Maternal Punitive Reactions to Children's Negative Emotions and Young Adult Trait Anger: Effect of Gender and Emotional Closeness

Abstract

The current study tested whether young adult’s recollected reports of their mother’s punitive reactions to their negative emotions in childhood predicted anger expression in young adulthood and whether emotional closeness weakens this association. Further, a three-way interaction was tested to examine whether emotional closeness is a stronger protective factor for young women than for young men. Results revealed a significant three-way interaction (gender X emotional closeness X maternal punitive reactions). For young men, maternal punitive reactions to negative emotions were directly associated with increased anger expressions. Maternal punitive reactions to young women’s negative emotions in childhood were associated with increased anger in adulthood only when they reported low maternal emotional closeness. Findings suggest that maternal emotional closeness may serve as a buffer against the negative effects of maternal punitive reactions for women’s anger expression in young adulthood.

Gender and Ethnic Differences in Young Adults’ Emotional Reactions to Parental Punitive and Minimizing Emotion Socialization Practices

“…If this is the case, it seems likely that minimizing or punitive emotion socialization behaviors that have the potential to disrupt an emotional bond may have a more negative effect on women than on men. Consistent with this view, a strong emotional connection served as a buffer against the negative effects of maternal punitive reactions on anger expression among young women but not young men in this sample (Perry, Cavanaugh, Dunbar, & Leerkes, 2015).…”

Childhood self-regulation as a mechanism through which early overcontrolling parenting is associated with adjustment in preadolescence.

“…Empirical work with adults’ retrospective accounts of early negative parenting highlights significant associations with social and emotional adjustment (e.g., Perry, Cavanaugh, Dunbar, & Leerkes, 2015). Although relatively fewer, studies that test these associations with prospective-longitudinal data spanning multiple developmental periods also find significant associations (Barker, Oliver, Viding, Salekin, & Maughan, 2011; Baumrind, Larzelere, & Owens, 2010).…”

An Integrative Conceptual Model of Parental Racial/Ethnic and Emotion Socialization and Links to Children's Social‐Emotional Development Among African American Families

“…The extent to which parents engage in specific racial/ethnic and emotion socialization practices and their joint effects on children's development may depend on the broader emotional climate in which such practices occur, children's characteristics (e.g., temperament, age, and gender), and demographic characteristics such as socioeconomic status and neighborhood risk (e.g., safety concerns, police presence) and racial composition. In the context of a warm and supportive relationship, children develop more adaptive emotion regulation , preparation for bias is linked to positive adjustment , and suppression responses are unrelated to maladjustment . Emotional climate may be important in two ways: First, when parents use suppression responses in a warm, supportive context, children may interpret these practices positively .…”