Children's communication about distressing events

The role of emotional openness and psychological attributes of family members

Bibliographic Data

ID9053280
AuthorsWilma J Lutz (Ohio Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services), Ellen Hock (The Ohio State University), Min Ju Kang (0000-0002-2226-6294, The Ohio State University)
Year2007
Volume77
Issue1
Pages86-94
Publication date2007-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Orthopsychiatry (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9432 • E-ISSN: 1939-0025
PublisherAmerican Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1037/0002-9432.77.1.86
PMID17352589
OpenAlexW2169254676
LanguageEN
Citations received8

This study documents the importance of emotional openness to the recovery process in families following traumatic events. In this longitudinal study, relationships are examined between emotional openness and parents' psychological attributes, and mothers' and children's open disclosure of feelings. After September 11, 2001, 48 mothers and their 11-year-old children were interviewed about their reactions to the terrorist attacks. Measures included interview-based scores of children's and mothers' degree of openness, mothers' openness assessed during pregnancy and infancy, and parental depression and anxiety in close relationships. Emotional openness is a stable and reliably measured construct. Mothers' emotional openness was significantly related to earlier assessments of openness, indicators of their own and their spouse's emotional health, and their children's open expression of emotion about the terrorist attacks

Anxiety · Depression (economics) · Developmental psychology · Feeling · Openness to experience · Psychiatry · Spouse · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Clinical Psychology · Family Support in Illness · Psychology · Resilience and Mental Health · Social Psychology

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