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Although there is relative consensus in the literature regarding associations between certain emotion socialization (ES) strategies and youth behavioral health, there is very limited research from a person-centered perspective. To address this gap, the current study examined patterns of ES strategies in families and explored predictors and youth outcomes associated with those patterns. An economically-diverse sample of 229 predominately White mothers and fathers of youth aged 3-12 years was recruited online for a longitudinal study. Latent profile analysis was used to determine the optimal number of family clusters with similar ES profiles. Model fit supported a four-class model, which consisted of an Emotion Coaching profile, characterized by the lowest levels of putatively labeled unsupportive ES practices and the highest levels of putatively labeled supportive ES practices, a Moderate profile characterized by moderate levels of both unsupportive and supportive ES practices, a Limited Engagement profile characterized by low levels of both unsupportive and supportive ES practices, and an Emotion Dismissing profile characterized by the highest levels of unsupportive ES practices and the lowest levels of supportive ES practices. Cross-sectional and longitudinal differences were observed across the ES profiles with regard to demographic and parent emotional competence predictors and youth outcomes. The current study extends the literature on ES by providing evidence on how distinct ES profiles differentially predict youth behavioral health outcomes. Findings also underscore the importance of examining parent emotional competence as a catalyst for adaptive change in the family system., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Low-income families are less likely to effectively engage in Behavioral Parent Training (BPT), the standard of care for early-onset (3-8 years old) disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs); however, relatively little is known about predictors of treatment process and outcome within this vulnerable group. Given literature to suggest compromises associated with both low-income status and DBDs, this study examined the role of caregiver emotion regulation and socialization practices in 15 low-income families who participated in one evidence-based BPT program, Helping the Noncompliant Child (HNC). Findings suggest baseline caregiver emotion regulation predicted variability in BPT treatment duration and outcomes, whereas baseline caregiver emotion socialization practices explained variation in the severity of child disruptive behaviors concurrently, as well as BPT treatment outcomes. Furthermore, BPT yielded pre- to posttreatment effect sizes that were equivalent to or better than treatments designed to more explicitly target emotion regulation and socialization processes. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed.

Caregivers play a crucial role in the socialization of youth emotion understanding, competence, and regulation, which are implicated in youth social and emotional health; however, there is less understanding of parental psychosocial or cognitive factors, like mindful parenting, that may be associated with the use of particular emotion socialization (ES) strategies. This study tests a model of the cross-sectional and short-term longitudinal associations between mindful parenting and supportive and nonsupportive ES strategies in a community sample of parents (N = 246; 63.8% mothers) of youth ranging from ages 3-12. Caregivers reported on mindful parenting and ES strategies at two time points 4 months apart. The structural equation model indicated that higher levels of mindful parenting are positively related to supportive ES responses and negatively related to nonsupportive ES responses both concurrently and over time. The longitudinal association between mindful parenting and nonsupportive, but not supportive, ES was marginally larger for fathers as compared to mothers. Given the documented impact of ES strategies on youth emotional and behavioral outcomes and interventions emerging to educate parents about how to provide a healthy emotional atmosphere, incorporating a focus on mindful parenting strategies may provide one pathway to increase supportive responses and decrease nonsupportive ones., (© 2017 Family Process Institute.)

Parent emotion regulation and socialization have been linked to various aspects of child functioning. In the case of early-onset behavior disorders in particular, parent emotion regulation may be an important correlate of the coercive cycle implicated in early-onset behavior disorders thus, symptom presentation at baseline. Further, emotion socialization may be complicated by a pattern of parent-child interactions in which both supportive or unsupportive parenting behaviors in response to behavioral dysregulation may increase vulnerability for problem behavior in the future. Some work suggests standard Behavioral Parent Training may impact parent emotion regulation and socialization. Still little is known, however, about how such processes may vary by family income, which is critical given the overrepresentation of low-income children in statistics on early-onset behavior disorders. This study explored parent emotion regulation, socialization, and family income in a sample of socioeconomically diverse treatment-seeking families of young (3–8 years old) children. Findings suggest relations between parental emotion regulation, socialization, and child behavior although the pattern of associations differed at baseline and post-treatment and varied by family income. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To explore shame and guilt as potential pathways linking recalled emotion socialization (ES) parenting behaviors during childhood with emerging adult outcomes. Background: Although ES has been associated with youth outcomes, more research is needed to uncover variables that may explain such associations. Additionally, the present study addresses limitations of extant literature by (a) exploring ES within the context of recalled discrete expressions of fear, anger, and sadness; (b) indexing both maternal and paternal ES responses; and (c) considering the possible moderating role of emerging adult gender. Method: A sample of 206 undergraduate and graduate students completed questionnaires asking them to recall parental ES during childhood and to report on current shame‐ and guilt‐proneness, depressive symptomology, and compassion for others. Following preliminary analyses, path analysis and the Monte Carlo method for assessing indirect effects were used to evaluate the statistical significance of the indirect effects in the path models. Results: Data suggest that shame and guilt help to explain the associations between certain parental ES practices and emerging adult outcomes. Associations between variables differed when taking into account discrete emotion expressed, parent gender, and participant gender. Conclusion: Results highlight the complexity of ES processes and the importance of guilt and shame in understanding relations between ES and young adult outcomes. Important associations may be obscured in the ES literature by the common practice of collapsing discrete emotions into global indices and the tendency to primarily investigate mothers' ES practices. Implications: A more nuanced understanding of ES processes can contribute to the development of targeted and effective ES prevention and intervention programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addressed limitations of emotion socialization ( ES) research and is the first to explore socialization of positive emotion ( PE) in 20 single African American ( AA) mothers and their adolescents. Considering the dearth of research on ES with AA adolescents, an inductive, qualitative approach was warranted. A portion of mothers reported elevated depressive symptoms, which is important given their prevalence in AA women and that very few studies of ES have considered parental mental health. Although PE is gaining warranted attention in the scientific community based on recent data linking it to mental and physical health, PE has traditionally been a cornerstone of AA interactional style. The results suggest that AA mothers use complementary and contradictory responses to youth PE, often sharing and expanding, other times diminishing or teaching lessons. The findings emphasize the importance of racial and cultural considerations in ES practices and highlight the potential impact of elevated maternal depressive symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internalizing disorders represent a substantial public health burden in the United States, and recent studies have focused on identifying factors related to internalizing symptoms (IS) in emerging adults (EA). The current study utilizes Structural Equation Modeling to examine the associations between parental psychopathology, recalled parent emotion socialization (ES), EA perception of social connectedness (SC), and EA IS in a comprehensive model with a single informant EA sample (N = 249). The current investigation considers the impact of parent gender on the models predicting EA IS. Results suggest that parental psychopathology is associated with specific ES behaviors, and SC serves as a mediator of the relation between some parental ES responses (i.e., paternal neglect) and EA IS. By incorporating these important elements in a parsimonious model, this study has identified potentially malleable factors related to EA IS, which have important implications for intervention and prevention programming in the family context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]