Can We Fix This? Parent–Child Repair Processes and Preschoolers' Regulatory Skills

• Author: Erin C. Albrecht,Erika Lunkenheimer,Christine J. Kemp,Deborah Chen
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12213
• Published date: 01 October 2016
• Date: 01 October 2016

C J. K, E L, E C. A,  D C

Colorado State University∗

Can We Fix This? Parent–Child Repair Processes

and Preschoolers’ Regulatory Skills

The repair of difcult parent–child interactions

is a marker of healthy functioning in infancy,

but less is known about repair processes during

early childhood. Weused dynamic systems meth-

ods to investigate dyadic repair in mothers and

their 3-year-old children (N=96) and its predic-

tion of children’s emotion regulation and behav-

ior problems at a 4-month follow-up. Mothers

and children completed free play and challeng-

ing puzzle tasks. Repair was operationalized

as the conditional probability of moving into a

dyadic adaptive behavior region after individual

or dyadic maladaptive behavior (e.g., child non-

compliance, parental criticism). Overall, dyads

repaired approximately half their maladaptive

behaviors. A greater likelihood of repair during

the puzzle task predicted better child emotion

regulation and fewer behavior problems in

preschool. Results suggest dyadic repair is an

important process in early childhood and pro-

vide further evidence for the connection between

parent–child coregulation and children’s devel-

oping regulatory capacities. Implications for

family-based interventions are discussed.

The ability to shift out of a negative state

toward a positive one is a critical marker

∗Department of Human Development and Family Stud-

ies, Colorado State University, 1570 Campus Deliv-

ery, Fort Collins, CO 80523–1570 (erika.lunkenheimer@

colostate.edu).

Key Words: Behavior problems, early childhood, emotion

regulation, parent–childinteraction, repair.

of healthy functioning across the life span.

The consistent movement toward positive

well-being in the face of difcult life circum-

stances forms the core of resilience (Masten,

2001; Yehuda, Flory, Southwick, & Charney,

2006), whereas difculty moving away from

negativity (e.g., rumination) is a hallmark of

depression and other mental health problems

(Nolen-Hoeksema, Wisco, & Lyubomirsky,

2008; Papageorgiou & Wells, 2004). Substan-

tial research indicates that the ability to make

these shifts is at least partially linked to social

experiences (Sameroff & Rosenblum, 2006;

Waller, 2001). Beeghly and Tronick (2011)

suggested that one’s ability to successfully face

challenging life circumstances begins with the

dyadic ability to resolve momentary instances

of difculty in infancy. During early childhood,

when interactions with caregivers continue to

act as the primary context for child develop-

ment (Bronfenbrenner, 1986), early repara-

tive interactions with caregivers may provide

a foundation for the development of children’s

developing emotional and behavioral regulation

skills.

In this vein, Tronick (2003) hypothesized that

the moment-to-moment transitions from a

mismatched or negative state into a matched

or positive state, referred to as “repair,” is a

key mechanism by which children internalize

regulatory abilities. In work on mother–infant

repair processes, Tronick (2003) suggested that

consistent reparations serve as building blocks

in the development of secure attachments and

protect against the development of depressive

576 Family Relations 65 (October 2016): 576–590

DOI:10.1111/fare.12213