of parental emotional regulation assessed at baseline, 6 and 12-months. A prospective economic evaluation was also conducted. ResultsOf 127 eligible parents, 115 met the inclusion criteria, and subsequently parents were randomly assigned to receive PuP (n = 48) or TAU (n = 52). Child abuse potential was significantly improved in those receiving the PuP program while those in TAU showed a deterioration across time in both intent-to-treat (p < 0.03) and per-protocol analyses (p < 0.01). There was also significant reliable change (recovery/improvement) in 30.6% of the PuP group compared with 10.3% of the TAU group (p < 0.02), and deterioration in 3% compared with 18% (p < 0.02). The probability that the program is cost-effective was approximately 51.8% if decision-makers are willing to pay £1000 for a unit improvement in the primary outcome, increasing to 98.0% at a £20,000 cost-effectiveness threshold for this measure. ConclusionsUp to one-third of substance dependent parents of children under 3-years of age can be supported to improve their parenting, using a modular, one-to-one parenting program. Further research is needed.

Parental emotion regulation and preschoolers’ prosocial behavior: The mediating roles of parental warmth and inductive discipline

The potential mediating roles of parental warmth and inductive discipline on the relations of parental emotion regulation strategies to children’s prosocial behavior were examined in this study. Sixty-four parents of preschoolers (50% girls) completed questionnaires assessing their own regulation practices (i.e., cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression), parenting behaviors (i.e., parental warmth/nurturance, inductive discipline), and children’s prosocial behavior (voluntary behavior intended to benefit another). The authors hypothesized that cognitive reappraisal would be positively and expressive suppression would be negatively related to parenting behaviors and children’s prosocial behavior. They further hypothesized that parental warmth and inductive discipline would mediate the relations between parents’ own regulation strategies and children’s prosocial behavior. Results demonstrated that parental cognitive reappraisal was positively associated with warmth, and expressive suppression was negatively associated with inductive discipline and children’s prosocial behavior. Parental warmth, but not inductive discipline, mediated the relations between cognitive reappraisal and children’s prosocial behavior. The results highlight adults’ own regulatory strategies as predictors of socialization behaviors and the potential processes for socialization of children’s moral emotions and positive social development.

The desire to emulate parental emotional strategies and its relation to emotion dysregulation among emerging adults

ABSTRACTEmotion regulation (ER) is an integral aspect of emerging adults’ mental health, yet little is known about interpersonal factors that influence ER in during this period. This investigation examines emerging adults’ desire to emulate parental ER skills in the relation between perceived parental ER and emerging adults’ emotion dysregulation.A sample of 79 emerging adults (Mage = 18.55 years, SD = .32; 88.6% female, 69.6% White) completed measures of perceived parental ER (Affective Style Questionnaire [ASQ]Hofmann and Kashdan 2010), emotion dysregulation (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale [DERS]Gratz and Roemer 2004), and desire to emulate parental ER (Perception of Emotion Regulation Scale [PERS]).A desire to emulate parental ER skills moderated the relationship between perceived parental ER and emerging adults’ emotion dysregulation in general (B = -.10, SE = .048, t = −2.07, p = .043), and low emotional awareness in particular (B = -.04 SE = .02, t = −2.47, p = .02).Findings suggest that emerging adults with an increased desire to emulate parents with lower ER skills report greater emotion dysregulation. Implications for clinical practice, along with future directions for the field of ER, are discussed.

Emotion Regulation in Families of Children with Behavior Problems and Nonclinical Comparisons

The current study compared parents’ emotion regulation (ER) in clinical (those with a child with externalizing behavioral problems) and low-risk comparison families. Additionally, mediation models were explored with parent ER predicting child behavior problems through child ER. Participants were 60 families with children (71.7% boys; 73% Caucasian) ages 2 through 8 years (M = 4.62; SD = 1.69) from a rural population in the United States: 34 clinical families referred for parent training and 26 nonclinical families. A blocking design was used to balance the two groups on key demographic characteristics. Parents’ and children’s ER was assessed using parent-report surveys and structured behavioral observations. Analyses indicated higher rates of parental emotion dysregulation (specifically, more difficulty when upset with achieving goal-directed behaviors, p = .01, d = 0.67; controlling impulses, p = .01, d = 0.64; limited use of ER strategies, p = .02, d = 0.62; and more negative verbalizations to their child during the observed task, p < .01, d = 0.73) and child emotion dysregulation (specifically, more difficulty as reported by parents, p < .01, d = −2.42) in the clinical group. Mediational analyses indicated there were indirect paths from parental ER to children’s behavioral problems through child ER. Findings from this research suggest a need to measure and target ER in both parents and their children when working with families who are referred for treatment of child behavior problems.

