The intergenerational transmission of emotion socialization.

Abstract

We examined the extent to which new mothers' recollections of their mothers' emotion socialization practices during childhood predict sensitive/supportive responses to their own toddlers in distressing situations both directly and indirectly via effects on mothers' social information processing about infant cry signals. Mothers' adult attachment was tested as a possible moderator and we tested model invariance across racial groups. These questions were assessed using a 3-wave longitudinal study of first-time mothers (131 African American, 128 European American) followed from pregnancy until children were 14 months old. Expectant mothers were administered the Adult Attachment Interview and self-report measures of remembered childhood emotion socialization. When infants were 6 months old, mothers' cry processing was assessed using a video-recall method in which they watched videos of their interactions with their infants during distress tasks and reported on their emotions and cognitions during the interaction. Maternal sensitivity to distress at 14 months was assessed via observed maternal sensitivity during distress tasks and mothers' self-reported responses to child distress. Consistent with prediction, mothers who recalled their own mothers as high on nonsupportive responses to their distress in childhood engaged in more self-focused and negative cry processing at 6 months, which in turn predicted less supportive responding to their toddlers in distressing situations. This indirect effect was statistically significant. These effects were not moderated by adult attachment coherence. The full model was invariant across racial groups. Thus, remembered childhood emotion socialization experiences have longstanding consequences for subsequent social behavior, including parenting the next generation.

Findings, issues, and new directions for research on emotion socialization.

“…negatively predicted mothers' responsiveness to their infants' distress (Leerkes, Bailes, & Augustine, 2020). Surprisingly, Neppl, et al (2020) found no effects of children's effortful control on parenting.…”

“…Findings presented in this issue provide some support for the role of attachment in emotion socialization. For example, Leerkes et al (2020) found evidence for the intergenerational transmission of emotion socialization through attachment-relevant mechanisms: Mothers who reported that their own mothers were high on nonsupportive responses to their distress in childhood engaged in more self-focused and negative processing of their infants' cries at 6 months of age, which in turn predicted less supportive responding to their toddlers in distressing situations. Although an adult attachment measure-coherence of mind-did not predict parenting, it does not seem as relevant to ERSBs as the sensitivity of mothers' reactions to their children's distress.…”

The Role of Maternal Parenting for Children’s Behavior Regulation in Environments of Risk

“…In recent studies, maternal emotional regulation capacities have been shown to affect maternal sensitivity to a child's demands and needs. On the one hand, maternal emotional dysregulation is related to mothers' own remembered childhood emotion socialization (Tronick, 2007;Riva Crugnola et al, 2019;Leerkes et al, 2020). On the other hand, current contextual factors, such as stressful living conditions might affect maternal parenting capacities, too.…”

A pilot evaluation of the Building Early Emotional Skills (BEES) curriculum in face‐to‐face and online formats

“…Emotional triggers reflecting unmet psychological needs often have their roots in family of origin experiences (Fraiberg et al, 1975), as do triggers that evoke positive emotions (e.g., Lieberman et al, 2005). For example, mothers' recollections of their own mothers' unsupportive responses to their emotional needs predicts mothers' lack of supportive responses to toddlers' distress (Leerkes et al, 2020), suggesting the potential importance of supports to address painful childhood experiences. As agents charged with fulfilling the mission of land-grant universities and delivering education to meet community needs, Cooperative Extension Educators have extensive training in sensitively engaging parents in difficult topics.…”