abstract: The construct of adult emotional intelligence has gained increasing attention over the last 15 years given its significant socioemotional implications for the ability to label, understand, and regulate emotions. There is a gap, however, in understanding how emotional intelligence develops in children. Parenting is one of the most salient predictors of children’s behavior and the current study investigated its prospective link to children’s emotional intelligence. More preceisely, this study took a differentiated approach to parenting by examining the distinct contributions of maternal sensitivity and emotion socialization to children’s emotional intelligence. In addition, executive function, considered a “conductor” of higher-order skills and a neurocognitive correlate of emotional intelligence, was examined as a possible mechanism by which parenting influences emotional intelligence. Data were collected from 269 Mexican-American mother-child dyads during 2-year (parenting), 4.5-year (executive function), and 6-year (emotional intelligence) laboratory visits. Both parenting variables were assessed by objective observer ratings. Exeutive function and emotional intelligence were examined as latent constructs comprised of relevant parent-reported and objective measures. Due to a lack of adequate fit, the emotional intelligence variable was separated into two distinct latent constructs, emotion knowledge/understanding and emotion dysregulation. Results indicated that neither dimension of parenting was predictive of dimensions of emotional intelligence. On the other hand, children’s executive function was positively related to emotion knowledge. Finally, executive function did not emerge as a mediator of the relation between parenting and dimensions of emotional intelligence. Taken together, these findings highlight the need for a nuanced developmental and bioecological framework in the study of childen’s executive function and emotional intelligence. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Psychology 2020

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Objective:The present study evaluated the effectiveness of a parenting program designed specifically for hyperactive preschoolers. Method: Participants were 31 preschool-aged children whose parents were randomly assigned to a treatment or waitlist group. Parents who were assigned to the treatment group took part in a 14-week parenting program that involved teaching parenting strategies to manage hyperactive and disruptive behavior as well as emotion socialization strategies to increase children's emotion regulation. Results: The present study's findings were mixed. There were significant changes on a number of measures of child functioning and parent behavior for families who took part in the parenting program, but these findings were tempered by several nonsignificant findings. Compared to control families, families who participated in the parenting program evidenced significant changes in mothers' reports of child inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive symptoms, observations of mothers' positive parenting and negative affect, and mothers' self-reported verbosity, punitive reactions, and minimizing/discouraging reactions. Moreover, parent training fathers reported decreases in child inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive symptoms. However, treatment families did not significantly differ on mothers' ratings of child lability/negativity and internalizing behavior; audiotaped child behavior; or mothers' self-reported overreactivity, laxness, expressive encouragement, and emotion- and problem-focused reactions. Conclusions: Results provide some support for the effectiveness of the parenting program for reducing ADHD symptoms in preschool-aged children.

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Emerging adulthood is a unique developmental period from late adolescence to late 20s during which individuals experience a multitude of developmental transitions and are at an increased risk for internalizing symptoms. Parent emotion socialization in childhood can also contribute to risk for internalizing symptoms and is shaped by parent gender and sociocultural context. Rurality is a sociocultural context that has implications for parenting, but less research has explored how parent emotion socialization varies by rurality. The present study examined maternal and paternal emotion socialization in relation to rurality and emerging adult internalizing symptoms. Participants were 270 emerging adults (18-29 years old; 65.6% female) from a regional university who completed several self-report measures. Maternal and paternal emotion socialization responses did not differ by rurality but evidenced unique associations with emerging adult internalizing symptoms. Rurality did not moderate these associations. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed.

Emotional competence is empirically associated with children’s success both socially and academically. Emotion knowledge and emotion regulation, the components of emotional competence, help children navigate interactions with peers and teachers in order to reach their goals while respecting the needs of others. An abundance of research exists on curricula to build social-emotional skills, as well as research on the role parents play in socializing children about emotional competence. However, little research exists on emotion socialization by teachers. Literature on what pre-service teachers learn about emotion socialization and emotional competence is even smaller. This study aims to learn what Early Childhood Education students at a large, urban northeastern university learn about emotional competence and emotion socialization through the use of surveys, interviews, and written reflections on the student teaching experience. A mixed-methods design elicits both breadth and depth of data on the topic. Pre- and post-measures show significant differences in self-efficacy relating to emotion socialization practices, but not knowledge or practices learned through the student teaching experience. Interview data shows pre-service teachers do believe emotion socialization to be part of their teaching role and that they influence the types of emotions felt and expressed by students in the classroom. Results will help improve the student teaching program and help the larger field of early childhood education learn about how to make the student teaching experience as helpful as possible. / Educational Psychology

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