Adolescence is characterized by increases in autonomy, yet we have limited knowledge about how parents and adolescents may navigate this transition in real time. We assessed dynamic bidirectional associations between parental behavior-specifically, autonomy support and control-and adolescent autonomy in both mother-adolescent and father-adolescent dyads during a 10-min conflict discussion task (N ϭ 86, 32 girls). Observers rated parental autonomy support, parental control, and adolescent autonomy on 4-point scales in 30-s epochs. Residual dynamic structural equation (RDSEM) models revealed that increases in paternal autonomy support in a given 30-s epoch predicted increases in adolescent autonomy in the next epoch, after controlling for stability in father and adolescent behavior from one epoch to the next. Further, increases in adolescent autonomy in a given 30-s epoch predicted increases in maternal control in the next epoch. Findings highlight the importance of investigating bidirectional associations in parent-adolescent interactions as well as considering the divergent roles that mothers and fathers may play in the socialization of adolescent autonomy.

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In this study, we assessed whether an intervention designed to improve children's sibling relationships, the More Fun with Sisters and Brothers program (MFWSB), may also help parents manage their emotions more effectively. Families with at least 2 children between the ages of 4 and 8 years were randomly assigned to an intervention (n = 50) or wait-list control (n = 34) group. Parents completed pre- and posttest questionnaires on sibling warmth and agonism, their emotion regulation during sibling conflict, and their global emotion regulation styles. Program participation had a direct effect on 3 of the 4 emotion regulation outcomes for mothers. Mothers in the intervention versus control group reported lower levels of dysregulation and suppression and higher levels of reappraisal at posttest, controlling for pretest regulation scores. Additionally, path models examining posttest responses showed that participation in MFWSB led to lower levels of maternal and paternal negative reactivity in the sibling context via lower levels of sibling agonism, controlling for pretest levels of negative reactivity. Alternate path models, with parents' emotion regulation as mechanisms linking MFWSB and sibling relationship quality, were tested but not supported. Results highlight the value of a sibling-focused intervention for promoting parents' abilities to regulate their emotions.

Guided by Eisenberg, Cumberland, and Spinrad's (1998) conceptual framework, we examined multiple components of maternal emotion socialization (i.e., reactions to children's negative emotion, emotion talk, emotional expressiveness) at 33 months of age as predictors of adolescents' amygdala-vmPFC connectivity and amygdala activation when labeling and passively observing angry and happy faces. For angry faces, more positive maternal emotion socialization behaviors predicted (a) less positive amygdala-vmPFC connectivity, which may reflect more mature vmPFC downregulation of the amygdala activation underlying implicit emotion regulation, and (b) more amygdala activation, which may reflect higher sensitivity to others' emotional cues. Associations between negative emotion socialization behaviors and neural responses to angry faces were nonsignificant, and findings for the models predicting neural responses to happy faces showed a less consistent pattern. By expanding Eisenberg et al.'s (1998) framework to consider neural processing of negative emotions, the current findings point toward the potential long-term implications of positive emotion socialization experiences during early childhood for optimal functioning of the amygdala-vmPFC circuitry during adolescence.

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