Publication year
2015
Citation Title
Emotion expression, emotionality, depressive symptoms, and stress: Maternal profiles related to child outcomes
Journal Name
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology
Journal Volume
43
Issue Number
7
Page Numbers
1319-1331
DOI
10.1007/s10802-015-0019-6
Summary
Mothers' emotional characteristics play an important role in children's emotion socialization and behaviors. By observing mother-child interactions and administering surveys, the study examined the association between maternal characteristics and child outcomes. Results revealed that higher levels of maternal emotion expression, and lower levels of negative emotionality, stress, and depressive symptoms, were associated with optimal child functioning.
Key Findings
Four maternal emotional profiles were identified: happy (52%), melancholic (21%), stressed (13%), and struggling (14%); the classifications were based on observed emotion expression, reported positive and negative emotionality, depressive symptoms, and parenting stress.
The melancholic and struggling profiles were negatively correlated with children’s emotion expression.
The stressed and struggling profiles were associated with more child problem behaviors.
Implications for Military Professionals
Educate military parents on how to regulate their emotions and be responsive to children’s emotions
Participate in professional trainings to learn more about the prevention of problem behaviors in preschoolers
Implications for Program Leaders
Offer support groups for military parents who experience depressive symptoms and stress
Develop workshops for military parents to foster positive emotion expression toward their children
Implications for Policy Makers
Raise awareness of the importance of positive parenting on military children’s well-being
Continue to support parent education programs aimed at promoting optimal parenting practices in military families
Methods
Data for the study came from a larger longitudinal project regarding maternal depression and child emotional development.
Mothers’ and children’s emotion expressions were observed in two interactive tasks (five minutes each).
Self-report surveys measured maternal emotionality, maternal depressive symptoms, maternal stress, and child emotional and behavioral behaviors.
Participants
Participants were 128 mother-child pairs with 65 female children and 63 male children.
The average age of the mothers was 31.21 years (SD = 5.58), and the average age of the children were 3.32 years (SD = 0.19); all the children were between 3 and 3.5 years old.
The majority of the mothers were White (63%) or Black (30%).
Limitations
Some of the mothers in the study were clinically depressive and anxious, so their results may not be generalized to mothers with no mental health symptoms.
The two interactive tasks were carried out in the laboratory, therefore mothers’ negative emotion expressions may be suppressed due to social desirability bias.
The cross-sectional design of the study limited the ability to draw causal conclusions regarding the maternal profiles and child outcomes.
Avenues for Future Research
Examine the associations between paternal emotion expression and child outcomes
Observe parent-child interactions in the home or naturalistic environment
Measure child problem behaviors from both parents’ and daycare teachers’ perspectives
Focus
Civilian
Target Population
Population Focus
Abstract
This study investigated the relationships between various maternal characteristics and child outcomes in preschool age children. Participants included 128 mother-child pairs. Mothers and children participated in two observational tasks, clean-up and Tickle-Me-Elmo, which were coded for expressions of emotion, and mothers completed self-report surveys. A person-centered latent profile analysis was applied, identifying distinct maternal profiles defined by observed positive emotion expression and reported positive and negative emotionality, depressive symptoms, and parenting stress. Four profiles were identified, labeled Happy, Melancholic, Stressed, and Struggling. These profiles were found to be associated with child outcomes, including observed positive and negative emotion expression and problem behaviors. Specifically, the Melancholic and Struggling profiles tended to be negatively related to child emotion expression, while the Stressed and Struggling profiles tended to be related to greater child problem behaviors. The results highlight meaningful distinctions between concurrent, interacting maternal characteristics that contribute to child emotion socialization, and they suggest significant differentiations in the factors that contribute to child risk.
Abstract Document
PRTW Document
Attach