Parental socialization of emotions has been a topic of interest in developmental research for decades because of the importance of understanding how children learn about their emotions. The influence of the sex of both parent and child, however, are often not considered, and research on parent emotion socialization has often focused on infants and young children. Not considering these constructs during middle childhood ignores the importance of this developmental period, during which children have a more established gender identity and thus might recognize a shared identity with a parent. Emotion socialization from both parents during this developmental period has the potential to differentially inform children’s expectations of gender norms related to emotions. Men and women interpret and express their emotions differently and may differentially socialize their children regarding emotions along these patterns. The current study examined parental emotion coaching and elaboration observed during discussions of positive and negative emotions between 44 children with their mothers and fathers, with specific focus on the sex of the parents and children. I expected that mothers would engage in more emotion coaching and use a more elaborative style than fathers. Additionally, I expected that parents of girls would be more encouraging of positive emotions than parents of boys and that parents of boys would be more discouraging of negative emotions than parents of girls. Children between the ages of 6 and 9 visited the Children’s Emotions Lab with their mothers and fathers on separate occasions and participated in an emotion talk task with each parent. Each pair discussed a time when the child was happy and a time when the child was upset; each discussion lasted two and a half minutes each. I found a significant emotion valence by child sex interaction: parents were more elaborative and encouraging when discussing positive emotions with daughters than with sons and that parents were more elaborative and encouraging when discussing negative events with sons than with daughters. There was also specific parent gender by child sex interaction: mothers were less elaborative and encouraging with daughters than sons and that fathers were less elaborative and encouraging with sons than daughters. Findings from this study suggest that parents’ experiences with their own emotions influence their emotion socialization practices with their children. Recommended practices for future studies and interventions are suggested. / M.S. / Emotion socialization refers to the ways we come to understand the rules, expectations, and understanding of emotions. Research often looks at the ways that parents socialize, or teach, emotions to their children by examining parent attitudes about children’s emotions, parents’ reactions to children’s emotions, and parent-child discussions of emotions. However, often this research is limited in scope, examining only mothers’ parenting, only examining socialization of negative emotions, or using only parent-report data. Research has previously found that boys and girls are socialized differently when it comes to emotions, and I want to build on established research to examine these differences further. For this study, I have observed parent-child conversations about positive and negative emotions, including both mothers and fathers. Forty-four children participated with both their mothers and fathers. I looked at parental elaboration, which is how parents ask for and provide information within a conversation, and parental encouragement of emotions, which relates to how parents validate children’s emotions and help children to understand cause and consequences of their emotions. I hypothesized that mothers would be more elaborative, that is ask for and give more information in conversations, and encouraging, that is helping children to accept, understand and respond to their emotions, than fathers. I also hypothesized that parents of daughters would be more elaborative and encouraging when talking about positive emotions and that parents of sons would be less encouraging of negative emotions. Only parts of my hypotheses were supported by the data from my study. Mothers and fathers did have different strategies of emotion socialization, and fathers of daughters were more encouraging of positive emotions. However, parents of sons were more encouraging of negative emotions. Further, parents were less elaborative and encouraging of their same-sex children’s emotions. These findings suggest that parents’ own experiences, and possibly even the ways their own parents socialized them, is related to the ways they socialize their children.

The primary goal of the present study was to assess linkages between parents' beliefs about children's emotions, parent-child discourse, and children's independent and interdependent self-construals with sixty 7th and 8th grade children. Children were interviewed with the Self-Guide Questionnaire (Higgins, Klein, & Strauman, 1985) and completed an independent and interdependent reaction time measure (Watson & Quatman, 2005). Children's self-guide responses were coded for independent and interdependent traits and behaviors. Parents completed the Parents' Beliefs about Children's Emotions Questionnaire (Halberstadt et al., 2008) to assess their beliefs about the danger of emotions and parents' and children's roles in emotion socialization. Parents' elaborative reminiscing style and both parent and child emotion labeling were measured through a cooperative game designed to elicit emotion-related discourse. Results showed that girls responded faster to interdependent traits and included more interdependent and connected self attributes than did boys, whereas boys included more independent and unique self attributes than did girls. Parents who believe children can guide their own emotion socialization elaborated less about their children's independent and interdependent memories. Their children who responded more slowly to both independent and interdependent traits, with a stronger effect for independent compared with interdependent traits. The interaction between parents' beliefs about the danger of emotions and about their guidance of their child's emotions was related to girls', but not boys', balance of independent and interdependent traits in their self-construal. Results have implications for identifying beneficial developmental trajectories of positive adjustment and mental health. / Ph. D.