Parental Emotion Regulation and Mentalization in Families of Children With ADHD

Objective: The aim of this study is to examine the role of parental emotion regulation (ER) and parental mentalization as possible contributors to hostile and coercive parenting in families of children with ADHD. Method: Seventy-four Israeli families (64 mothers and 48 fathers) seeking parent training for child ADHD completed measures during the intake session. Measures included parental ER; parental mentalization; hostile, coercive, and submissive parenting; and child symptoms. Results: Findings suggested a relationship between parental ER and coercive parenting independent of child age, symptom level, and parental mentalization. Parental mentalization appeared to buffer against hostility specifically among parents with low ER capacities. Patterns were parallel for mothers and fathers. Conclusion: Study findings highlight the importance of evaluating and addressing parental ER in interventions attempting to reduce coercive parenting. The findings also highlight the potential role of parental mentalization as a protective mechanism against hostile parenting in families of children with ADHD.

Parent emotion regulation socializes children's adaptive physiological regulation.

Parenting practices play a major role in socializing children's developing regulatory abilities, but less is known about how parents' regulatory abilities relate to children's healthy functioning. This study examined whether parents' physiological and emotion regulation abilities corresponded to children's physiological and emotional responding to a structured laboratory-based disappointment task. Ninety-seven 3- to 7-year-olds (56 girls; M = 5.79 years) and one parent participated in a multi-method assessment of parents' and children's regulatory functioning. Direct (coaching children to use reappraisal) and indirect (resting physiology, dispositional use of reappraisal) aspects of parents' regulatory abilities were assessed. As expected, an adaptive pattern of parent regulatory abilities composed of higher resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia, use of reappraisal, and coaching reappraisal was associated with children's physiological reactivity after a disappointment indicative of more effective physiological calming in a recovery context (increased parasympathetic activation). In contrast, parents' regulatory abilities did not relate to changes in children's expressions of emotional distress.

부모의 정서조절능력이 정서지도 의사소통에 미치는 영향

부모의 정서조절능력이 정서지도 의사소통에 미치는 영향

Associations Between Parent Emotional Arousal and Regulation and Adolescents' Affective Brain Response.

Parents' emotional functioning represents a central mechanism in the caregiving environment's influence on adolescent affective brain function. However, a paucity of research has examined links between parental emotional arousal and regulation and adolescents' affective brain function. Thus, the present study examined associations between parents' self-rated negative emotion, parent emotion regulation difficulties, and adolescent brain responsivity to negative and positive emotional stimuli. Participants included 64 12-14 year-old adolescents (31 females) and their female primary caregivers. Adolescents viewed negative, positive, and neutral emotional stimuli during an fMRI scanning session. Region of interest analyses showed that higher parent negative emotion was related to adolescents' greater ACC and vmPFC response to both negatively- and positively-valenced emotional stimuli; whereas, parent negative emotion was related to adolescents' greater amygdala response to negative emotional stimuli only. Furthermore, parent emotion regulation moderated the association between parent negative emotion and adolescents' brain response to negative emotional stimuli, such that parents with high negative emotion and high emotion regulation difficulties had adolescents with the greatest affective brain response. Findings highlight the importance of considering both parent emotional arousal and regulation in understanding the family affective environment and its relation to adolescent emotion-related brain development.

