Associations between mothers’ emotion regulation and real‐time experiences of negative emotion

The moderating role of caregiving context

Bibliographic Data

ID11276577
AuthorsYe Rang Park (0000-0002-0329-3043, University of California Berkeley California USA, corresponding author), Margaret L Kerr (0000-0002-1398-4083, University of Wisconsin Madison Wisconsin USA), Patricia A Smiley (0000-0001-7460-6070, Pomona College Claremont California USA), Jessica L Borelli (0000-0001-8471-6732, University of California Irvine California USA)
Year2022
Volume43
Issue5
Pages769-782
Publication date2022-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInfant Mental Health Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0163-9641 • E-ISSN: 1097-0355
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/imhj.22009
PMID35913370
OpenAlexW4289313612
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited74

Parents’ emotion regulation and emotional experiences have important consequences for family well‐being and child outcomes. Little is known about whether traitlike emotion regulation abilities predict statelike experiences of real‐time negative emotion. Using ecological momentary assessment (EMA), this study examines associations between mothers’ self‐reported emotion regulation abilities and their real‐time experiences of negative emotion, as well as the moderating role of caregiving context among 145 mothers (41% Hispanic; 31% earned below $40,000) of young children (mean age = 20.9 months) across a 10‐day period. Results indicated that on average, mothers who report high levels of traitlike rumination and difficulties in emotion regulation also report more statelike negative emotion. Further, the presence of children weakened the associations between mothers’ traitlike reports of emotion dysregulation and statelike EMA negative emotion reports. The findings demonstrate the importance of parents’ emotion regulation for supporting family well‐being, especially when parents are separated from their children; the findings may have implications for developing family interventions

Cognition · Cognitive reappraisal · Developmental psychology · Emotion work · Expressive Suppression · Negative emotion · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum · Psychology · Social Psychology

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