Emotion socialization and internalizing behavior problems in diverse youth: A bidirectional relationship across childhood.
Naomi V Rodas, Denise A Chavira, Bruce L Baker
PMID 28103495WHAT IT FOUND
In families of children with or without intellectual disability, supportive parenting reactions were related to later child internalizing problems differently by ethnicity and parent gender.
Higher supportive reactions were related to more problems for Anglo mothers and Latino fathers, and fewer for Latina mothers.
Key findings
01Mothers reported higher levels of supportive parenting reactions than fathers at child ages 4 and 8.
02For Anglo mothers, higher supportive parenting reactions at child age 4 were related to higher child internalizing behaviors at child age 8 (B = .21, p = .025); for Latina mothers, higher supportive parenting reactions were related to lower child internalizing behaviors (B = -.23, p = .033).
03For Latino fathers, higher supportive parenting reactions at child age 4 were related to higher child internalizing behavior problems at child age 8 (B = .56, p = .003).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The total sample included 182 mothers and 162 fathers, but some analyses used a subsample of families with complete mother (N=90) and father (N=90) data across child ages 4 to 8. The Latino subsample was small; 17.8% of parents in that subsample were Latino, which may limit the ability to detect effects. The study did not collect immigration status, cultural values, or acculturation levels for the Latino sample. Parent emotion socialization and child behavior were both reported by parents, so associations may reflect shared reporting rather than separate observations. The study followed children from ages 4 to 8 using questionnaires, not an intervention, so it cannot show that changing parenting changes child behavior.
Declared interests
The supplied text does not report funding or author conflicts. It states families received an honorarium.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that supportive parenting causes more or fewer internalizing problems. The study was observational and used parent reports, and associations differed by ethnicity and parent gender.