Date of Award
Summer 2021
Document Type
Thesis - Restricted
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Grych, John
Abstract
Research on parental warmth, discipline, and emotion socialization provides compelling evidence that certain parenting strategies consistently predict healthy development. However, studies examining links between intimate partner violence, parenting, and child adjustment largely have examined only one of these dimensions, and consequently, the combined effects of different parenting approaches are not well understood. This study examined the joint effects of three parenting dimensions that have been independently associated with resilience (warmth, discipline, emotion socialization) in a sample of preschoolers from Head Start programs. Interactions between 127 caregiver-child dyads were coded for each type of parenting. Both caregivers and teachers reported on children’s emotion regulation, social competence, school readiness, and behavior problems. Participants were predominantly Black or African American. The additive and buffering effects of caregiver warmth, effective discipline, and emotion socialization on caregiver and teacher reports of healthy development were examined. Greater use of effective discipline was uniquely associated with teacher-reported emotion regulation. Emotion socialization moderated the association between intimate partner violence exposure and teacher- reported emotion regulation. No other interactive effects were found. Future research should continue to assess interactions between parenting dimensions to explore unique influences on healthy development that may be more potent when combined.