Described preschoolers’ conceptions of the consequences of their own
emotions within the family demonstrated the linkage between this aspect of social
cognition and emotional competence with peers, and examined contributions of
parental emotion to both child variables. A total of 77 4- and 5-year-olds enacted
dollhouse vignettes depicting consequences of their emotions. Parents completed
questionnaires on negative emotion and sharing of positive affect, and teachers
rated children’s emotional competence with peers. Children attributed
plausible parental reactions to their own emotions; affective sharing/distress
relief conceptions of parents’ reactions were most strongly associated
with emotional competence in the preschool classroom. Socialisation of emotion
indices exerted both direct and indirect influences on emotional competence, and
conceptions of parents’ positive reactions also exerted a direct effect,
as expected.
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