Research has shown that growing up in an environment in which emotions are invalidated (i.e., ignored or responded to negatively) by parents is associated with later difficulties regulating emotions. Meanwhile, dispositional mindfulness has been shown to engender a greater capacity for emotion regulation, through use of adaptive strategies like cognitive reframing and minimizing use of maladaptive strategies like expressive suppression. The current study aimed to explore the role of invalidating childhood environments on use of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression as emotion regulation skills and to investigate the role of mindfulness in this relationship. Participants were recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk (n = 1094, Mage = 58.3% women) and completed self-report measures assessing perceptions of maternal invalidation, mindfulness, and emotion regulation. Results demonstrated that the mindfulness facets of describing, non-judging, and non-reactivity partially mediated the relationship between perception of maternal invalidation and expressive suppression. Awareness and non-reactivity were found to mediate the relationship between perception of maternal invalidation and cognitive reappraisal. Clinical implications are discussed.
AldaoA.Nolen-HoeksemaS.SchweizerS. (2010).
Emotion-regulation strategies across psychopathology: A meta-analytic review. Clinical Psychology Review,
30(2), 217–237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2009.11.004
2.
BaerR. A.SmithG. T.HopkinsJ.KrietemeyerJ.ToneyL. (2006).
Using self report assessment methods to explore facets of mindfulness. Assessment,
13(1), 27–45. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191105283504
3.
BaerR. A.SmithG. T.LykinsE.ButtonD.KrietemeyerJ.SauerS.WalshE.DugganD.WilliamsJ. M. G. (2008).
Construct validity of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in mediating and nonmediating samples. Assessment,
15(3), 329–342. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191107313003
4.
BarcacciaB.BaioccoR.PozzaA.PalliniS.ManciniF.SalvatiM. (2019).
The more you judge the worse you feel. A judgmental attitude towards one’s inner experience predicts depression and anxiety. Personality and Individual Differences,
138, 33–39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.09.012
5.
BariolaE.GulloneE.HughesE. K. (2011).
Child and adolescent emotion regulation: The role of parental emotion regulation and expression. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review,
14(2), 198–212. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-011-0092-5
6.
BernierA.CarlsonS. M.WhippleN. (2010).
From external regulation to self-regulation: Early parenting precursors of young children’s executive functioning. Child Development,
81(1), 326–339.
7.
BrockmanR.CiarrochiJ.ParkerP.KashdanT. (2017).
Emotion regulation strategies in daily life: Mindfulness, cognitive reappraisal and emotion suppression. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy,
46(2), 91–113. https://doi.org/10.1080/16506073.2016.1218926
8.
BrownK. W.RyanR. M.CreswellJ. D. (2007).
Mindfulness: Theoretical foundations and evidence for its salutary effects. Psychological Inquiry,
18(4), 211–237. https://doi.org/10.1080/10478400701598298
9.
BuckholdtK. E.ParraG. R.Jobe-ShieldsL. (2014).
Intergenerational transmission of emotion dysregulation through parental invalidation of emotions: Implications for adolescent internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Journal of Child and Family Studies,
23(2), 324–332. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-013-9768-4
10.
ChambersR.GulloneE.AllenN. B. (2009).
Mindful emotion regulation: An integrative review. Clinical Psychology Review,
29(6), 560–572. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2009.06.005
11.
CrissM. M.MorrisA. S.Ponce-GarciaE.CuiL.SilkJ. S. (2016).
Pathways to adaptive emotion regulation among adolescents from low-income families. Family Relations,
65(3), 517–529. https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12202
12.
CrowellS. E.BeauchaineT. P.LinehanM. M. (2009).
A biosocial developmental model of borderline personality: Elaborating and extending Linehan’s theory. Psychological Bulletin,
135(3), 495–510. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015616
13.
CutuliD. (2014).
Cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression strategies role in the emotion regulation: An overview on their modulatory effects and neural correlates. Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience,
8, 175. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2014.00175
14.
D’AvanzatoC.JoormannJ.SiemerM.GotlibI. H. (2013).
Emotion regulation in depression and anxiety: Examining diagnostic specificity and stability of strategy use. Cognitive Therapy and Research,
37(5), 968–980. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-013-9537-0
15.
DiamondL. M.AspinwallL. G. (2003).
Emotion regulation across the lifespan: An integrative perspective emphasizing self-regulation, positive affect and dyadic processes. Motivation and Emotion,
27(2), 125–156. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024521920068
16.
ElzyM.KarverM. (2018).
Behaviour vs. perception: An investigation into the components of emotional invalidation. Personality and Mental Health,
12(1), 59–72. https://doi.org/10.1002/pmh.1403
17.
EnglishT.LeeI. A.JohnO. P.GrossJ. J. (2017).
Emotion regulation strategy selection in daily life: The role of social context and goals. Motivation and Emotion,
41(2), 230–242. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-016-9597
18.
FordG.WallerG.MountfordV. (2011).
Invalidating childhood environments and core beliefs in women with eating disorders. European Eating Disorders Review: The Journal of the Eating Disorders Association,
19(4), 316–321. https://doi.org/10.1002/erv.1053
19.
GarlandE. L.KikenL., G.FaurotK.PalssonO.GaylordS. A. (2017).
Upward spirals of mindfulness and reappraisal: Testing the mindfulness-to-meaning theory with autoregressive latent trajectory modeling. Cognitive Therapy and Research,
41(3), 381–392. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-016-9768-y
20.
GoncalvesS.VieiraA. I.RogriguesT.MachadoP. P.BrandaoI.TimoteoS.NunesP.MachadoB. (2019).
Adult attachment in eating disorders mediates the association between perceived invalidating childhood environments and eating psychopathology. Current Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-00524-2
21.
