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Beyond the ‘Self’ in Self-regulation of Emotions in Children: Role of Parental Expressiveness

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Abstract

This study investigated the patterns of emotion regulation in children, the patterns of self-expressiveness of their parents, and the relationship between the two using a correlational design. Emotion regulation was conceptualised both in terms of its components, viz. emotional control, emotional self-awareness, and situation responsiveness as well as its strategies, viz. cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression. Two measures were used for understanding emotion regulation (ER) in children—Emotion Regulation Index for Children & Adolescents (ERICA—MacDermott et al., 2010) and Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for Children & Adolescents (ERQ-CA—Gullone and Taffe, 2012), and one for understanding parental expressiveness (PE)—Self-Expressiveness in Family Questionnaire (SEFQ—Halberstadt et al., 1995). A total of 130 children of age 8–13 and the parents of 30 of those children, all residing in Bhubaneswar city of India, constituted the sample. Cognitive reappraisal was seen to be endorsed more than expressive suppression in the children across all demographic variables. No differences were found in levels of expressiveness of the parents based on their gender, and positive expressiveness was found to be displayed significantly more than negative expressiveness. Emotion regulation of children was significantly associated with positive expressiveness of parents, with levels of significance being different for mothers and fathers. Positive parental expressiveness was also seen to predict, to a significant degree, the use of expressive suppression by children but not cognitive reappraisal. The findings have implications for parenting, counselling and family-life education efforts in India.

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Abbreviations

ER:

Emotion regulation

ERICA:

Emotion regulation index for children and adolescents

ERQ-CA:

Emotion regulation questionnaire for children and adolescents

SEFQ:

Self-expressiveness in family questionnaire

PE:

Parental expressiveness

EC:

Emotional control

EA:

Emotional awareness

SR:

Situational responsiveness

CR:

Cognitive reappraisal

ES:

Expressive suppression

FE:

Family expressiveness

CBT:

Cognitive-behavioural therapy

ME:

Mothers' expressiveness

FE:

Fathers' expressiveness

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jesus and Mary College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India

    Sudha Shashwati

  2. School of Human Ecology, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India

    Rajani M. Konantambigi

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  1. Sudha Shashwati
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  2. Rajani M. Konantambigi
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The first author conducted the study under the supervision of the second author.

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Correspondence to Sudha Shashwati.

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The study was approved by the School of Human Ecology, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India.

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Written informed consent was taken from parents of all children who participated, and verbal consent was taken from the children.

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Shashwati, S., Konantambigi, R.M. Beyond the ‘Self’ in Self-regulation of Emotions in Children: Role of Parental Expressiveness. Psychol Stud 68, 165–176 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12646-022-00678-3

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