Abstract
Mother-child emotion talk is one of the main ways through which children learn about emotions. Some previous research studies have suggested that mother-child emotion talk is a gendered process, influencing how girls and boys talk about emotions. Despite inconsistent findings in establishing if mothers use different amounts of emotion talk with their daughters and sons, there is no known meta-analysis of the literature examining gender differences in the frequency of mother-child emotion talk. The aim of this comprehensive meta-analysis is to explore gender comparisons in the frequency of mother-child emotion talk as well as the moderators of these differences. Based on 34 independent group samples (samples of unique individuals) consisting of 3649 participants, no gender differences in the frequency of emotion talk between mothers of daughters and mothers of sons were found. Using a random-effects model, the meta-analysis had a mean weighted effect size of Cohen’s d = .04 (95% CI = [−.05, .13], p = .36). It was not heterogeneous, Qw (33) = 39.36, p = .21. Thus, findings of the present meta-analysis suggest that mother-child emotion talk has not been shown to be gendered, which has implications for children’s socialization of emotions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adams, S., Kuebli, J., Boyle, P. A., & Fivush, R. (1995). Gender differences in parent-child conversations about past emotions: A longitudinal investigation. Sex Roles, 33, 309–323. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf01954572.
Aznar, A., & Tenenbaum, H. R. (2013). Spanish parents’ emotion talk and their children’s understanding of emotion. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00670.
Aznar, A., & Tenenbaum, H. R. (2015). Gender and age differences in parent-child emotion talk. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 33, 148–155. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjdp.12069.
Bird, A., & Reese, E. (2006). Emotional reminiscing and the development of an autobiographical self. Developmental Psychology, 42, 613–626. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.42.4.613.
Borenstein, M., Hedges, L. V., Higgins, J. P. T., & Rothstein, H. R. (2009). Introduction to meta-analysis. Hoboken: Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470743386.ch7.
Borenstein, M., Hedges, L. V., Higgins, J. P., & Rothstein, H. R. (2011). Introduction to meta-analysis. Hoboken: Wiley.
Cassano, M. C., & Zeman, J. L. (2010). Parental socialization of sadness regulation in middle childhood: The role of expectations and gender. Developmental Psychology, 46, 1214–1226. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019851.
Cervantes, C. A. (2002). Explanatory emotion talk in Mexican immigrant and Mexican American families. Hispanic Journal of Behavioural Sciences, 24, 138–163. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739986302024002003.
Chaplin, T. M., Cole, P. M., & Zahn-Waxler, C. (2005). Parental socialization of emotion expression: Gender differences and relations to child adjustment. Emotion, 5, 80–88. https://doi.org/10.1037/1528-3542.5.1.80.
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioural sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale: Erlbaum.
Cole, P. M., Bruschi, C. J., & Tamang, B. L. (2002). Cultural differences in children’s emotional reactions to difficult situations. Child Development, 73, 983–996. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00451.
Cole, P. M., Tamang, B. L., & Shrestha, S. (2006). Cultural variations in the socialization of young children’s anger and shame. Child Development, 77, 1237–1251. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00931.x.
Coltrane, S., & Adams, M. (1997). Children and gender. In T. Arendell (Ed.), Contemporary parenting: Challenging and issues (pp. 219–253). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Crucianelli, L., Wheatley, L., Filipetti, M. L., Jenkinson, P. M., Kirk, E., & Fotopolou, A. K. (2018). The mindedness of maternal touch: An investigation of maternal mind-mindedness and mother-infant touch interactions. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 35, 47–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2018.01.010.
Demuth, C. (2013). Socializing infants towards a cultural understanding of expressing negative affect: A Bakhtinian informed discursive psychology approach. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 20, 39–61. https://doi.org/10.1080/10749039.2012.719992.
Denham, S. A., Zoller, D., & Couchoud, E. A. (1994). Socialization of preschoolers’ emotion understanding. Developmental Psychology, 30, 928–936. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.30.6.928.
Denham, S. A., Bassett, H. H., & Wyatt, T. M. (2010). Gender differences in the socialization of preschoolers’ emotional competence. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 128, 29–49. https://doi.org/10.1002/cd.267.
Dunn, J., Bretherton, I., & Munn, P. (1987). Conversations about feeling states between mothers and their young children. Developmental Psychology, 27, 448–455. https://doi.org/10.1037//0012-1649.23.1.132.