Dichos and consejos, the messages passed on intergenerationally within Latino communities, are an influential aspect of Latino culture. The purpose of this study was to examine associations between ethnic identity and Latina mothers' interpretations of dichos/ consejos. I also investigated if and how ethnic identity and/ or interpretations of dichos and consejos predicted Latina mothers' emotion socialization beliefs and behaviors. Further, I explored whether maternal education was associated with ethnic identity, interpretations of dichos/consejos, and emotion socialization. Forty Latina mothers of daughters aged 4 – 12 years participated by completing questionnaires on their demographics, ethnic identity, and emotion socialization beliefs and behaviors. Mothers also engaged in a 15-minute interview to assess their interpretations of dichos and consejos. Correlations showed that ethnic identity was not significantly related to interpretations of dichos/consejos. Both ethnic identity and traditionality in helpful dichos were associated with stronger belief that emotions can be dangerous, which in turn was related to both supportive and non-supportive reactions to daughters' negative emotions. Mothers with less education reported stronger beliefs that emotions can be dangerous, more supportive and non-supportive reactions to daughters' negative emotions, and greater likelihood of using more traditional non-helpful dichos to advise other mothers. Regression analyses demonstrated that ethnic identity predicted mothers' belief that emotions can be dangerous even after controlling for maternal education and number of children in the family. After controlling for maternal education, there was a trend for mothers who passed on more traditional non-helpful dichos to their daughters to react in less supportive ways to their daughters' negative emotions. Results suggest that understanding Latina women's ethnic identity and social location will be helpful for researchers and educators seeking to assess and promote culturally sensitive emotion socialization practices. / Ph. D.

Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), characterized by irritability and defiant behavior, is associated with several negative outcomes in childhood and adulthood (APA, 2000; Webster- Stratton, 1996). There are a variety of approaches to treating ODD that differ in their focus on parents, children, or both parent and child (Greene & Ablon, 2005; Kazdin, 2005). These treatments also target different underlying processes of oppositional behaviors, such as parenting behaviors and children's emotion regulation. Research suggests that parent emotion socialization practices may indirectly influence externalizing behaviors, such as those present in ODD, through children's emotion regulation abilities (Eisenberg, Cumberland, & Spinrad, 1998). The present study examines this mediation model in children diagnosed with ODD (n = 100; 58 boys) who received either Parent Management Training or Creative & Proactive Solutions. Findings indicate that families receiving CPS exhibited higher decreases in ODD symptoms than those receiving PMT. There was no evidence for an indirect effect of emotion socialization on symptoms of ODD through emotion regulation. Regarding direct effects, increases in emotion encouraging, emotion discouraging, and emotion regulation were associated with decreases in ODD symptoms, whereas increases in problem solving were associated with increases in ODD symptoms. There were also pre-treatment indicators of children's treatment response, such as parent's problem solving, children's emotional lability, and ADHD symptoms. These results indicate the importance of both emotion socialization and emotion regulation in treatment improvement, as well as factors that may contribute to treatment response. Treatment implications and future research directions are discussed. / Master of Science

