An Examination of Emotion Socialization Dynamics in Mother-Daughter Dyads using Grid-Sequence Analysis

• In Event: 2-173 - Dynamic Approaches to Parent-Child Interactions from Infancy to Adolescence

Integrative Statement

Emotion-related socialization behaviors such as parental reactions to emotions during parent-child interactions – emotion socialization dynamics – shape children’s socioemotional competence and are associated with parents’ and children’s characteristics (e.g., emotional expressiveness; internalizing symptoms; Eisenberg, Cumberland, & Spinrad, 1998). During adolescence, typically-developing youth experience increased emotional intensity and lability (Rosenblum & Lewis, 2003) and are at increased risk for developing internalizing symptoms, especially girls (Graber, 2004). The dynamics of expressed emotions during mother-daughter interactions are related to both mothers’ and daughters’ internalizing symptoms (e.g., Lougheed & Hollenstein, 2016). However, to date, no study has examined how socialization dynamics may differ by emotional context, and how between-dyad differences in patterns are predicted by mothers’ and daughters’ internalizing symptoms. This paper examines how emotion socialization dynamics, captured by examining how simultaneous mother-daughter emotion expressions unfold in situ during discussions of emotional experiences, are related to parent and adolescent characteristics. In line with Eisenberg et al.’s (1998) framework, we expected dynamics that reinforce (up-regulate) negative interpersonal patterns during negative contexts would be associated with greater mother and daughter internalizing symptoms. We also expected that dynamics that inhibit (down-regulate) positive patterns during positive contexts would be associated with greater internalizing symptoms.

Mothers and their typically-developing adolescent daughters (N = 96; Mage = 13.99 years) had five 3-minute discussions about times they felt Happy/Excited, Worried/Sad, Proud, Frustrated/Annoyed, and Grateful. Moment-to-moment changes in mothers’ and daughters’ dynamic emotion expressions were coded from video. Each discussion elicited positive and negative emotions as intended. Mother and daughter internalizing symptoms (depression, anxiety, and social anxiety) were measured via self-report questionnaires.

Emotion socialization dynamics – specific patterns of dyadic emotional states within each discussion – were extracted and quantified using grid-sequence analysis (Brinberg, Ram, Hülür, Brick, & Gerstorf, 2017) and multidimensional scaling (Bigand, Vieillard, Madurell, Marozeau, & Dacquet, 2005). The trajectories of dyadic emotions were visualized in two-dimensional space using state space grids (Hollenstein, 2013; see Panels A and B of Figure 1). Inter-dyad differences in these dynamics (Panel C of Figure 1) were then examined in relation to internalizing symptoms using standard linear regression models.

In general, emotion socialization dynamics were characterized by sequences of mutually positive states that were preceded by either daughters or mothers (i.e., daughter-led and mother-led positive dimensions), expressiveness, and mutual positive regulation. Results from the regression models (Table 1) indicated that differences in emotion socialization dynamics were related to internalizing symptoms. Specifically, the dynamic of daughters up-regulating dyadic positive affect (daughter-led positive) was associated with lower anxiety symptoms in positive and negative discussions, whereas it was associated with greater maternal depressive symptoms during Discussion 2 (Worried/ Sad). Maternal up-regulation of dyadic positive affect (mother-led positive) was associated with greater daughter social anxiety symptoms during Discussion 1 (Happy/ Excited). Taken together, results partially supported hypotheses and suggest that mothers and daughters may attempt to up-regulate dyadic positive affect in different kinds of emotional contexts depending on their partner’s internalizing symptoms. These patterns may be one set of processes by which emotional competence and internalizing symptoms are socialized.

Authors

• Jessica P. Lougheed, Purdue University
  Presenting Author

• Miriam Brinberg, The Pennsylvania State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Nilam Ram, Penn State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Tom Hollenstein, Queen’s University
  Non-Presenting Author