Mothers' Emotional Socialization Behavours and Children's Skills to Regulate and Understand Emotions

Although the relationship between emotional socialization behaviors, which support children’s emotional developments, and various variables have been investigated, the effects of mothers’ emotional socialization behaviors... [ view full abstract ]

Although the relationship between emotional socialization behaviors, which support children’s emotional developments, and various variables have been investigated, the effects of mothers’ emotional socialization behaviors on children have been emphasized adequately. In this sense, the aim of this study is to determine the predictive effects of mothers’ socialization behaviors on their children’s skills to regulate and understand emotions. With this aim, children were selected whose mothers come from various socio-economic backgrounds and possess positive emotional socialization behaviors (e.g. expressive encouragement, emotion focused responses, problem focused responses) and whose mothers possess negative emotional socialization behaviors (e.g. punitive reactions, minimization reactions, distress reactions). These children’s skills to regulate and understand emotions were then examined. The study is designed in the relational screening model. The sample of the study consists of totally 180 individuals including 90 mothers coming from various socio economic backgrounds and their children (n=90) between the ages of 36-66 months. The data of the study was collected via the “Coping with Children’s Negative Emotions Scale” the “Emotion Regulation Checklist” and the “Wally Feelings Test.” Multi regression analysis and multi variable variance analysis were both used. The findings of the study are still under documentation. In parallel with these findings, conclusions and implications will be stated.

Key Words: preschool, emotional socialization, emotion regulation, understanding emotions, coping with negative emotions.