Multilevel Factors Associated with Unsupportive Emotion Socialization: An Examination of Child Maltreatment and its Sequelae

Purpose: Adults who have been maltreated as children are at risk for a variety of adverse sequalae that can have a negative impact on parents’ emotion-related socialization behaviours (ERSBs) and contribute to the intergenerational transmission of emotion regulation difficulties. However, various supports may reduce unsupportive behaviours. Informed by Belsky’s (1984) determinants of parenting model, the goal of the present study was to examine multi-level stressors and supports that may contribute to, or discourage, parents’ use of unsupportive ERSBs. Methods: Mothers and young adults (aged 18–25) from across Canada participated in an online study (N = 185 dyads). Mothers responded to questionnaires assessing multi-level stressors and supports, while young adults reported on their mothers’ ERSBs during adolescence. Results: A hierarchical regression analysis revealed that mothers who reported more impulse control difficulties, who experienced greater revictimization, and who had more severe dissociative symptoms were rated as higher in their use of unsupportive contingencies. However, when contextual supports were added into the model, only revictimization remained associated with unsupportive contingencies. Furthermore, mothers’ positive perceptions of the parent-child relationship were negatively associated with unsupportive contingencies. Conclusions: Preventing revictimization amongst survivors of child maltreatment may be an effective way to prevent the intergenerational continuity of unsupportive emotion socialization and emotion regulation difficulties. Interventions that improve parent-child attachment relationships may also be beneficial to survivors who want to break the cycle of maladaptive parenting.