A PERSON-CENTERED ANALYSIS OF PARENT SOCIALIZATION OF EMOTION AT AGES TWO AND FIVE
Open Access
- Author:
- Tucker, Nora
- Graduate Program:
- Psychology
- Degree:
- Master of Science
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- March 10, 2023
- Committee Members:
- Kristin Buss (She/Her), Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Pamela Marie Cole, Committee Member
Kristin Buss (She/Her), Program Head/Chair
Rina Das Eiden, Committee Member - Keywords:
- Emotion Socialization
Parent Socialization of Emotion
Parenting
Person-Centered - Abstract:
- Parent socialization of emotion (PSE) has important implications for children’s socioemotional development. A large body of research has shown robust associations between PSE and children’s outcomes. This research has primarily studied PSE dichotomously and classified all behaviors as either supportive or unsupportive. However, more recent research has critiqued this approach for failing to capture the nuances of PSE behaviors and oversimplifying the construct of PSE. In response to these criticisms several studies have employed a person-centered approach to generate profiles of PSE. However, these studies have failed to identify a consistent set of profiles. We believe this may be due the varying and wide age ranges used in these studies. Thus, the current study utilizes a person-centered approach to generate profiles of PSE at two ages (2 and 5 years old) and examines descriptive differences between profiles identified at age 2 and 5. Finally, we validate the profiles identified by examining associations with known correlates of PSE. At age 2 we identified 3 profiles of PSE: an emotions and problem focused profile, a diverse strategy use profile, and a solutions focused profile. At age 5 we identified 2 profiles of PSE: an emotions and problem focused profile, and a diverse strategy use profile. The results of this study suggest that employing a person-centered approach to study PSE within ages may provide a more nuanced and generalizable measure of PSE which will allow researchers to more accurately assess associations between PSE and children’s outcomes.