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Indirect Effects of Parenting Practices on Internalizing Problems among Adolescents: The Role of Expressive Suppression

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Abstract

Negative parenting practices are thought to be essential for the development of adolescents’ internalizing problems. However, mechanisms linking parental practices to adolescents’ internalizing problems remain poorly understood. A potential pathway connecting parental behaviors to internalizing problems could be through adolescent expressive suppression—the tendency to inhibit the observable expression of emotions.This study examined the indirect effects of three individual parenting practices—poor monitoring, inconsistent discipline and use of corporal punishment—on adolescents’ internalizing problems through adolescents’regular use of expressive suppression in a sample of 1132 adolescents (10–14 years). Structural Equation Modeling indicated that parenting practices were related both directly and indirectly to adolescents’ internalizing problems through their relationship with suppression. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

Part of this research was supported by a grant from theRomanian Executive Unit for Financing Education, Higher Research, Development and Innovation (the ‘‘Effectiveness of an empiricallybased web platform for anxiety in youths’’, Grant Number PN-II-PTPCCA-2011-3.1-1500, 81/2012) awarded to Dr. Anca Dobrean.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Babeş-Bolyai University, No. 37, Republicii St., 40015, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    Raluca Balan & Anca Dobrean

  2. Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Gabriela D. Roman

  3. Department of Psychology, Babeş-Bolyai University, No. 37, Republicii St., 40015, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    Robert Balazsi

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  1. Raluca Balan
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  2. Anca Dobrean
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Correspondence to Anca Dobrean.

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Balan, R., Dobrean, A., Roman, G.D. et al. Indirect Effects of Parenting Practices on Internalizing Problems among Adolescents: The Role of Expressive Suppression. J Child Fam Stud 26, 40–47 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-016-0532-4

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