Patterns of emotion regulation and emotion-related behaviors among parents of children with and without ADHD

Parent emotion regulation is a crucial factor in child adjustment. This study examined the patterns and correlation of emotion regulation and emotion-related behaviors for parents of children with and without ADHD. The study emphasized specific parental emotion regulation strategies used in parent-child interactions. Of the 177 participating parents 55.4% had at least one child with ADHD. Participants were asked to complete questionnaires measuring their emotion regulation and emotion-related behaviors (supportive vs. unsupportive) with regard to a specific child, noting whether the child had ADHD. Results indicated that parents of children with ADHD used more emotion regulation strategies than parents of children without ADHD. No differences were found in emotion-related behaviors. Patterns of relations between reappraisal and suppression emotion regulation and supportive and non-supportive emotion-related behaviors revealed that parent reappraisal was an effective emotion regulation strategy for both subgroups, whereas suppression was ineffective only for parents of children without ADHD. These findings shed light on the relation of parent reappraisal and suppression strategies to emotion-related behaviors for different parenting experiences and emphasize the importance of addressing parent specific emotion regulation in parenting intervention programs.

Depressive Symptoms among Children with ODD: Contributions of Parent and Child Risk Factors in a Chinese Sample

Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) is a developmental disorder characterized by serious and persistent social impairment, especially stressful interactions with parents. Although previous studies demonstrated associations between parent mental health and children’s ODD symptoms, less attention has been paid to integrating both parent and child risk factors. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the associations among parent emotion regulation, child emotion regulation, parental depression, and child depression in Chinese children with ODD. A total of 234 children with ODD ranging in age from 6 to 13 years, along with their fathers or mothers, completed questionnaires. Results indicated that: (1) Parent emotion regulation, parental depression and child emotion regulation were significantly correlated with children’s depressive symptoms. (2) Parent emotion regulation was related to children’s depression indirectly through parental depression and child emotion regulation. (3) Child emotion regulation fully mediated the relationship between parent emotion regulation and child depression, and also fully mediated the relationship between parental and child depression. These findings highlight the need to improve parent emotion regulation and pay attention to parental mental health, because both risk factors may exacerbate their children’s emotion regulation difficulties and further associate the high level of depressive symptoms among children with ODD.

Development of the Parent Emotion Regulation Scale (PERS): Factor Structure and Psychometric Qualities

This study aims to develop a self-report measure based on a multidimensional conceptualization of the regulation of negative emotions in the context of parenting. We examined the factor structure, factorial invariance, internal consistency and construct validity of the newly developed measure, the Parent Emotion Regulation Scale (PERS). The sample was composed of 254 mothers of children aged 3 to 15 years old (M = 8.54, SD = 3.53) who participated in an online study. Exploratory factor analysis of the PERS yielded a four-factor structure with the following factors: parents’ orientation to the child’s emotions, parents’ avoidance of the child’s emotions, parents’ lack of emotional control and parents’ acceptance of the child’s and their own emotions. Confirmatory factorial analysis supported the four-factor model, showing an adequate fit for this structure. Additionally, the model displayed configural, metric, scalar and residual invariance across the children’s sex groups. Cronbach’s alpha values and mean inter-item correlations indicated an adequate internal consistency. Correlations between the PERS scale and the Coping with Children’s Negative Emotions Scale (CCNES) indicated that the different dimensions of parents’ emotion regulation were significantly associated with both positive and negative reactions to the children’s negative emotions. Furthermore, the emotion regulation dimensions showed incremental validity in the prediction of the child’s adjustment. This study provides preliminary support for the adequacy of this newly developed measure, although further studies are needed to establish its psychometric qualities in more diverse populations.

