(PS8-C52) Adolescent Perception of Parental Validation and Difficulties with Emotion Regulation: The Ways of Validating Scale

Background: Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) creator Dr. Linehan’s (1993) biosocial theory of emotion regulation posits that the transaction between children’s biological vulnerabilities (i.e., heightened emotional sensitivity) and an invalidating environment may lead to the development of more serious mental health issues, including borderline personality disorder (BPD). Validation is crucial for reducing the emotional suffering of our clients. As DBT clinicians and researchers, we also recognize the impact of a parents’ validation or invalidation on the development and maintenance of their child’s emotion dysregulation and target behaviors. Despite this, no published measure of parental validation exists within the literature. Thus, an original scale was derived from Linehan’s (1997) six levels of validation, to measure the degree to which a person perceives they engage with the levels of validation with a loved one. The psychometric properties of the Ways of Validating Scale (WOVS) have been assessed on samples of parents and parent-child dyads, both of which demonstrated strong reliability and construct validity. 

Method: The current study will (1) re-test and confirm the psychometric properties of the scale using adolescents’ perception of their parent’s validation, and (2) examine the relationship between adolescent perception of parental validation and adolescent psychopathology symptoms and difficulties with emotion regulation. The current survey has been distributed to 300+ 18-19 year-old college students at the Claremont Colleges in Los Angeles County. Participants will complete the 16-item WOVS measure alongside scales measuring related constructs and other psychopathology symptoms.

Expected

Results: Past studies assessing construct validity for the WOVS (∝ = .89-.92) showed moderate positive correlations to empathy (r = .27-.37, p < .05), self-validation (r = .54, p < .01), and emotional validation assessed through an additional original measure (r = .30-.70, p < .01). There were also negative correlations between the WOVS and perceived family invalidation (r = -.37- -.18, p < .05). Notable positive correlations between the WOVS and child emotion regulation were found, as well as negative correlations between the WOVS and child depression, anxiety, BPD features, and emotion dysregulation. Mediation analyses demonstrated significant pathways between child perceived parental validation, child emotion dysregulation, and child BPD features. Given the overlap of research focus, measures, and populations between our prior and present studies, we expect similar results. We anticipate that the WOVS will show similar Cronbach’s alpha scores, that the measures used for convergent and discriminant validity will show similar correlational strength and direction as our past two studies, and that adolescent perceived parental validation will be negatively correlated with adolescent psychopathology symptoms and emotion dysregulation.