Title: Emotion Regulation in Adolescence: The Role of Parental Emotion Socialization.
Abstract:
Emotion dysregulation, a limited ability to regulate one’s emotional reaction and response in a manner consistent with the situation, is a risk factor for, and key underlying feature of multiple psychological conditions (e.g., attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD], oppositional defiant disorder, depression; Kring & Sloan, 2009). Despite overwhelming evidence for the transdiagnostic importance of emotion dysregulation in adolescents, interventions specifically targeting emotion dysregulation and parental support of emotion development are only available for use with preschool and early school-age children or for very specific adolescent populations (e.g., dialectical behavioral therapy for self-injurious/suicidal adolescents). Adolescence is a critical developmental period in which youth learn to regulate their emotions in adaptive ways. Interpersonal relationships are highly important during this period, and adolescents must learn to regulate negative emotions associated with conflict with peers and/or parents. This talk will review the literature on emotion regulation and parental emotion socialization in adolescents. Results from recent research highlighting the important role of parental emotion socialization practices in adolescents’ social-emotional outcomes will be discussed, along with evidence for why adolescents with ADHD may be particularly at risk for the deleterious effects of negative parental emotion socialization practices. Next, the RELAX (Regulating Emotions Like An eXpert) intervention, an 8 week intervention targeting emotion dysregulation and family conflict, will be introduced. Finally, I will outline my short- and long-term research plans, which seek to further the field’s understanding of emotion regulation development in children and adolescents, with a particular focus on the role of parent, teacher, and peer emotion socialization practices.
