Emotion regulation in mother-child narrative co-construction: associations with children's narratives and adaptation.

D. Oppenheim, A. Nir, S. Warren, R. N. Emde

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The associations were studied between early mother-child co-construction of a separation-reunion narrative and children's concurrent and later (a) emotion narratives and (b) behavior problems. Fifty-one children and their mothers were observed during a co-construction task when the children were age 4 1/2. At ages 4 1/2 and 5 1/2, children's narratives were elicited using the MacArthur Story-Stem Battery (MSSB), and mothers completed the Child Behavior Checklist. Results showed that children who were more emotionally coherent during the co-constructions had MSSB narratives that were more coherent, had more prosocial themes, and had fewer aggressive themes at ages 4 1/2 and 5 1/2. Moreover, such children had fewer behavior problems at both ages. The relations between narrative processes and emotion regulation are discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)284-294
Number of pages11
JournalDevelopmental Psychology
Volume33
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 1997

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Demography
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Life-span and Life-course Studies

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Emotion regulation in mother-child narrative co-construction: associations with children's narratives and adaptation.'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this