Abstract
Objectives
Children of substance-dependent caregivers are at significantly increased risk for emotion regulation deficits, yet little is known about the role of parent emotion socialization in this process. Given the strong link between parent emotion socialization and child emotion regulation in both community and other at-risk samples, our goal was to examine this mechanism within the high-risk clinical context of maternal drug use. We examined parent emotion socialization as a risk mechanism underlying child emotion regulation deficits among young children of substance-dependent mothers. We focused on supportive, non-supportive, and degree of consistency in parental reactions to children’s emotions during episodes of maternal drug use.
Methods
We employed a multisite design and conducted interviews with mothers in substance abuse treatment who had children ages 3–8 years. We employed structural equation modeling to test three unique dimensions of parent emotion socialization as mediators of the relation between maternal substance use and child emotion regulation.
Results
Findings supported a mediated risk mechanism such that more severe impairment related to maternal substance use predicted higher levels of non-supportive reactions to children’s negative emotions which, in turn, predicted poorer child emotion regulation. Furthermore, when controlling for the potential co-mediating effect of parenting behaviors more generally, we found that general parenting style did not co-mediate this relationship, indicating specificity in this risk mechanism uniquely related to parent emotion socialization.
Conclusions
Prevention and treatment implications suggest that non-supportive emotion socialization behaviors may be an appropriate target for supporting children’s emotion regulation within contexts of maternal substance use.
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Author Contributions
Completion of the current study was a collaborative effort between JMS and AMH, with JMS serving as the principal investigator for the study and AMH serving in a consulting and supportive role. JMS designed and executed the study, completed data analyses and interpretation of results, and wrote the initial draft of the paper. AMH assisted and collaborated in the study design, data analysis and interpretation of results, and writing and editing the final manuscript. The authors would also like to acknowledge and recognize Drs Donald Baucom, Martha Cox, Patrick Curran, Deborah Jones, and Eric Youngstrom for their feedback on the initial study design, analytic approach, and preliminary write-up.
Funding
This study was funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (T32-HD0007376) and by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (F32 DA039626-01).
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Shadur, J.M., Hussong, A.M. Maternal Substance Use and Child Emotion Regulation: The Mediating Role of Parent Emotion Socialization. J Child Fam Stud 29, 1589–1603 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01681-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01681-5