Mindful Parenting and Emotion Socialization Practices: Concurrent and Longitudinal Associations

• Author: Justin Parent,Chloe R. Zachary,Laura G. McKee,Rex Forehand
• Date: 01 September 2018
• Published date: 01 September 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12329

Mindful Parenting and Emotion Socialization

Practices: Concurrent and Longitudinal Associations

LAURA G. MCKEE*

JUSTIN PARENT

†

CHLOE R. ZACHARY

‡

REX FOREHAND

§

Caregivers play a crucial role in the socialization of youth emotion understanding, com-

petence, and regulation, which are implicated in youth social and emotional health; how-

ever, there is less understanding of parental psychosocial or cognitive factors, like mindful

parenting, that may be associated with the use of particular emotion socialization (ES)

strategies. This study tests a model of the cross-sectional and short-term longitudinal asso-

ciations between mindful parenting and supportive and nonsupportive ES strategies in a

community sample of parents (N=246; 63.8% mothers) of youth ranging from ages 3–12.

Caregivers reported on mindful parenting and ES strategies at two time points 4 months

apart. The structural equation model indicated that higher levels of mindful parenting are

positively related to supportive ES responses and negatively related to nonsupportive ES

responses both concurrently and over time. The longitudinal association between mindf ul

parenting and nonsupportive, but not supportive, ES was marginally larger for fathers as

compared to mothers. Given the documented impact of ES strategies on youth emoti onal

and behavioral outcomes and interventions emerging to educate parents about how to

provide a healthy emotional atmosphere, incorporating a focus on mindful parenting

strategies may provide one pathway to increase supportive responses and decrease nonsup-

portive ones.

Keywords: Mindfulness; Parenting; Emotion Socialization

Fam Proc 57:752–766, 2018

INTRODUCTION

Acompelling literature documents the impact of caregiver behavior on offspring emo-

tion understanding, expression, and coping. As a socialization source, parents provide

messages to youth both directly and indirectly by modeling emotion expression and coping,

by responding to youth expression of emotion, and by explicitly coaching youth and usin g

emotion talk (Eisenberg, Cumberland, & Spinrad, 1998; Halberstadt & Eaton, 2002). These

messages about emotion expression and coping have important consequences for mental

and physical health, peer relationships, and even academic achievement in youth across

developmental periods, from early childhood through adolescence (see Katz, Maliken, &

Stettler, 2012, for a review). Many researchers, for example, have examined the impact of

*Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA.

†

Florida International University, Miami, FL.

‡

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC.

§

University of Vermont, Burlington, VT.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Laura G. McKee, Georgia State Univer-

sity, Atlanta, GA. E-mail: lmckee1@gsu.edu

752

Family Process, Vol. 57, No. 3, 2018 ©2017 Family Process Institute

doi: 10.1111/famp.12329