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Parents' emotion expression as a predictor of child's social competence: children with or without intellectual disability
- Authors:
- GREEN S., BAKER B.
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 55(3), March 2011, pp.324-338.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Parents' expression of positive emotion plays an important part in the social development of children who are typically developing (TD). However, the association between parents' negative emotion expression and social development can be positive or negative depending upon such factors as the child's emotion regulation abilities. Children with intellectual disability (ID) usually have lower emotion regulation capabilities leading the authors to hypothesise that parents' negative emotion expression would be associated with poorer social development in children with ID compared to those TD. A mixed group of 180 families living in California or Pennsylvania were enrolled. Parents' positive and negative affect were coded from naturalistic home interactions at child ages 5–8 years, and child's social skills were measured by mother report at child ages 6–9 years. Mothers, but not fathers, expressed less positive affect and more negative affect with ID group children. Parents' positive affect expression was related to social skills only for TD children; mothers' positive affect predicting higher social skills. Contrary to expectations, fathers' positive affect predicted lower social skills. Parents' negative affect predicted significantly lower social skills for children with ID than for TD children. The findings support the hypothesis that low to moderate levels of negative expression may be less beneficial or even detrimental for children with ID compared to children with TD.