A Multi-Method, Multi-Informant Test of Maternal Emotion Socialization in Relation to Adolescent Fears of Social Evaluation

Prospective Associations Between Fears of Negative Evaluation, Fears of Positive Evaluation, and Social Anxiety Symptoms in Adolescence

Fear of negative evaluation (FNE) and fear of positive evaluation (FPE) are independently associated with social anxiety symptoms in adolescence, though no study has tested these relations longitudinally. The current study examined longitudinal relations between FNE, FPE, and social anxiety symptoms using a multi-informant design, in addition to testing adolescent gender as a moderator. Adolescents (N = 113; Mage = 12.39; Girls = 44.2%) and parents completed measures of FNE, FPE, and two ratings of social anxiety approximately 6 months apart. FNE and FPE demonstrated significant stability over time, but neither predicted change in the other construct. Adolescent and parent-reported FNE, but not FPE, predicted increased social anxiety symptoms. Adolescent report of social anxiety symptoms predicted increased FPE over time, whereas parent report of social anxiety symptoms predicted increased FNE. Contrary to hypothesis, gender did not moderate any of the pathways in the model. Findings provide the first evidence that FNE may function as a risk factor for increased social anxiety in adolescence.

Introduction to the Special Issue: Transdiagnostic Implications of Parental Socialization of Child and Adolescent Emotions

Developmental research suggests that parent emotion socialization plays a critical role in children's development of emotion-related skills and their risk for psychopathology. Adaptive emotion socialization practices can shape children's capacities to understand and regulate their own emotions, and when maladaptive, these practices can confer risk for both internalizing and externalizing problems, suggesting transdiagnsotic significance. Yet, emerging work suggests that the effects of parent emotion socialization are not universal and may differ based on children's unique vulnerabilities, highlighting the need to examine both parent and child factors within transactional models. Given the developmental shifts in emotion regulation capacities and autonomy across development, there is a great need for longitudinal emotion socialization research, as well as work that accounts for alternative interpretations, in this domain. Additionally, to-date much of the work in this regard has utilized parental report in isolation, making the need for cutting-edge, multi-method approaches highly salient. Further, translating scientific research into parent emotion socialization interventions is still in its infancy, with the majority of available treatments focusing on young children. As such, contributors to this special issue help address these gaps in the literature and examine the implications of a range of parent emotion socialization behaviors in the context of both adaptive and maladaptive child and adolescent emotional development. In this introduction, we highlight major themes of the special issue; further discussion and future directions are offered in the commentary accompanying this special issue.

Transdiagnostic Implications of Parental Socialization of Child and Adolescent Emotional Development: Commentary and Future Directions

This special issue consists of 23 articles focusing on parent socialization of emotion in children and adolescents as a transdiagnostic factor for the development of psychopathology. The papers in this special issue span various emotion socialization domains, methodologies, ages, and clinical and non-clinical populations, highlighting the promise, as well as complexities of, such transactional work. Our goals for this commentary include synthesizing the articles, highlighting common themes, and suggesting future research initiatives involving measurement, developmental, and cultural considerations. It is our hope that the research presented in this special issue will inspire future, high-quality research on this topic and ultimately improve outcomes for children and adolescents at risk for poor emotion regulation and psychopathology.