Child Difficult Temperament and Mothers' Reaction to Child Negative Emotion as Predictors of Child Emotion Regulation Strategy

Linking Maternal Emotion Socialization to Boys' and Girls' Emotion Regulation in Korea

“…A number of studies in Western cultures reported that mothers' supportive reactions to child distress (e.g., being responsive to children's distress and encouraging the child's emotion expression) fostered children's effortful control and emotion regulation (Davidov & Grusec, 2006;von Suchodoletz, Trommsdorff, & Heikamp, 2011), whereas mothers' unsupportive reactions (e.g., responding punitively to children's distress) were associated with children's poor ability to regulate emotion (Eisenberg, Fabes, & Murphy, 1996;Fabes, Leonard, Kupanoff, & Martin, 2001). Studies in Asian contexts also reported that mothers' supportive reactions were related to successful emotion regulation in general, whereas mothers' unsupportive reactions were associated with dysregulated emotion and problem behaviors in Korea and China (Park, Lee, & Bae, 2011;Tao, Zhou, & Wang, 2010). However, the effects of unsupportive reactions on child emotional functioning seem less consistent.…”

“…This is in line with the previous findings in both Western and Asian samples. The well-established literature suggests that parents' supportive reactions to child distress facilitate children's development of emotion regulation and effortful control (Davidov & Grusec, 2006;Park et al, 2011). On the other hand, children who experienced unsupportive reactions from parents are more likely to remain emotionally aroused and dysregulated under distress (Eisenberg et al, 1996) and to show increased negative emotion expressions (Fabes et al, 2001;Park et al, 2011).…”

“…The well-established literature suggests that parents' supportive reactions to child distress facilitate children's development of emotion regulation and effortful control (Davidov & Grusec, 2006;Park et al, 2011). On the other hand, children who experienced unsupportive reactions from parents are more likely to remain emotionally aroused and dysregulated under distress (Eisenberg et al, 1996) and to show increased negative emotion expressions (Fabes et al, 2001;Park et al, 2011). However, it is inconsistent with a few Asian studies that reported no association between mothers' unsupportive reactions and children's emotional functioning (Lee et al, 2007;McCord & Raval, 2015;Tao et al, 2010).…”

Korean Mothers' Intuitive Theories Regarding Emotion Socialization of their Children

“…On the other hand, mothers who react to children's negative emotion in unsupportive ways contribute negatively to the development of children's emotion regulation (Denham, Mitchell-Copeland, Strandberg, Auerbach, & Blair, 1997;Noh & Jeong, 2010). Studies examining the relationships between mothers' reactions to child negative emotion expression and children's emotion regulation strategies, Park, Lee, and Bae (2011) reported that mothers' problem focused and emotion focused reactions have been found to be negatively related to children's aggressive emotion regulation strategy. On the other hand, mothers' minimizing, punishment and distress reactions have been found to be positively related to aggressive strategy whereas negatively related to positive emotion regulation strategy.…”

“…Only a few studies have attempted to focus on parental socialization of positive affect exploring the association between parents' reactions toward child positive emotion and social emotional functioning of children (Ladouceur, Reid, & Jacques, 2002;Yep, Allen, & Ladouceur, 2008). Considering the important contribution of parental emotion socialization to the child`s socialemotional functioning (Fabes et al, 2002;Park et al, 2011) and cultural meaning systems for the expression and regulation of emotions , the relationship between mothers' reactions to children's positive emotion expression and children's emotion regulation in Korean culture needs to be explored.…”