Abstract
When children are able to regulate their emotions, they can build relationships with others, be more flexible and less stressed, and generally improve their wellness. It is a critical skill they need to master during the developmental period. The mutual bond between both parents and children represents the essential elements of self-discipline and emotional maturity. The study reviews and critiques recent research to provide a complete overview of the complex association between the communication skills of parents and children and the self-control of children. Using developmental theories such as Bowlby’s attachment theory and Erikson’s social developmental theory, as well as ideas from attachment research and studies on parental socialization, the article explicates the influence of attachment patterns, emotional responsiveness, and parental behaviors on children’s emotional development. The results stress the necessity of growing a robust, emotionally intelligent, and sensitive attachment relationship between parents and children, and responsive parenting facilitates the emotional regulation skills of a child. The study emphasizes the role of parent-child communication-centric treatment on the mental strength and good health of children. This study also ventures a broader scope into the implications of these findings for the field of psychotherapy.
Emotion Regulation: A Developmental Perspective
A child’s emotional regulation, that is, one’s ability to identify, feel, and control one’s emotions, is a cornerstone for successful social and emotional development (Kiel & Kalomiris, 2015). Learning how to manage stress, resolving difficulties, and being able to perceive and move through the social environment are all part of the process. The capability of managing emotional responses is central to children’s social relationships, mental stability, and learning success, to name only a few of the many aspects of their lives in which emotional intelligence is essential.
As described by Rutherford et al. (2015), children master the regulation of their own emotions with the help of their caregivers during the first years of their lives. However, they internalize these strategies as they get older. They start to self-regulate their emotions more frequently. Through the different stages of children’s development, kids are trying to get a good grip on control over their emotions. During early development, such fundamental regulatory functions as calming and reassuring behaviors emerge, and they are the main pieces of the puzzle that are going to be used in more mature life stages (Rutherford et al., 2015). As they grow up, children become more capable of understanding the vocabulary and categorization of emotions, identifying positive and negative emotions, and understanding the reason for emotions and how they affect our lives.
During their life span between elementary school and high school, students are eager to learn advanced means of handling their emotions, like cognitive reappraisal, solution-seeking, and emotional expression (Brumariu, 2015). As they practice, children acquire the ability to regulate their feelings in the broadest range of circumstances, sacrificing immediate reactions in favor of meeting demands in a way that suits their interests best. With the inherent capability of the kids to observe, experience, and mature, they develop the ability to control their emotions, which enables them to develop resilience and bounce back from failures.
The dynamic nature of this process highlights the fluctuation between managing emotions and other developmental activities. The emotional regulation of children younger than six years is impacted by their surroundings, their interactions with others, and their cognitive development. Furthermore, the variations due to the differing styles of attachment, cultural origin, and moods of children all contribute to the diversity in the regulation of emotions (Brumariu, 2015). The language to regulate emotions is progressive, beginning simple and continuing as one grows older, then becoming complex and sophisticated. The capacity for self-regulation, an essential skill for adolescents, is the best framework for meeting the challenges of adolescent development and a significant precondition for general development. Interventions and strategies aimed at enhancing children’s social-emotional competence and resilience should pay considerable attention to the psychosocial aspects that influence their emotional management.
Parent-Child Relationships from a Developmental Viewpoint
The parent-child relationship is similar to the scaffolding that enables psychological development and control of emotions among children. It provides the critical venue for identifying, grasping, and moderating these primary emotions. Numerous studies have shown the significant impact social relationships have on children’s emotional wellbeing (Shorer et al., 2019). According to Bowlby, the concept of attachment (bond), which articulates the vital link between the child and caregiver, is fundamental.
Children who build a long-lasting, secure attachment bond to their parents feel calm and well without a need to release their emotions all the time and start developing emotional control as early as possible (Brumariu, 2015). Solid attachment is associated with being consistently attentive to the caregiver, having an understanding of the kids’ emotional state, and being available to help, respond, and support. When children receive positive and appropriate responses, they feel more comfortable seeking comfort from their caregiver during moments of distress (Brumariu, 2015). It helps in the development of emotional regulation systems. Besides, a child acquires the boldness to go around when she or he has the unshakeable support of their caregiver. The child knows that, whatever happens, they can always run back to their caregiver for comfort.
Moreover, the offspring that are insecure in their attachment, that is, either too clingy or avoidant, may not find it easy to regulate their emotions in an adaptive manner (Zimmer-Gembeck et al., 2017). In those circumstances, children will thus experience feelings of insecurity and uncertainty due to caregivers consistently not being able to provide the emotional support that the children are always looking for. When a child fails to achieve the expected results, they may struggle to control their emotions, which could affect their ability to ask for assistance from a loved one. In such cases, the emotions become a significant hindrance to the child.
Many factors contribute to healthy parent-child relations, and therefore, children’s efficient emotion regulation is one of these reasons. It is significant to give children a prompt and delicately responsive reply when they express any emotional signals, i.e., sensitive responsiveness (Shorer et al., 2019). Caring and emotionally involved caretakers can offer their children the comfort and counsel needed to cope with their emotions and learn how to manage them properly. To have a meaningful emotional connection with a child, one must not only validate but also accept and attend to their feelings, provide empathy, and sympathize with their experiences.
