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A Longitudinal Examination of the Transactional Associations Among Child Emotion Regulation, Parenting Practices, and Family Contextual Factors Across the First Three Years

Xiaoqing Tu, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Abstract

Using a two-year, three-wave cross-lagged design with a sample of 3001 low-income U.S. children and their parents derived from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project, the present study examined transactional longitudinal relations among child emotion regulation, parenting practices, and family contextual factors. The results of structural equation modeling showed the data fit the model well, suggesting transactional associations among the tested variables. Maternal supportiveness and child emotion regulation at 14 months of child age predicted child emotion regulation at 24 months of age. Home environment and child emotion regulation at 24 months predicted child emotion regulation at 36 months. Emotion regulation at one time point consistently predicted home environment at the next time point. Generally, parenting practices were more influential on development of child emotion regulation compared with family contextual factors. Additionally, the examination of gender invariance showed that the impact of emotion regulation from an earlier to the following time point was higher among boys than girls. The results suggest the importance of taking transactional relationships and the changing context (e.g., from maternal support to home environment) into consideration when studying child emotion regulation development. The limitations, future direction and implications for practice are discussed.

Subject Area

Early childhood education

Recommended Citation

Tu, Xiaoqing, "A Longitudinal Examination of the Transactional Associations Among Child Emotion Regulation, Parenting Practices, and Family Contextual Factors Across the First Three Years" (2015). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI3718723.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI3718723

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