The increase in bullying and its detrimental impacts threaten children's healthy development across the world; however, little research has examined multi-factors related to bullying. Guided by ecological theory, this study examined ecological factors that related to children's bystander and defender behavior when they witness bullying. Considering the role of culture and maternal emotion socialization in children's socio-emotional development, cultural differences in the relation of maternal emotion socialization on children's reactions to bullying through their empathy were investigated. Children (10-12 years old) and their mothers in the United States (n=165) and South Korea (n=158) participated in an online survey. Mothers completed the Coping with Children's Negative Emotions to assess maternal unsupportive and supportive reactions to their children's emotions. Children reported on their empathy (i.e., personal distress and empathic concern) using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index and on their bystander/defender behaviors using the Types of the Conformity Groups in Bullying. For bystander behavior, mothers' unsupportive reactions were significantly correlated with children's bystander behavior through empathic concern in both cultures. Personal distress mediated the relation of maternal unsupportive reactions to bystander behavior only in the American sample. For defender behavior, American mothers' supportive reactions directly predicted defender behavior whereas the effect of Korean mothers' supportive reactions on defender behavior was mediated by empathic concern. More personal distress was related to more defender behavior in the American sample while less personal distress was related to more defender behavior in the Korean sample. Results of this study supported cultural differences in the relation of maternal emotion socialization to children's reaction to bullying. American children were more likely to help the victim when their mothers supported their negative emotions. For Korean children, mothers' supportive reactions were related to their prosocial behavior through their empathic concern. However, in both cultures, children's empathic concern was a significant mediator in the relation between maternal unsupportive reactions and bystander behavior. This finding may provide educational guidance to bullying intervention programs across cultures. / Doctor of Philosophy / More than one out of five students in the United States and more than one out of ten students in South Korea experience bullying. The detrimental effects of bullying can affect not only victims and bullies but also classmates who witness the bullying. I examined factors that related to bystander behavior (ignoring or staying away from bullying) and defender behavior (helping the victim or actively endeavoring to stop bullying) in bullying to help in efforts to stop bullying. Because positive emotional experiences with mothers can help children develop empathy and empathy tends to elicit helping behavior, I examined how mothers' reactions to their children's negative emotions were related to children's bystander behavior and defender behavior through their empathic abilities. However, research and theories on bullying has been predominantly focused on Western populations. My study addressed this gap, examining cultural differences in the relations between the United States and South Korea to bring attention to the role of culture in parents' emotional socialization and children's development. Results from this study will help schools and communities to provide culturally sensitive bullying intervention programs with parents. Children (10-12 years old) and their mothers in the United States (n=165) and South Korea (n=158) participated in an online survey. Mothers were asked about ways that they react to their children's negative emotions. Mothers' unsupportive reactions refer to minimization, distress and punitive reactions when their children express negative emotions. Mothers' supportive reactions mean maternal comforting, acknowledgement, and encouragement of children's negative emotions. In the online survey, children reported on their empathy and reactions when they witness bullying. Cultural differences in the relations were confirmed. American children were more likely to help the victim when their mothers supported their negative emotions. For Korean children, mothers' supportive reactions were related to their defender behavior through their empathic concern. However, in both countries, the more mothers displayed supportive reactions, the more children reported empathic concern; children's empathic concern was an important bridge between maternal unsupportive reactions and bystander behavior.

abstract: Emotions help shape prosocial behavior from early childhood through adulthood (Rivera & Dunsmore, 2011). Thus, it is important to further our understanding of how emotions are perceived and expressed during adolescence, a time where individuals are establishing their independence, solidifying their individuality, and expanding their understanding of expectations. In this context, it is necessary to consider what influences how emotions are socialized in adolescents. Parents play a central role in the development of children’s understanding of emotions, but less is known about how this influence may extend into adolescence (Feldman & Klien, 2003; Cassidy et al., 1992; Cohn & Tronick, 1987). Indeed, previous literature has found that culture and social support may influence how emotions are expressed and perceived and how they impact mental health (Crockett, et.al., 2007; Torres and Rollock, 2007; Torres, 2010; Padilla et. al., 1988). This study aims to bridge these factors to create a more comprehensive understanding of parent attitudes toward adolescents’ emotions by comparing White and Hispanic parents of adolescents. Specifically, this study examines whether parent gender (mothers versus fathers) and greater acculturation enhance these relationships and whether more positive attitudes about emotions and adolescents’ emotion expression influence parents’ own mental health. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2019

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Emotion socialization influences adolescent emotional adjustment. Friendships provide a venue for emotion socialization, yet little research has compared emotion socialization processes with parents versus friends and how they correspond to adolescent outcomes. The present study examined parent and friend socialization of negative emotions in relation to adolescents' emotional coherence, emotion regulation, and internalizing symptoms. Thirty parent-adolescent-friend triads (13–18 years old; 60% female, 40% male) from the community participated. Study variables were measured with a multi-method approach, including observational data, heart rate variability, and self-report. Parents and friends evidenced disparate patterns of socialization responses and unique ties to adolescent outcomes, which has important clinical applications. Friends, as well as parents, are important and distinct socialization agents within the developmental context of adolescence.

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