Maternal Reactions to Adolescent’s Negative Emotions Moderate the Association Between Maternal and Adolescent Cognitive Reappraisal

• In Event: Examining Cognitive Reappraisal in Development: The Role of Parents

Abstract

With development, emotion regulation (ER) becomes increasingly complex, incorporating sophisticated processes such as cognitive reappraisal (CR). Transforming emotions through thought processes is the manner by which CR functions to diminish the emotional impact in order to aid with ER (Gross, 1998). The development of CR is not well understood, however. Some research indicates that parent’s own CR ability and supportive reactions to their children’s emotions are linked to young children’s CR (Gunzenhauser et al. 2014). The relationship between maternal CR and adolescent CR ability is not straightforward, with some research indicating no relationship between the two (Bariola et al., 2012). Other research suggests the mother-adolescent relationship moderates the link between maternal CR and adolescent CR, such that low relationship quality between adolescents and their mothers indicates greater CR use among adolescents (Silva et al., 2018). With minimal research examining the link between maternal CR and adolescent CR, we were interested in examining factors previously associated to childhood CR ability, such as supportive and unsupportive parenting as moderators of the association between maternal and adolescent CR (Brannon, 2009; Gunzenhauser et al., 2014). We turned to adult CR research for reports that executive functions (EF) are important for adult’s ability to implement and effectively use CR (e.g., McRae et al., 2012). Thus, we hypothesized that adolescent EF and parent CR would predict adolescent CR; and that parental reactions to adolescent emotions (supportive vs unsupportive) would moderate the relationship between maternal and adolescent CR, with greater supportive reactions increasing adolescent CR and higher unsupportive reactions decreasing adolescent CR.

Participants were part of an ongoing longitudinal study examining cognition and emotion integration. When their children were age 9, 97 mothers reported child EF through the BRIEF. The same mothers and their adolescents completed questionnaires 6-8 years later (child age M = 14.61, SD = 1.93). Adolescents self-reported CR (ERQ; Gross & John, 2003); mothers self-reported CR and supportive/unsupportive reactions to adolescents’ emotions (CCNES modified for adolescents; Fabes et al., 2002; Shortt et al., 2016). Data were analyzed using PROCESS (Hayes, 2018). We controlled for age 9 EF, maternal education, adolescent age, and sex.

The model with supportive reactions was not significant (p = .50); however, the model with unsupportive reactions was significant [F (9, 87) = 3.19, p < .01, R2 = .25]. Importantly, unsupportive reactions moderated the relationship between maternal CR and adolescent CR (β = .26; t = 2.48, p < .05). Simple slopes analysis at one SD above and below the mean for unsupportive reactions showed the association between maternal CR and adolescent CR was only significant when mothers were high in unsupportive reactions (p<.001), but not when they were low in unsupportive reactions (p=.08; see Figure 1). Our findings suggest that adolescents may require a parent model in order to learn to use CR, but also an environment where they can apply CR. Less support from mothers may foster an environment where adolescents can learn to effectively use and implement CR.

Authors

• Tatiana Meza-Cervera, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
  Presenting Author

• Martha Ann Bell, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
  Non-Presenting Author