Determinants of Maternal Emotion Socialization: Based on Belsky’s Process of Parenting Model

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to investigate how the potential multifactors influence mothers' emotion socialization. This study involved 300 Japanese-speaking married mothers with 2-5-year-old children, who answered a series of measures of emotion socialization (coaching, dismissing, dysfunction, and non-involvement), emotion regulation strategy (reappraisal and expressive suppression), psychopathology (anxiety and depression), and perceived parenting alliance with their partners. (a) Hierarchical multiple regression analyses demonstrated different effects between maternal anxiety and depression, such that higher levels of depression were associated with less coaching and higher levels of anxiety were associated with more dismissing and dysfunction. (b) Moreover, maternal emotion regulation was significant even when controlling for psychopathology, in which reappraisal had significant positive association with coaching and, conversely, expressive suppression had significant negative association with coaching and positive associations with non-involvement, dismissing, and dysfunction. (c) Additionally, moderation analysis revealed that a greater use of reappraisal was associated with more coaching, and this relation was strongest in lower levels of parenting alliance. Similarly, a greater use of reappraisal was associated with less dysfunction only when parenting alliance was low. Reappraisal may be effective in promoting supportive emotion socialization and buffering the negative effect of lower parenting alliance on unsupportive emotion socialization. Based on Belsky's process of parenting model, we incorporate maternal psychopathology, emotion regulation, and perceived parenting alliance into one model of influencing maternal emotion socialization and highlight the unique role of emotion regulation.

A person-based approach to emotion socialization in toddlerhood: Individual differences in maternal emotion regulation, mental-health and parental sense of competence

“…The research demonstrated that cognitive reappraisal is positively associated with using praise in interactions 28 , supportive emotion socialisation 29 and can moderate maternal anger towards young children 30 , while, emotional suppression is negatively related to parental guidance, warmth and responsiveness in parent–child interactions 31 . In a recent study, cognitive reappraisal was positively and expressive suppression was negatively associated with supportive strategies (i.e., coaching) in Japanese mothers of 2–5-year-old children 32 . In the same study, both emotion regulation strategies and mental health symptoms were related with emotion socialisation.…”

Parent emotion regulation and parenting self-efficacy: The moderating role of coparenting

“…We hypothesized that parents who utilized greater cognitive reappraisal and less expressive suppression would demonstrate higher PSE. We further hypothesized that positive relations between cognitive reappraisal and PSE would be more pronounced among parents with higher-quality coparenting relationships (Bao & Kato, 2020), whereas negative relations between expressive suppression and PSE would be mitigated among parents with higher-quality coparenting relationships. Additionally, we anticipated the moderating effect of coparenting on relations between parent ER and PSE would be more pronounced in fathers compared to mothers, in accordance with the father vulnerability hypothesis (Goeke-Morey & Cummings, 2007).…”

“…However, parenting quality more strongly decreased child emotional negativity in families with higher-quality coparenting relationships. In a sample of Japanese mothers of toddlers and young children, mothers who relied on cognitive reappraisal were more likely to “coach” their children’s emotions (e.g., soothe, validate child’s emotions, provide coping strategies) when mothers reported lower-quality parenting alliances (Bao & Kato, 2020). Thus, while prior research has supported the role of coparenting as a key moderator in the family system, previous studies have not considered its role in associations between parent ER and PSE.…”

Emotion Regulation, Parenting, and Psychopathology: A Systematic Review

“…Among mothers in a low socio-economic community sample, difficulties in emotion regulation predicted overall dysfunctional parenting behavior and overreactivity, while substance use and trauma-associated and depressive symptoms had no significant contribution (Powers et al, 2021). Bao and Kato (2020) studied the association between specific emotion regulation strategies and emotion socialization in mothers from a community sample controlling for symptoms of anxiety and depression. They found reappraisal strategies to be related to more supportive emotion socialization (coaching) and fewer unsupportive emotion socialization (dismissing).…”