Duval, S., & Tweedie, R. (2000). A nonparametric “trim and fill” method of accounting for publication bias in meta-analysis. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 95, 89–98. https://doi.org/10.1080/01621459.2000.10473905.
Eisenberg, A. R. (1999). Emotion talk among Mexican American and Anglo American mothers and children from two social classes. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 45, 267–284.
Fidalgo, A., Tenenbaum, H. R., & Aznar, A. (2018). Are there gender differences in emotion understanding? Analysis of the test of emotion understanding. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 27, 1065–1074. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0956-5.
Fivush, R. (1989). Exploring sex differences in the emotional content of mother-child conversations about the past. Sex Roles, 10, 675–691. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00288079.
Fivush, R. (2007). Maternal reminiscing style and children’s developing understanding of self and emotion. Clinical Social Work Journal, 35, 37–46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-006-0065-1.
Fivush, R., & Buckner, J. P. (2000). Gender, sadness, and depression: The development of emotional focus through gendered discourse. In A. H. Fischer (Ed.), Gender and emotion: Social psychological perspective (pp. 232–253). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511628191.012.
Fivush, R., Brotman, M. A., Buckner, J. P., & Goodman, S. H. (2000). Gender differences in parent-child emotion narratives. Sex Roles, 42, 233–252. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:71007091207068.
Fivush, R., Berlin, L., Sales, J. M., Mennuti-Washburn, J., & Cassidy, J. (2003). Functions of parent-child reminiscing about emotionally negative events. Memory, 11, 179–192. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658210244000351.
Garner, P. W. (2010). Emotional competence and is influences on teaching and learning. Educational Psychology Review, 22, 297–321. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-010-9129-4.
Garner, P. W., Jones, D. C., Gaddy, G., & Rennie, K. M. (1997). Low-income mothers’ conversations about emotions and their children’s emotional competence. Social Development, 6, 37–52. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9507.00025.
Groh, A. M., Narayan, A. J., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., Roisman, G. I., Vaughn, B. E., & Pasco Fearon, R. M. (2017). Attachment and temperament in the early life course: A meta-analytic review. Child Development, 88, 770–795. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12677.
Halberstadt, A. G., & Eaton, K. L. (2002). A meta-analysis of family expressiveness and children’s emotion expressiveness and understanding. Marriage & Family Review, 34, 35–62. https://doi.org/10.1300/j002v34n01_03.
Halberstadt, A. G., Crisp, V. W., & Eaton, K. L. (1999). Family expressiveness: A retrospective and new directions for research. In P. Philippot, R. S. Feldman, & E. Coats (Eds.), The social context of nonverbal behavior (pp. 109–155). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Harris, P. L., de Rosnay, M., & Pons, F. (2005). Language and children’s understanding of mental states. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14, 69–73. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0963-7214.2005.00337.x.
Hertenstein, M. J., & Keltner, D. (2011). Gender and the communication of emotion via touch. Sex Roles, 64, 70–80. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-010-9842-y.
Izard, C., Fine, S., Schultz, D., Mostow, A., Ackerman, B., & Youngstrom, E. (2001). Emotion knowledge as a predictor of social behavior and academic competence in children at risk. Psychological Science, 12, 18–23. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.00304.
Kim, J., & Cicchetti, D. (2010). Longitudinal pathways linking child maltreatment, emotion regulation, peer relations, and psychopathology. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51, 706–716. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2009.02202.x.
Kring, A. M., & Bachorowski, J. A. (1999). Emotions and psychopathology. Cognition and Emotion, 13, 575–599. https://doi.org/10.1080/026999399379195.
Kuebli, J., & Fivush, R. (1992). Gender differences in parent-child conversations about past emotions. Sex Roles, 27, 683–698. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02651097.
Kuebli, J., Butler, S., & Fivush, R. (1995). Mother-child talk about past emotions: Relations of maternal language and child gender over time. Cognition and Emotion, 9, 265–283. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699939508409011.
Laible, D., & Panfile, T. (2009). Mother-child reminiscing in the context of secure attachment relationships: Lessons in understanding and coping with negative emotion. In J. Quas & R. Fivush (Eds.), Emotion and memory in development: Biological, cognitive, and social considerations (pp. 166–195). Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195326932.003.0007.
