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Does attachment quality predict emotion reactivity and regulation in pre-schoolers?
Citation
Oh, A. J. (2024). Does attachment quality predict emotion reactivity and regulation in pre-schoolers? [Master's thesis, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore].
https://doi.org/10.32658/10497/27985
https://doi.org/10.32658/10497/27985
Author
Oh, Amos Joshua
Supervisor
Rifkin-Graboi, Anne
Abstract
Emotions have adaptive purposes such as influencing the outcomes of social interactions. The extent of these benefits is based on the emotional competency (e.g., emotion regulation) of an individual, which for children, rapidly develop throughout childhood. Individual differences in emotional competency at early stages of child development have been found to be predictive of other developmental outcomes such as academic readiness. Given the ramifications of emotional competency on development, it is important to understand sources of individual variation. One posited contributor is the quality of the parent-child attachment relationship, as this may influence how
emotions are socialized from parents to children. For example, when relationships are higher in avoidance and/or disorganization and control, children may respectively be expected to minimize emotion reactivity or emotionally dysregulate. While findings from studies examining emotion-related constructs in a standardized parent-child-separation reunion paradigm, (i.e., the Strange Situation) have been useful in illustrating different emotional profiles relating to individual differences in attachment, results from studies examining emotional competence in other contexts are less clear. In response, the current thesis aimed to investigate possible associations between attachment dimensions and emotion reactivity, regulation, and emotion regulation strategies in two studies. Supporting the premise regarding attachment avoidance and emotion minimization, the first study revealed that attachment avoidance was associated with more parasympathetic control activity (i.e., rhythmic sinus arrythmia augmentation) during and after distress. Though disorganization/controlling was not related to emotion reactivity nor regulation, follow-up analyses revealed that when examined independently, controlling-punitive was related to less parasympathetic control activity (i.e., rhythmic sinus arrythmia suppression), suggesting distinct emotion profiles between behavioral disorganization, controlling-caregiving, and controlling-punitive attachment types. In the second study, findings also revealed that attachment disorganization/controlling was associated with greater usage of withdrawal emotion regulation strategy, thereby supporting the idea that the combination of suboptimal emotion socialization caregiver practices and disorganized children’s frequent experiences of intense negative emotions would result in a reliance
on such strategies. Follow-up analyses also revealed that when examined independently, only behavioral disorganization was associated with more withdrawal emotion regulation strategy, further supporting the premise of distinct emotion profiles. The current results, if replicated, support the idea that individual differences in attachment may inform our understanding of emotional competency, but that expanded methodologies and contexts are important to consider in relation to emotion reactivity, regulation, and regulation strategies.
Date Issued
2024