(PS8-C55) The Role of Parent-child Attachment and Temperament on Children’s Emotion Regulation Abilities

Background. According to the Morris and colleagues (2017) tripartite emotion regulation (ER) development model, parents play an important role in teaching their children about emotions. One way parents can provide foundational ER skills to their child is through their relationship (Parrigon et al., 2015). Research highlights that relationship quality plays a vital role in how children learn to regulate their own emotions via strategies used by their parents (Silva et al., 2018). Given the role that children in turn play in forming these relationships, child temperament will be included as predictor. The goal of the proposed research is to better understand how parent-child relationship-quality affects the ability to regulate emotions, such as sadness, anger, and fear, in school-aged children’s (Brechet et al., 2010). Method. The research project will include approximately 50 parent-child dyads which will enable us to detect a significant small effect size. Children will be asked to complete the Children’s Emotion Regulation Management Scale (CEMS; Zeman et. al, 2002) for sadness, anger, and fear, as well as the Inventory for Parent and Peer Attachment-Revised (IPPA-R; Gullone & Robinson, 2005). Parents will complete the Early Adolescents Temperament Questionnaire-Revised (EATQ-R). Statistical Analysis. Multiple regression analyses will be conducted, while considering child gender, ethnicity, and child temperament as potential confounds. Implications. Parents play a critical role on their child’s cognitive and social-emotional development. Our findings will have implications on informing parents, educators and professionals working with children and families on best practices. Increased knowledge in this area will also inform researchers on future directions when investigating factors promoting child development and well-being.