Randomized Clinical Trial of Mindfulness Skills Augmentation in Parent Training

The development of mindfulness parenting programs in recent years offers a promising direction for targeting parental emotional dysregulation in families of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Nevertheless, research on the effectiveness of mindfulness parenting programs is limited, and little is known about the contribution of mindfulness skills to parenting when integrated with parent training (PT). The present study evaluated a mindfulness skills augmentation to PT for ADHD. We hypothesized that mindfulness-enhanced PT would improve parental emotion regulation and reduce hostile and coercive parenting. We developed a 90-min mindfulness skills protocol and integrated it with a nonviolent resistance (NVR) PT program addressing ADHD and behavior difficulties. A total of 79 families were randomly assigned to PT or mindfulness-enhanced PT. Forty-three families completed intervention. We used multilevel modeling to evaluate parental emotion regulation, hostile and coercive parenting, and child behavioral symptoms across treatments and over time. Across treatment conditions, mothers’ negative feelings, escalating behaviors, and capacity for emotion regulation improved significantly following treatment. Fathers in the mindfulness condition reported greater improvement in the capacity for emotion regulation, reduced negative feelings, and reduced parental submission compared with fathers in the PT condition. We found no differences in child externalizing symptoms, which decreased significantly in both groups. Study results suggest that PT in NVR is effective in improving maternal capacity for emotion regulation and in reducing hostile and coercive parenting. For fathers, a mindfulness-based skills augmentation may be important for enhancing treatment benefits.

Parental Acceptance-Rejection, Childhood Trauma, Emotion Regulation, and Psychological Adjustment as the Risk Factors of Psychopathic Tendencies in Adolescents of Pakistan

&lt;p&gt;The present study aimed to explore the psychopathic tendencies in relation to childhood trauma, psychological adjustment, emotion regulation and parental patterns of acceptance-rejection towards their adolescents and the influence of demographic variables in socio-cultural context of Pakistan. Translated versions of Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire; Child PARQ, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Personality Assessment Questionnaire, Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, Youth Psychopathic Trait Inventory and bio-data form containing information regarding different demographic variables were used in order to collect the data from the participants. The sample consisted of 600 adolescents (281 males; 319 females) with age ranged between 13 and 17 were selected with convenient random sampling from different private and public schools of the three major cities of Punjab; Lahore, Gujrat and Sialkot. The results indicated psychological maladjustment as the most significant predictor of psychopathic tendencies. However, emotion regulation appeared to be as the most significant predictor of psychopathic tendencies in male adolescents and parental acceptance-rejection (mother) in female adolescents. The results further indicated that age, father’s education and profession, mother’s education and monthly income are significant determinants of psychopathic tendencies in participants of the study.&lt;/p&gt;

Multiple Levels of Family Factors and Oppositional Defiant Disorder Symptoms Among Chinese Children

Family factors are closely associated with child developmental outcomes. This study examined the relationship of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms and factors at whole family, dyadic, and individual levels in Chinese children. Participants, who were recruited from 14 primary schools in north, east, and south-west China, included 80 father-child dyads and 169 mother-child dyads. Children in the participating dyads were previously diagnosed with ODD. Results revealed that family cohesion/adaptability was indirectly associated with ODD symptoms via parent-child relationship and child emotion regulation. Parent-child relationship affected ODD symptoms directly and indirectly through child emotion regulation. In addition, the effects of family cohesion/adaptability on parent emotion regulation and child emotion regulation were mediated by the parent-child relationship. The tested model provides a comprehensive framework of how family factors at multiple levels are related to child ODD symptoms and highlights the importance of understanding child emotional and behavioral problems within the family context, more specifically within the multiple levels of family relationships.

A Psychometric Evaluation of the Revised Parental Emotion Regulation Inventory

Despite significant research on parental emotion, parents’ regulation of their own emotions during discipline encounters is an understudied topic. Progress in this area of inquiry would be enhanced by the development of valid measures of emotion regulation. The present article describes an evaluation of such a measure, the revised Parental Emotion Regulation Inventory (PERI2). Mothers of 2-year-old children (N = 232) completed the PERI2, additional questionnaire measures, and a parent-child observation during home visits. The present findings support the factorial and concurrent validity of the PERI2’s suppression (e.g., concealing negative emotion), capitulation (e.g., giving into aversive child behavior to reduce negative emotion) and escape (e.g., walking away mid discipline encounter to reduce negative emotion) factors. Suppression, capitulation, and escape were distinct but interrelated emotion regulatory behaviors that were associated with such factors as harsh parenting, lax discipline, parental maladjustment, and child physical aggression. In contrast, the psychometric adequacy of the reappraisal factor (e.g., thinking differently about the child’s behavior to reduce negative emotion) was not supported. The results support the future use of the PERI2, minus the reappraisal factor’s items.