Poster #210 - Positive Parenting, Adolescents’ Positive Emotions during Momentary Assessment, and Internalizing Symptoms

• In Event: 3-159 - Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Section - Social, Emotional, Personality

Integrative Statement

Previous researchers have highlighted the association between positive parenting and children’s expression of positive emotions, as well as the association between adolescents’ lack of expression of positive emotions and internalizing symptoms (e.g., Eisenberg et al., 1996; Feng et al., 2009). This longitudinal study examines associations among positive parenting (PP), adolescents’ experience and expression of positive emotions, self-efficacy beliefs in the expression of positive emotions, and internalizing symptoms. PP was hypothesized to be associated with frequent experience and frequent expression of positive emotions and high self-efficacy beliefs about the expression of positive emotions, which, in turn, were all hypothesized to be negatively associated with adolescents’ internalizing problems.
This study included 100 Italian mothers, fathers, and adolescents (Time 1-T1: Mage = 15.56, SD = .77). Family triads were again interviewed one (T2) and two years later (T3). Adolescent reports of parental PP (Capaldi & Patterson, 1989; e.g., “How often does your mother/father notice when you are doing a good job and let you know?”) were assessed at T1. At T2, a mobile ecological momentary assessment was employed to measure, three times a day (morning, afternoon, and evening) for 15 days, three constructs related to adolescents’ positive emotions: experiencing positive emotions (e.g., “I feel happy”), expressing positive emotions (e.g., “I am feeling happy because I am fully expressing my affection for the people I care about”), and self-efficacy beliefs about the expression of positive emotions (e.g., “ How well do you think you are capable of expressing your feeling of happiness in this moment?”). Adolescents’ and parents’ reports of adolescents’ internalizing symptoms were assessed at both T1 and T3 (Achenbach, 1991).
Pearson’s correlations among all examined variables are reported in Table 1. Maternal and paternal PP were positively associated with each other. Maternal PP was positively associated with all positive emotion-related constructs, and was negatively related with T3 adolescent internalizing symptoms. Similar correlations emerged for paternal PP with adolescents’ experience and expression of positive emotions, but not with correspondent self-efficacy beliefs and T3 internalizing symptoms. The three positive emotion-related constructs were all positively correlated with each other, and were all negatively correlated with T3 adolescent internalizing symptoms. We also found adolescent gender differences in the associations between the examined variables (Table 2). In particular, positive emotion-related aspects were all associated with internalizing symptoms just in the male sample, whereas maternal positive parenting was associated with the positive emotion-related aspects just in the female sample.
Multigroup path analysis using gender as separate grouping variables will be implemented to examine the association of parental PP (T1) on the three constructs related to adolescents’ positive emotions (T2), which in turn affect adolescents’ internalizing problems (T3).
These results can be interpreted according to those studies showing the relevant role played by positive parenting strategies in predicting later adolescent adjustment, and they attest to the importance of building intervention programs with adolescents focused on enhancing both the expression of positive emotions and self-efficacy beliefs about the expression of positive emotions, taking into account gender differences in emotional processes.

Authors

• Carolina Lunetti, Sapienza University of Rome
  Presenting Author

• Laura Di Giunta, Sapienza University of Rome
  Non-Presenting Author

• Maria Gerbino, Sapienza University of Rome
  Non-Presenting Author

• Concetta Pastorelli, Sapienza University of Rome
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jennifer Lansford, Duke University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Nancy Eisenberg, Arizona State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Emanuele Basili, Sapienza University of Rome
  Non-Presenting Author

• Eriona Thartori, Sapienza University of Rome
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ainzara Favini, Sapienza University of Rome
  Non-Presenting Author

• Candice L. Odgers, University of California, Irvine
  Non-Presenting Author