ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Parental emotion coaching moderates the effects of family stress on internalizing symptoms in middle childhood and adolescence
Frances M. Lobo,
Erika Lunkenheimer,
Rachel G. Lucas-Thompson,
Natasha S. Seiter,
Corresponding Author
Frances M. Lobo
Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
Correspondence
Frances M. Lobo, The Pennsylvania State University, 140 Moore Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorErika Lunkenheimer
Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
Search for more papers by this authorRachel G. Lucas-Thompson
Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
Search for more papers by this authorNatasha S. Seiter
Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
Search for more papers by this author
Frances M. Lobo,
Erika Lunkenheimer,
Rachel G. Lucas-Thompson,
Natasha S. Seiter,
Corresponding Author
Frances M. Lobo
Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
Correspondence
Frances M. Lobo, The Pennsylvania State University, 140 Moore Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorErika Lunkenheimer
Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
Search for more papers by this authorRachel G. Lucas-Thompson
Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
Search for more papers by this authorNatasha S. Seiter
Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
The present study examined the moderating effects of parental meta-emotion philosophy on the relation between family stress and youth internalizing symptoms. A two-study approach was applied to explore these relations in socioeconomically diverse samples with respect to a self-reported parental emotion coaching (EC) and parental emotion dismissing (ED) meta-emotion philosophy in Study 1 (N = 153; youth ages 10–17 years; 52% female; 49% White, 26% multiracial, 17% African American, 6% Asian American, 1% Latinx, and 1% American Indian) and observed parental EC and ED behaviors in whole-family interactions in Study 2 (N = 82; youth ages 8–11.75 years; 52% female; 57% White, 22% African American, 19% multiracial, and 2% Asian). Across both studies, EC was a buffer such that positive associations between family stress and youth internalizing symptoms were only present when parental EC philosophy or EC behaviors were lower. Additionally, in Study 1, more EC was protective: the relation between family stress and youth internalizing symptoms was negative when parental EC philosophy was higher. Findings suggest parental EC buffers youth internalizing symptoms from the detrimental effects of family stress. Therefore, the inclusion of family-level risk processes and the effects of both parental beliefs and observed parenting behaviors can inform research on youth psychosocial adjustment.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.
Open Research
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
The dataset analyzed for the current study is not publicly available.
Supporting Information
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