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Panel information
Panel 23. Social, Emotional, Personality

Abstract

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A heuristic model of emotion socialization (Eisenberg et al., 1998) supposes that broader parental goals are associated with variations in how parents socialize or teach emotions to their children. For example, parents model positive emotions frequently and are supportive of children’s negative emotions in cultures where parents hold autonomous goals, like expecting independence by age 3 (Keller & Otto, 2009). The present study examined how broader socialization goals combine with emotion socialization practices to relate to adjustment in toddlerhood. Eighty-four parents (Mage = 32.23 years; 96% mothers) of children 20 to 36 months old (Mage = 24.60 months; 40 boys; 39% Hispanic or Latino) completed surveys. Socialization goals were measured using parent ratings of whether they expected their child to develop attributes associated with autonomy (e.g., to develop a sense of self) and relatedness (e.g., to learn to help others) during the first 3 years of life (Keller et al., 2006). Two aspects of parental emotion socialization were measured: emotion modeling (measured with the Self-Expressiveness in the Family Questionnaire; Halberstadt et al., 1995) and reactions to toddler negative emotions (measured with the Coping with Toddler’s Negative Emotions Survey; Spinrad et al., 2007). Toddler social and emotional competence and problem behaviors were measured using the Brief Infant Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (Briggs-Gowan et al., 2004). Hierarchical regression analyses examined the contributions of parent emotion socialization and socialization goals to toddler adjustment. Models first predicted toddler competence and problem behavior from emotion socialization behaviors (modeling or reactions to emotions) and socialization goals (autonomy or relatedness goals), while controlling for toddler gender and ethnicity. Interaction terms of emotion socialization and socialization goals were added next. Direct effects were found for parent modeling of emotions: parent positive expressivity was positively associated with toddler competence, B = .30, p = .01, 95% CI [.07, .52], and negatively associated with toddler problem behavior, B = -.24, p = .04, 95% CI [-.47, -.01]. Four moderated effects were found (25% of effects tested). Among the results, parental self-expressiveness of positive emotion was positively associated with toddler competence when parents prioritized toddler attributes associated with relatedness to others (B = .48, p < .001; 95% CI [.26, .71]), but not when relatedness goals were low (B = -.08, p=.70; 95% CI [-.40, .25]), see Figure 1. Unsupportive reactions to toddler negative emotions were modestly positively associated with problem behaviors when parents prioritized toddler autonomy (B = .33, p = .056, 95% CI [-.008, .67]), but not when autonomy goals were low (B =-.12, p = .37, 95% CI [-.39, .14]), see Figure 2. Consistent with a heuristic model of emotion socialization (Eisenberg et al., 1998), parents’ emotion-related messages to their toddlers were associated with toddlers’ adjustment, yet relations varied by broader socialization goals. Toddlers experienced positive adjustment (more competence) when parents’ frequent expressions of positive emotion were paired with goals for relational attributes like helpfulness. Similarly, toddlers showed fewer problem behaviors when parents who expected autonomy and independence avoided unsupportive responses to toddler negative emotions.

Author information

Author	Role
Jessica Stoltzfus Grady, Ph.D., Millersville University of Pennsylvania	Presenting author

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