Parent emotional expressiveness and children's self-regulation: Associations with abused children's school functioning

Abstract

Objective Identifying factors associated with school functioning of abused children is important in prevention of long-term negative outcomes associated with school failure. The purpose of this study was to examine the degree to which parent emotional expressiveness and children's self-regulation predicted early school behavior of abused children. Methods The sample included 92 physically abused children ages 4-7 and one of their parents (95.7% mothers). Parents completed a measure of their own emotional expressiveness, and parents and teachers provided reports of children's self-regulatory skills. Children's school functioning was measured by observations of playground aggression and teacher reports of aggression and classroom behavior. Results Parents’ expression of positive and negative emotions was associated with various aspects of children's self-regulation and functioning in the school setting. Links between self-regulation and children's school adjustment were robust; poor self-regulation was associated with higher aggression and lower cooperation and self-directed behavior in the classroom. There was minimal support for a mediating role of children's self-regulation in links between parent expressiveness and children's behavior. Practice implications Findings point to the relevance of parent emotional expressivity and children's self-regulatory processes in understanding physically abused children's functioning at the transition to school. Although further research is needed, findings indicate that increasing parental expression of positive emotion should be a focus in treatment along with reduction in negativity of abusive parents. Further, addressing children's self-regulation could be important in efforts to reduce aggression and enhance children's classroom competence.

Maternal experiences of childhood maltreatment moderate patterns of mother–infant cortisol regulation under stress

“…In summary, the current study found that maternal experiences of childhood maltreatment moderated several aspects of infant‐mother cortisol responses during a mild stress procedure. The extant literature indicates that children of mothers who have experienced childhood maltreatment show a range of deleterious outcomes, including alterations in brain volume at birth (Moog et al, 2018), self‐regulation difficulties (Delker et al, 2014; Haskett et al, 2012), and elevated rates of developmental psychopathology (e.g., Plant et al, 2018). Dysregulation in the infant stress response system may be one key mechanism in the intergenerational transmission of the effects of MCM (Buss et al, 2017; Moog et al, 2018).…”

Longitudinal associations between physically abusive parents’ emotional expressiveness and children’s self-regulation

“…Climate includes such factors as parenting styles (i.e., responsive and warm versus harsh and dismissing), family expressiveness, particularly in the case of high levels of negativity, and the emotional quality of the marital relationship (Maughan, Cicchetti, Toth, & Rogosch, 2007). Climates that are unpredictable and negative are linked to children displaying high levels of emotional reactivity to challenges and poor regulation across a range of situations (Eisenberg et al, 1998; Haskett, Stelter, Proffit, & Nice, 2012). Of note, most of the research on socialization has been done with community samples – not samples at high risk for disturbed parent-child relationships and poor regulation.…”

Expressive writing as an intervention to decrease distress in pediatric critical care nurses

“…[38] Previous research has documented a benefit of expressive writing as a coping intervention in college students, patients dealing with illness, and individuals who have experienced a natural disaster. [41] Other populations who have utilized expressive writing as an intervention include those that have a change in mental or physical well-being, [38,43] have experienced abuse, [44] or a traumatic experience, [45] and go through school transitions. [46] Within healthcare, expressive writing interventions has been utilized in medical education, [47] but has yet to be thoroughly studied in nursing, with only a few studies to date, and none with the specific intention of improving distress with using only expressive writing as the intervention.…”