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Mother‐ and Father‐Reported Reactions to Children’s Negative Emotions: Relations to Young Children’s Emotional Understanding and Friendship Quality
Author(s) -
McElwain Nancy L.,
Halberstadt Amy G.,
Volling Brenda L.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01074.x
Subject(s) - friendship , psychology , developmental psychology , emotional support , interpersonal relationship , social support , social psychology
Mother‐ and father‐reported reactions to children’s negative emotions were examined as correlates of emotional understanding (Study 1, N = 55, 5‐ to 6‐year‐olds) and friendship quality (Study 2, N = 49, 3‐ to 5‐year‐olds). Mothers’ and fathers’ supportive reactions together contributed to greater child–friend coordinated play during a sharing task. Further, when one parent reported low support, greater support by the other parent was related to better understanding of emotions and less intense conflict with friends (for boys only). When one parent reported high support, however, greater support by the other parent was associated with less optimal functioning on these outcomes. Results partially support the notion that children benefit when parents differ in their reactions to children’s emotions.