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Parent emotion regulation socializes children's adaptive physiological regulation
Author(s) -
Shih Emily W.,
QuiñonesCamacho Laura E.,
Davis Elizabeth L.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/dev.21621
Subject(s) - disappointment , psychology , cognitive reappraisal , developmental psychology , vagal tone , emotional regulation , coaching , context (archaeology) , distress , clinical psychology , cognition , social psychology , psychotherapist , medicine , heart rate variability , psychiatry , heart rate , paleontology , biology , blood pressure , radiology
Parenting practices play a major role in socializing children's developing regulatory abilities, but less is known about how parents’ regulatory abilities relate to children's healthy functioning. This study examined whether parents’ physiological and emotion regulation abilities corresponded to children's physiological and emotional responding to a structured laboratory‐based disappointment task. Ninety‐seven 3‐ to 7‐year‐olds (56 girls; M = 5.79 years) and one parent participated in a multi‐method assessment of parents’ and children's regulatory functioning. Direct (coaching children to use reappraisal) and indirect (resting physiology, dispositional use of reappraisal) aspects of parents’ regulatory abilities were assessed. As expected, an adaptive pattern of parent regulatory abilities composed of higher resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia, use of reappraisal, and coaching reappraisal was associated with children's physiological reactivity after a disappointment indicative of more effective physiological calming in a recovery context (increased parasympathetic activation). In contrast, parents’ regulatory abilities did not relate to changes in children's expressions of emotional distress.