Parenting dimensions/styles and emotion dysregulation in childhood and adolescence: a systematic review and Meta-analysis

Abstract

Emotion dysregulation is a transdiagnostic factor in the development of various mental and behavioral disorders, thus requiring ample evidence for prevention and intervention approaches. The aim of the current systematic review and meta-analysis was to investigate the association between parenting dimensions/styles and emotion dysregulation in childhood and adolescence. Following the PRISMA guidelines, the review was registered (PROSPERO CRD42021251672) and search terms were entered in Web of Science, Scopus, PsycINFO, and PubMed in May 2021. Articles needed to report on empirical studies that examined the association between parenting dimensions/styles and emotion dysregulation in children/adolescents with primary data, and be published in English in a peer-reviewed journal. Additionally, articles were excluded based on certain designs and focus on special populations. The narrative synthesis includes 30 articles, and of which 27 are included in the meta-analysis. An NHLBI tool with 14 items (e.g., validity) was utilized for assessing the quality of the included studies. General trends indicate that positive parenting (e.g., warmth, supportiveness) is negatively associated with emotion dysregulation, whilst negative parenting (e.g., psychological control, authoritarian) is positively associated. The meta-analysis reveals an overall small yet significant effect, however, the heterogeneity of the studies is moderate to high. A funnel plot demonstrated no evidence of publication bias. Limitations include the varying conceptualizations of emotion dysregulation, as well as a lacking focus on specific types of emotion. Although more research is needed, addressing factors such as culture, gender, and age, the review provides first indications of the significance of parenting dimensions/styles for emotion dysregulation.

Interactive effects of parental support and psychological control on children’s emotion regulation.

“…Rather, psychological control was associated with increases in children's reports of their own emotion dysregulation over time, whereas parental support was associated with decreases in teachers' reports of children's emotion dysregulation. These findings correspond to a recent systematic review and meta-analysis, which found that negative parenting-including psychological controlwas associated with greater emotion dysregulation, whereas positive parenting behaviors-including parental support-was associated with less emotion dysregulation (Goagoses et al, 2022).…”

Investigation of the Impact of Positive and Negative Parenting on Pre-school and School-aged Children’s Emotion Regulation

“…For instance, in one meta-analysis, the results reveal a small yet significant effect [9]. However, the analysis also suggests a high heterogeneity of current related studies in the field, which may potentially be due to varying conceptualization of ER [9]. Hence, while there is a rich source of studies on this topic, an urgent uniformity of related concepts is also necessary for future studies.…”

“…When comparing positive and negative parenting in children's ER, multiple meta-analysis and systematic reviews have raised general trends that positive parenting is negatively related to ER difficulties, whilst negative parenting is positively associated with ER difficulties [10]. For instance, in one meta-analysis, the results reveal a small yet significant effect [9]. However, the analysis also suggests a high heterogeneity of current related studies in the field, which may potentially be due to varying conceptualization of ER [9].…”

Risk Factors in Depression and Anxiety Disorders from the Framework of Developmental Psychopathology

“…For example, it is known that authoritarian parenting harms children's self-image (Singh 2017). Since children and adolescents are not welcome to express and share their feelings in harsh and authoritarian families, it is more likely that the children of such families have ineffective coping skills and difficulties in emotion regulation (Wolfradt et al 2003, Goagoses et al 2022). In addition, parental psychopathology predisposes children and adolescents to psychopathology through learning processes (e.g., imitation or modeling) or arranging their environments (Dodge 1990).…”