Restricted accessBrief reportFirst published online 2026
Preadolescents’ Perceptions of Parental Emotion Socialization Responses to Positive Emotions: Links With Psychosocial Adjustment and Attachment Security
Emotion socialization (ES) has been studied primarily in the context of children’s negative emotions. We evaluated whether 1) mothers and fathers are similar in their ES (savoring and dampening) of positive emotions; and 2) maternal and paternal ES are differentially related to preadolescents’ psychosocial adjustment and attachment security. Preadolescents (N = 106; age M(SD) = 11.68 (1.03) years; 52 boys) reported parental ES, self-worth, and attachment security. Mothers reported children’s psychosocial adjustment. Preadolescents perceived mothers as savoring more, but not dampening more, than fathers. Paternal dampening was associated with children’s greater internalizing and conduct problems, and fewer prosocial behaviors. Maternal and paternal savoring were positively related to preadolescents’ self-worth, however, only paternal savoring had a unique effect. Maternal and paternal savoring and dampening were associated with preadolescents’ attachment security with each respective parent. Findings underscore the importance of perceived ES of positive emotions for preadolescents’ psychosocial adjustment and attachment security.
BaiS.RepettiR. L.SperlingJ. B. (2016). Children’s expressions of positive emotion are sustained by smiling, touching, and playing with parents and siblings: A naturalistic observational study of family life. Developmental Psychology, 52(1), 88–101. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039854
2.
BarlowD. H. (2004). Anxiety and its disorders: The nature and treatment of anxiety and panic. Guilford press.
3.
BeanC. A. L.SummersC. B.CieslaJ. A. (2022). Dampening of positive affect and depression: A meta-analysis of cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 156, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2022.104153
4.
BrandA. E.Klimes-DuganB. (2010). Emotion socialization in adolescence: The roles of mothers and fathers. In Kennedy RootA.DenhamS. (Eds.), The role of gender in the socialization of emotion: Key concepts and critical issues, (Vol, 128, pp. 85–100). Jossey-Bass.
5.
BreauxR.LewisJ.CashA. R.ShroffD. M.BurkhouseK. L.KujawaA. (2022). Parent emotion socialization and positive emotions in child and adolescent clinical samples: A systematic review and call to action. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 25(1), 204–221. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-022-00388-2
6.
BrumariuL. E.MadiganS.GiusepponeK. R.Movahed AbtahiM.KernsK. A. (2018). The security scale as a measure of attachment: Meta-analytic evidence of validity. Attachment & Human Development, 20(6), 600–625. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2018.1433217
7.
BrumariuL. E.WaslinS. M.NairT. K.RodriguesG. A.MooreM. T.KernsK. A. (2025). Parental emotion socialization and internalizing problems in childhood and adolescence: A meta-analytic review. Development and Psychopathology, 37(5), 2806–2826. https://doi.org/10.1017/S095457942510059X
8.
CassidyJ. (2016). The nature of the child’s ties. In CassidyJ.ShaverP. R. (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (3rd ed., pp. 3–24). Guilford Press.
9.
ChaplinT. M.ColeP. M.Zahn-WaxlerC. (2005). Parental socialization of emotion expression: Gender differences and relations to child adjustment. Emotion, 5(1), 80–88. https://doi.org/10.1037/1528-3542.5.1.80
CompasB. E.JaserS. S.BettisA. H.WatsonK. H.GruhnM. A.DunbarJ. P.WilliamsE.ThigpenJ. C. (2017). Coping, emotion regulation, and psychopathology in childhood and adolescence: A meta-analysis and narrative review. Psychological Bulletin, 143(9), 939–991. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000110
12.
DenhamS. A. (2019). Emotional competence during childhood and adolescence. In LoBueV.Pérez-EdgarK.BussK. A. (Eds.), Handbook of emotional development (pp. 493–541): Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17332-6_20
13.
DoanS.MacDonaldS.SwaminathanK. (2023). The socialization of positive emotions: Implications for physical health and psychological adjustment. Mental Health and Prevention, 30(2), 200272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mhp.2023.200272
14.
EisenbergN. (2020). Findings, issues, and new directions for research on emotion socialization. Developmental Psychology, 56(3), 664–670. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000906
EisenbergN.MillerP. A. (1987). The relation of empathy to prosocial and related behaviors. Psychological Bulletin, 101(1), 91–119.