Laible, D., & Song, J. (2006). Constructing emotional and relational understanding: The role of affect and mother-child discourse. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 52, 44–69. https://doi.org/10.1353/mpq.2006.0006.
Leaper, C. (2011). More similarities than differences in contemporary theories of social development? A plea for theory bridging. In J. B. Benson (Ed.), Advances in child development and behavior (pp. 337–378). San Diego: Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-386491-8.00009-8.
Maccoby, E. E. (1998). The two sexes: Growing up apart, coming together. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Martin, R. M., & Green, J. A. (2005). The use of emotions explanations by mothers: Relation to preschoolers’ gender and understanding of emotions. Social Development, 14, 229–249. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9507.2005.00300.x.
Melzi, G., & Fernandez, C. (2004). Talking about past emotions: Conversations between Peruvian mothers and their preschool children. Sex Roles, 50, 641–657. https://doi.org/10.1023/b:sers.0000027567.55262.10.
Pashler, H., & Wagenmakers, E. J. (2012). Editors’ introduction to the special section on replicability in psychological science: A crisis of confidence? Perspective on Psychological Science, 7, 528–530. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691612465253.
Perez Rivera, M. B., & Dunsmore, J. C. (2011). Mothers’ acculturation and beliefs about emotions, mother-child emotion discourse, and children’s emotion understanding in Latino families. Early Education and Development, 22, 324–354. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409281003702000.
Saarni, C. (1999). The development of emotional competence. New York: Guildford Press.
Sales, J. M. D., Fivush, R., & Peterson, C. (2003). Parental reminiscing about positive and negative events. Journal of Cognition and Development, 4, 185–209. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327647JCD0402_03.
Sterne, J. A., Sutton, A. J., Ioannidis, J. P., Terrin, N., Jones, D. R., Lau, J., … Tetzlaff, J. (2011). Recommendations for examining and interpreting funnel plot asymmetry in meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials. British Medical Journal, 343, 302–307. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.d4002.
Sutton, A. J., Duval, S. J., Tweedie, R. L., Abrams, K. R., & Jones, D. R. (2000). Empirical assessment of effect of publication bias on meta-analyses. British Medical Journal, 320, 1574–1577. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.320.7249.1574.
Suveg, C., Shaffer, A., Morelen, D., & Thomasin, K. (2011). Links between maternal and child psychopathology symptoms: Mediation through child emotion regulation and moderation through maternal behavior. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 42, 506–520. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-011-0223-8.
Taumoepeau, M., & Ruffman, T. (2008). Stepping stones to others’ minds: Maternal talk related to child mental state language and emotion understanding at 15, 24, and 33 months. Child Development, 79, 284–302. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01126.x.
Tauomoepeau, M., & Ruffman, T. (2006). Mother and infant talk about mental states relates to desire language and emotion understanding. Child Development, 77, 465–481. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00882.x.
Valiente, C., Swanson, J., & Eisenberg, N. (2012). Linking students’ emotions and academic achievement: When and why emotions matter. Child Development Perspectives, 6, 129–135. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-8606.2011.00192.x.
van der Pol, L.D., Groeneveld, M.G., van Berkel, S.R., Endendijk, J.J., Hallers-Haalboom, E.T., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M.J., … Mesman, J. (2015). Fathers’ and mothers’ emotion talk with their girls and boys from toddlerhood to preschool age. Emotion, 15, 854–864. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000085.
Wareham, P., & Salmon, K. (2006). Mother-child reminiscing about everyday experiences: Implications for psychological interventions in the preschool years. Clinical Psychology Review, 26, 535–554. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2006.05.001.
Yuill, N., & Little, S. (2017). Thinking or feeling? An exploratory study of maternal scaffolding, child mental state talk, and emotion understanding in language-impaired and typically developing school-aged children. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 88, 261–283. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12194.
Zaman, W., & Fivush, R. (2013). Gender differences in elaborative parent-child emotion and play narratives. Sex Roles, 68, 591–604. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-013-0270-7.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Oliver Crenol and Hannah Piggott for their help with this project. We would also like to thank the authors who took time from their busy schedules to respond to our request for information to include in the present meta-analysis.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic supplementary material
ESM 1
(DOCX 39 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Aznar, A., Tenenbaum, H.R. Gender Comparisons in Mother-Child Emotion Talk: A Meta-Analysis. Sex Roles 82, 155–162 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-019-01042-y
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-019-01042-y