1-104 - Affective Processes and Emotion Regulation in the Context of Family Violence

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

The ability to express and regulate strong emotional arousal is a critical developmental process that is associated with adaptive child adjustment. There is growing evidence that exposure to family violence is associated with disturbances in children’s affective expression and regulation (Katz, Hessler & Annest, 2005). Family violence also increases risk for mental health difficulties in children (Vu et al, 2016) and their caregivers (Trevillion et al, 2016). Considerable research suggests that children learn how to manage strong emotional reactions within the context of the family (Morris et al, 2007), however little is known about the key emotion-related family processes that are impacted by family violence. To develop and refine targeted interventions, there is now a need to understand the processes by which exposure to family violence leads to both concurrent and long-term disturbances in children’s emotion regulation and emotional arousal, and how emotion-related parenting and family processes can exacerbate or buffer violence-exposed children from negative psychosocial outcomes.

The current symposium extends existing research in several novel ways. Diverse emotion-related processes are examined within the context of family violence, including emotion regulation, emotion socialization parenting practices, emotional acceptance and negative emotional reactions. Family processes are also examined at multiple developmental stages, including the preschool period, middle childhood and early adulthood. Studies in this symposium also use multi-source/multi-method assessments of emotional processes including physiological and observational methodologies as well as reports from parents, teachers and offspring. This novel body of research has important implications for intervention with violence-exposed families.

Sub Unit

• Family Context & Processes

Chair

• Lynn Fainsilber Katz, University of Washington

Discussant

• Alytia Levendosky, Michigan State University

Individual Presentations

• Caregiver Behavior Related to Emotion Regulation in Children from Violent Homes - Presenting Author: Christina Caiozzo, Marquette University; Kristen Yule, Marquette University; John Grych, Marquette University

• Depression and Emotion Socialization in Mothers Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence: The Moderating Role of Emotional Acceptance - Presenting Author: Kyrill Gurtovenko, University of Washington; Lynn Fainsilber Katz, University of Washington

• Family-of-Origin Aggression, Physiological Stress Reactivity in Daily Life, and the Perpetration of Aggression in Young Adulthood - Presenting Author: Adela Timmons, University of Southern California; Sohyun C Han, University of Southern California; Yehsong Kim, University of Southern California; Olivia Shin, University of Southern California; Laura Perrone, University of Southern California; Theodora Chaspari, University of Southern California; Shrikanth Narayanan, University of Southern California; Gayla Margolin, University of Southern California