Improving Child Emotion Regulation: Effects of Parent–Child Interaction-therapy and Emotion Socialization Strategies

• Published in: Journal of child and family studies 2019-03, Vol.28 (3), p.720-731
• Main Authors: Rothenberg, W. Andrew, Weinstein, Allison, Dandes, Erin A., Jent, Jason F.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Behavior; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Caregivers; Child and School Psychology; Child Behavior; Child Rearing; Children; Emotional regulation; Emotions; Intervention; Original Paper; Parent Child Relationship; Parent-Child interaction therapy; Parent-child relations; Parenting Skills; Parents & parenting; Positive emotions; Psychology; Psychopathology; Social Sciences; Socialization; Sociology; Strategies; Treatment outcomes
• ISSN: 1062-1024; 1573-2843
• DOI: 10.1007/s10826-018-1302-2

Emotion regulation is a mechanism that, when targeted in treatment, can ameliorate heterogeneous psychopathology across ontogeny. Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is one evidence-based intervention hypothesized to improve child emotion regulation. Building on this hypothesis, the present study examined three objectives. First, it examined whether child behavior improvement or parent positive parenting skill use during PCIT predicted improvements in post-treatment child emotion regulation. Second, it measured whether these associations persisted after controlling for baseline child emotion regulation, as well as positive and negative parent emotion socialization strategies. Third, it evaluated whether positive parenting skill use and child behavior improvement mediated associations between pre- and post-treatment child emotion regulation. PCIT participants were 86 2–8 year-olds and their caregivers. Child behavior improvement during PCIT (β = −0.65, p