GrossJ. J. (1998).
Antecedent and response-focused emotion regulation: Divergent consequences for experience, expression, and physiology. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
74(1), 224–237. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.74.1.224
22.
GrossJ. J.JohnO. P. (2003).
Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
85(2), 348–362.
23.
HayesA. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach.
Guilford Press.
24.
HongP. Y.LishnerD. A. (2016).
General invalidation and trauma-specific invalidation as predictors of personality and subclinical psychopathology. Personality and Individual Differences,
89, 211–216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.10.016
25.
JonesJ. D.BrettB. E.EhrlichK. B.LejuezC. W.CassidyJ. (2014).
Maternal attachment style and responses to adolescents’ negative emotions: The mediating role of maternal emotion regulation. Parenting Science Parenting,
14(3–4), 235–257. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295192.2014.972769
26.
JordanC. H.WangW.DonatoniL.MeierB. P. (2014).
Mindful eating: Trait and state mindfulness predict healthier eating behavior. Personality and Individual Differences,
68(1), 107–111.
27.
KalokerinosE. K.GreenawayK. H.DensonT. F. (2015).
Emotion reappraisal but not suppression downregulates the experience of positive and negative emotion. Emotion (Washington, D.C.),
15(3), 271–275. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000025
28.
KimC.JohnsonN. F.CillesS. E.GoldB. T. (2011).
Common and distinct mechanisms of cognitive flexibility in prefrontal cortex. The Journal of Neuroscience: The Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience,
31(13), 4771–4779. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5923.10.2011
29.
LenzS. N.PautschJ.LubyJ. (2011).
Parent-child interaction therapy emotion development: A novel treatment for depression in preschool children. Depression and Anxiety,
28(2), 153–159. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.20770
30.
LinehanM. M. (1993). Cognitive-behavioral treatment of borderline personality disorders.
Guilford.
31.
MountfordV.CorstorphineE.TomlinsonS.WallerG. (2007).
Development of a measure to assess invalidating childhood environments in the eating disorders. Eating Behaviors,
8(1), 48–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2006.01.003
32.
Naragon-GaineyK.McMahonT. P.ChackoT. P. (2017).
The structure of common emotion regulation strategies: A meta-analytic examination. Psychological Bulletin,
143(4), 384–427. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000093
33.
NoronaA. N.BakerB. L. (2017).
The effects of early positive parenting and developmental delay status on child emotion dysregulation. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research,
61(2), 130–143. https://doi.org/10.1111/jir.12287
34.
PeppingC. A.DavisP. J.O’DonovanA. (2013).
Individual differences in attachment and dispositional mindfulness: The mediating role of emotion regulation. Personality and Individual Differences,
54(3), 453–456. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2012.10.006
35.
PeppingC. A.DuvenageM.CroninT. J.LyonsA. (2016).
Adolescent mindfulness and psychopathology: The role of emotion regulation. Personality and Individual Differences,
99, 302–307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.04.089
36.
PerezS.LorcaF.MarcoJ. H. (2020).
Dissociation, posttraumatic stress symptoms, emotional dysregulation, and invalidating environments as correlates of NSSI in borderline personality disorder patients. Journal of Trauma & Disassociation. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/15299732.2020.1719262
37.
SalsmanN. L.LinehanM. M. (2006).
Dialectical-behavioral therapy for borderline personality disorder. Primary Psychiatry,
13, 51–58.
38.
ShenkC. E.FruzzettiA. E. (2014).
Parental validating and invalidating responses and adolescent psychological functioning: An observational study. The Family Journal,
22(1), 43–48. https://doi.org/10.1177/1066480713490900
39.
SrivastavaS.TamirM.McGonigalK. M.JohnO. P.GrossJ. J. (2009).
The social costs of emotional suppression: A prospective study of the transition to college. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
96(4), 883–897. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014755.
40.
SzczygiełD.MaruszewskiT. (2015).
Why expressive suppression does not pay? Cognitive costs of negative emotion suppression: The mediating role of subjective tense-arousal. Polish Psychological Bulletin,
46(3), 336–349. https://doi.org/10.1515/ppb-2015-0041
41.
ThompsonR. W.ArnkoffD. B.GlassC. R. (2011).
Conceptualizing mindfulness and acceptance as components of psychological resilience to trauma. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse,
4, 220–235. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838011416375
42.
TroyA. S.ShallcrossA. J.BrunnerA.FriedmanR.JonesM. C. (2018).
Cognitive reappraisal and acceptance: Effects on emotion, physiology, and perceived cognitive costs. Emotion (Washington, D.C.),
18(1), 58–74. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000371
43.
WuG.FederA.CohenH.KimJ. J.CalderonS.CharneyD. S.MatheA. A. (2013).
Understanding resilience. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience,
7, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2013.00010
44.
YapM. B. H.AllenN. B.LadouceurC. D. (2008).
Maternal socialization of positive affect: The impact of invalidation on adolescent emotion regulation and depressive symptomatology. Child Development,
79(5), 1415–1431. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01196.x
45.
ZielinskiM. J.VeilleuxJ. C. (2018).
The Perceived Invalidation of Emotion Scale (PIES): Development and psychometric properties of a novel measure of current emotion invalidation. Psychological Assessment,
30(11), 1454–1467. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas000058
46.
Zimmer-GembeckM. J.WebbH. J.PeppingC. A.SwanK.MerloO.SkinnerE. A.AvdagicE.DunbarM. (2017).
Review: Is parent-child attachment a correlate of children’s emotion regulation and coping. International Journal of Behavioral Development,
41(1), 74–93. https://doi.org/10.1177/01650254156182
