Although most children remain well-adjusted during the first year of treatment, many caregivers experience clinically relevant symptoms of psychological distress. Implications for development of interventions targeting at-risk patients and caregivers are discussed. Identifying processes that predict between-family variability in trajectories of psychopathology is an important next step. (PsycINFO Database Record

The current study describes a promising new emotion coaching (EC) parenting intervention for survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) targeting emotion regulation (ER) and parent–child relationships. We discuss the development of an EC parenting intervention, outline its key elements, and use preliminary pilot data to illustrate how such a behavioral intervention can yield improvements in behavioral and physiological indices of ER (i.e., respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]) and parent–child relationships and reductions in mental health difficulties in IPV-exposed mothers and their children. A 12-week skills-based EC parenting program was developed and administered in groups. Fifty mothers were assigned to intervention or waitlist groups. Physiological, observational, and questionnaire data were obtained pre- and postintervention. Because of the small sample size, effect sizes were examined for illustrative purposes of potential effects of the EC intervention. Relative to mothers in waitlist group, mothers in the intervention group showed (a) improvements in emotion awareness and coaching, (b) increases in ER as assessed by baseline RSA, (c) increased use of validation and decreased use of sermonizing/lecturing/scolding during parent–child interaction, and (d) increased sense of parenting competence. Relative to children of mothers in the waitlist group, children of mothers in the intervention group showed (a) increases in ER as measured by parent-report and baseline RSA, (b) decreases in negativity during parent–child interaction, and (c) decreases in depressive symptoms. Discussion highlights potential usefulness of an EC parenting intervention for populations at risk for ER and parenting difficulties.

Post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) are high among female survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV), and children of parents experiencing PTSS are at heightened risk for a wide range of emotional and behavioral problems. Parenting has significant influence on child adjustment, and although links have been found between parental psychopathology and maladaptive parenting, little is known about the factors that may explain this relation. The current study examines mother's emotion regulation (ER) as a factor influencing the relation between mother PTSS and parenting around children's emotions in a study sample of sixty-four female survivors of IPV and their 6- to 12-year-old children. Mothers reported on their own PTSS and their parenting. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was used as a psychophysiological index of mother's ER. Experiential components of mother's ER was also measured by observer coding of the Meta-Emotion Interview, a structured assessment that asks parents about their attitudes toward and experiences with emotions, including their regulation of emotions. Mother's RSA reactivity moderated the relation between PTSS and negative parenting. There was also a significant indirect relation between mothers' PTSS symptom severity and supportive parenting reactions through mothers' self-report of ER. Results suggest that mother's ER abilities represent factors that significantly affect associations between maternal PTSS and parent's emotion socialization practices. Implications for assessment and intervention with families exposed to the stress of IPV are discussed.

Implications for development of interventions that target at-risk family relationships are discussed. Identifying processes that predict between-family variability in trajectories of family relationships is an important next step, particularly for the marital relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record

Exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) is a traumatic life event. Almost 50 percent of IPV‐exposed children show subsequent post‐traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), and they are at increased risk for depression. We examined maternal emotion socialization and children's emotion regulation as a pathway that may protect IPV‐exposed children from developing PTSS and depression. Fifty‐eight female survivors of IPV and their 6‐ to 12‐year‐old children participated. Results showed no direct relations between maternal emotion socialization and child adjustment. However, several indirect effects were observed. Higher mother awareness and acceptance of sadness and awareness of fear predicted better child sadness and fear regulation, respectively, which in turn was related to fewer child PTSS. Similar indirect pathways were found with child depression. In addition, mothers’ acceptance and coaching of anger was associated with better child anger regulation, which related to fewer depression symptoms. Implications for prevention and intervention with high‐risk families are discussed.

Rates of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) are high among female survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV), and children of parents experiencing PTSS are at increased risk for emotional and behavioral problems. However, little is known about the factors that may explain this relation. We examined child's emotion regulation as a moderator and mother's emotion regulation as a mediator of the relation between mother PTSS and child adjustment. Sixty-four female survivors of IPV and their 6-12-year-old children participated. Mothers reported their own PTSS and their children's adjustment. Child emotion regulation was measured using respiratory sinus arrhythmia, a physiological index of emotion regulation. Mother's emotion regulation was measured from observer coding of the Parent Meta-Emotion Interview (Katz & Gottman, 1986), which asked mothers about their awareness and regulation of emotion. Child emotion regulation moderated the relation between mother's PTSS and child depression and child PTSS. Mothers' total trauma symptom severity showed significant indirect effects on children's internalizing, externalizing, and total problems via mothers' emotion regulation. Results suggest that children's as well as mothers' emotion-regulation abilities represent factors that affect associations between maternal PTSS and child adjustment in families exposed to IPV.

Objective: To examine effects of stress on caregiver psychological adjustment during the first year of pediatric cancer. Method: Caregivers (N = 159) of children with cancer completed monthly questionnaires assessing domains of caregiver psychological adjustment (depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress symptoms) and stress (general life stress, treatment-related stress, caregiver perceptions of treatment intensity and life threat). Effects of stress were assessed at two levels to examine whether withinperson changes in stress predicted concurrent changes in caregiver adjustment and whether average stress was associated with between-person differences in caregiver adjustment trajectories. Results: Overall, higher levels of stress factors were associated with poorer caregiver adjustment at both the between-and within-person levels, with high average levels of treatment-related stress and general life stress emerging as leading predictors of worse adjustment. Conclusions: Both types of stressors, those directly related as well as unrelated to a child's cancer, contribute uniquely to caregiver distress. Caregiver distress is impacted by both overall levels of stress over time as well as month-to-month changes in stress. Implications for informing care for at-risk caregivers are discussed.

Implications for identification of at-risk families are discussed, and importance of delivering tailored interventions for this population.