2018 journal article

Longitudinal associations between physically abusive parents' emotional expressiveness and children's self-regulation

CHILD ABUSE & NEGLECT, 77, 144–154.

co-author countries: United States of America 🇺🇸
author keywords: Maltreatment; Parents; Emotional expressiveness; Self-regulation; Children
MeSH headings : Child; Child Abuse / psychology; Child, Preschool; Emotions; Female; Humans; Male; Mood Disorders / etiology; Parent-Child Relations; Parents / psychology; Physical Abuse / psychology; Self-Control / psychology; Socialization
Source: Web Of Science
Added: August 6, 2018

The present study took a developmental psychopathology approach to examine the longitudinal association between parents’ emotional expressiveness and children’s self-regulation. Data collection spanned from 2004 to 2008. Ninety-two physically abusive parents completed yearly assessments of their emotional expressiveness, as well as their children’s self-regulation abilities. Observational and behavioral measures were also obtained yearly to capture both parents’ emotional expressiveness and children’s self-regulation. Specifically, parents participated in a parent-child interaction task, which provided insight into their levels of flat affect. A puzzle box task was completed by each child to assess self-regulation. Results indicated, first, that greater parental expression of negative emotions predicted poorer self-regulation in children, both concurrently and across time. Second, parental expressions of positive emotions and parents’ flat affect were unrelated to children’s self-regulation. Findings inform our understanding of parental socialization of self-regulation and provide insight into the roles of distinct components of emotional expressiveness. Moreover, findings have crucial implications for understanding emotional expressiveness in high-risk samples and increase our understanding of within-group functioning among maltreating families that may serve as a means to direct intervention efforts.