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Child language and parenting antecedents and externalizing outcomes of emotion regulation pathways across early childhood: A person-centered approach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 November 2017

Jason José Bendezú ,
Pamela M. Cole ,
Patricia Z. Tan ,
Laura Marie Armstrong ,
Elizabeth B. Reitz  and
Rachel M. Wolf
Jason José Bendezú*
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
Pamela M. Cole
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
Patricia Z. Tan
Affiliation:
University of California Los Angeles
Laura Marie Armstrong
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina–Charlotte
Elizabeth B. Reitz
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
Rachel M. Wolf
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Jason J. Bendezú, Department of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University, 208 Moore Building, University Park, PA 16802; E-mail: jjb490@psu.edu.
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Abstract

Decreases in children's anger reactivity because of the onset of their autonomous use of strategies characterizes the prevailing model of the development of emotion regulation in early childhood (Kopp, 1989). There is, however, limited evidence of the varied pathways that mark this development and their proposed antecedents and consequences. This study used a person-centered approach to identify such pathways, antecedents, and outcomes. A sample of 120 children from economically strained rural and semirural households were observed while waiting to open a gift at ages 24, 36, and 48 months. Multitrajectory modeling of children's anger expressions and strategy use yielded three subgroups. As they aged, typically developing children's strategy use (calm bids and focused distraction) increased while anger expressions decreased. Later developing children, though initially elevated in anger expression and low in strategy use, demonstrated marked growth across indicators and did not differ from typically developing children at 48 months. At-risk children, despite developing calm bidding skills, did not display longitudinal self-distraction increases or anger expression declines. Some predicted antecedents (12–24 month child language skills and language-capitalizing parenting practices) and outcomes (age 5 years externalizing behavior) differentiated pathways. Findings illustrate how indicator-specific departures from typical pathways signal risk for behavior problems and point to pathway-specific intervention opportunities.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 30 , Issue 4 , October 2018 , pp. 1253 - 1268
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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Footnotes

This research was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grant R01-061388 (to P.M.C.) We thank the many graduate and undergraduate students who contributed to the data collection and reduction, as well as the commitment and contributions of the families who participated.

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