17.
EisenbergN.SpinradT. L.EggumN. D. (2010). Emotion-related self-regulation and its relation to children’s maladjustment. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 6(1), 495–525. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.121208.131208
18.
FredricksonB. L. (2004). The broaden–and–build theory of positive emotions. Philosophical transactions of the royal society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 359(1449), 1367–1377. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2004.1512
19.
GentzlerA. L.MoreyJ. N.PalmerC. A.YiC. Y. (2013). Young adolescents’ responses to positive events: Associations with positive affect and adjustment. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 33(5), 663–683. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431612462629
20.
GentzlerA. L.RamseyM. A.BlackK. R. (2015). Mothers’ attachment styles and their children’s self-reported security, as related to maternal socialization of children’s positive affect regulation. Attachment & Human Development, 17(4), 376–398. https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12338
HarterS. (2012). Self-perception profile for adolescents: Manual and questionnaires. University of Denver.
23.
JohnsonA. M.HawesD. J.EisenbergN.KohlhoffJ.DudeneyJ. (2017). Emotion socialization and child conduct problems: A comprehensive review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 54, 65–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2017.04.001
24.
KatzL. F.ShorttJ. W.AllenN. B.DavisB.HunterE.LeveC.SheeberL. (2014). Parental emotion socialization in clinically depressed adolescents: Enhancing and dampening positive affect. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 42(2), 205–215. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-013-9784-2
25.
KernsK. A.AspelmeierJ. E.GentzlerA. L.GrabillC. M. (2001). Parent–child attachment and monitoring in middle childhood. Journal of Family Psychology, 15(1), 69–81. https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.15.1.69
26.
KernsK. A.BrumariuL. E. (2016). Attachment in middle childhood. In CassidyJ. (Ed.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 349–365). Guilford Press.
27.
KoehnA. J.KernsK. A. (2022). Validating the supervision partnership as a phase of attachment. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 42(4), 482–513. https://doi.org/10.1177/02724316211036753
28.
Miller-SloughR. L.DunsmoreJ. C. (2016). Parent and friend emotion socialization in adolescence: Associations with psychological adjustment. Adolescent Res Rev, 1(4), 287–305. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40894-016-0026-z
29.
MoranK. M.RootA. E.VizyB. K.WilsonT. K.GentzlerA. L. (2019). Maternal socialization of children’s positive affect regulation: Associations with children’s savoring, dampening, and depressive symptoms. Social Development, 28(2), 306–322. https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12338
30.
RodriguesG. A.WaslinS. M.NairT. K.KernsK. A.BrumariuL. E. (2024). Parental emotion socialization and parent-child attachment: A meta-analytic review. Emotion, 25(3), 775–781. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0001457
ShiZ.QuY.YanY.WangQ. (2024). Chinese mothers’ reactions to adolescents’ positive emotions: Relations to adolescents’ emotional adjustment and mothers’ socialization goals. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 53(5), 1214–1231. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-023-01924-1
33.
SimonsL. G.CongerR. D. (2007). Linking mother-father differences in parenting to a typology of family parenting styles and adolescent outcomes. Journal of Family Issues, 28(2), 212–241. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X06294593
34.
SowisloJ. F.OrthU. (2013). Does low self-esteem predict depression and anxiety? A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Psychological Bulletin, 139(1), 213–240. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028931
35.
TabachnickB.FidellL. (2013). Using multivariate statistics. Pearson Education Inc.
36.
VerheesM. W.FinetC.VandesandeS.BastinM.BijttebierP.BodnerN.Van de WalleM.BosmansG. (2021). Attachment and the development of depressive symptoms in adolescence: The role of regulating positive and negative affect. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 50(8), 1649–1662. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-021-01426-y
37.
VollingB. L.BornsteinM. H. (2025). Not just father involvement! contemporary perspectives on fathering and father-child relationships. Parenting, 25(4), 353–366. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295192.2025.2555648
38.
YiC. Y.GentzlerA. L.RamseyM. A.RootA. E. (2016). Linking maternal socialization of positive emotions to children’s behavioral problems: The moderating role of self-control. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 25(5), 1550–1558. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-015-0329-x
