Pathways from parenting emotion regulation, emotion socialization and parenting practices to preschoolers’ emotion regulation

The development of children’s emotion regulation (ER) is the result of a complex interplay of factors, among which parental influences play a significant role. Building on Morris et al.’s (2007; 2017) model, the present study aimed to investigate the contributions of parenting ER, emotion socialization, and parenting practices to children’s ER. The sample of the present study included 330 preschoolers. Two-stage structural equation modeling was employed to test two hypothesized models. Findings suggested that: (a) parenting reappraisal was directly associated with preschoolers’ adaptive ER, whereas the path between parenting suppression and children’s maladaptive ER was not significant; and (b) indirect effects were found from parenting reappraisal via emotion coaching and positive parenting to adaptive ER, whereas emotion coaching/ dismissing strategies exerted effects on adaptive/ maladaptive ER through positive/ negative parenting. These outcomes suggest that parenting ER contributes to children’s ER both directly and indirectly. Moreover, parenting practices may represent a mechanism that explains how emotion socialization affects learning about ER. The findings from the present study highlight that interventions aiming to enhance preschoolers’ ER and reduce risk of emotional/behavioral problems should target multiple aspects of parenting behaviors.