The other crucial element of a positive parent-child relationship is the fact of consistent encouragement and help. The fact that their caregivers are people they can take consolation from and trust when things get too problematic in their lives is already an essential thing for the children. Children who have stable care and a home environment where they feel positively valued usually develop self-confidence in their ability to manage their own emotions. Emotional development in children is primarily based on the kind and extent of the parent-child connection (Shorer et al., 2019). Effective emotion control is built on the back of secure attachment. It is the one that is connected with care, responsiveness, and relationship. Contrarily, children with insecure attachment styles may find it more difficult to effectively manage their emotions adaptively. Parent-child bonds are central to the healthy growth and emotional wellness of children and, therefore, are essential for caregivers’ consideration.
Theoretical Foundations
Developmental theories serve as the basis for an exploration of the complex relationship that exists between parent-child relations and emotional development (Rutherford et al., 2015). Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory and John Bowlby’s attachment theory, which analyze children’s experiences in relationships with their parents, provide a deeper understanding of how children are able to manage their emotions.
As Erikson asserts, there are eight different occasions associated with psychosocial development, each of which bears a crisis or a specific difficult task. The first stage of Erikson’s developmental theory, Trust versus Mistrust, highlights the importance of the creation of trust in the relationships between children, their caregivers, and others in their surroundings. Mistrust is another feature of infant behavior that exists from the time the infant learns to trust and highlights the crucial function of the relationship between the caregiver and infant in developing trust (Rutherford et al., 2015). Erikson assumes that infants who get those regularly from their caregivers develop not only self-confidence but also a respectable ideology towards their surroundings. The whole process of emotional experience and expression can take place in a trusting relationship, which will be helpful later as a magical ability to self-regulate.
Autonomy vs. Shame starts to name the second step of the developmental process. Embedding in their identity, shaming, and doubt, in turn, are the significant factors in the influence of children’s autonomy, according to Erikson. The process of becoming autonomous, as children progressively become independent and explore the environment, is reinforced by the secure attachment they develop with their caregivers, who help the children navigate the challenges of self-discovery (Rutherford et al., 2015). When the kids have harmony and understanding with their parents and receive affectionate attention from them, they gain the confidence and independence that they need to grow in emotional control.
The connection between a kid and their primary caregiver was not a great source of intrigue for Freud and Erikson. However, Bowlby’s attachment theory furthered Erikson’s perspective by unveiling such a meaningful bond. An innate desire for safety and positive feelings about the attachment figure are the reasons why attachments are formed between infants and their primary caregivers, as suggested by Bowlby (Hajal & Paley, 2020). The crucial process in forming attachments between infants and their parents, especially the mother, is separation and reunion. Bowlby argued that the caregiver gives a youngster a secure base as a starting point for exploring the world, no matter how rough it may be, and then makes their way back to it when they are feeling down.
Bowlby supports her theory with the concept of the internal working model, which suggests that early attachment upbrings establish one’s view of oneself and others in the world, according to Bowlby’s theory. Hajal and Paley (2020) suggest that insecure attachment indicates that a person is developing negative internal working models with a lack of trust and avoidance, while secure attachment is the road to good working models with trust in the responsiveness and availability of others (Hajal & Paley, 2020). Children’s inner working models show how children tend to regulate emotions based on what they have within themselves.
In regard to the roles of parent-child relationships in emotional development attached to Bowlby’s attitude theory and Erikson’s psychosocial view, both approaches present a deeper understanding. Instead, the researchers suppose that the essential and influential modes of relationship are to create a nurturing environment for children in their early periods, and through that, they will train themselves to deal with anything that makes them emotional (Kerr et al., 2021). Mental health practitioners should first have some familiarity with these theoretical frameworks so that they can effectively help build secure attachments and improve children’s emotional development.
The Significance of Attachment and Culture
Attachment theory explains why the quality of early connections, most notably with primary caregivers, tremendously impacts emotional growth and self-regulation processes persisting in the life cycle of individuals. Furthermore, while our interactions influence our attitudes toward love and dating, social norms, values, and cultural practices also play a significant role (Zhang et al., 2019). Attachment goes along with the culture of the family, which testifies to the complexity of the community of parents and children and considerably affects emotional development.
In diverse cultures, the patterns of attachment can be different due to deviations considered in child-rearing styles, the faith system, and societal expectations of people. To illustrate, an individual in collectivist cultures that highlight interconnected networks and community cohesion would pursue attachment mechanisms that promote co-guardianship and interrelationships in family units (Zhang et al., 2019). On the other hand, in cultural communities where individuality is appreciated, autonomy and independence tend to be the norms that drive attachment patterns, with a self-reliant and independent character promoted.
Secure attachment, manifested in terms of a responsible caregiver who is consistent and reactive, is universally linked with good emotional outcomes across cultures. Being attached securely can lead to children’s well-functioning social lives, having emotion management skills, and being able to get along with others. Nevertheless, when people do not form strong bonds, they face problems with emotion regulation as well as the adoption of maladaptive coping strategies. Cultural dimensions brought in parenting norms that are concerned with emotional socialization and the social and communicative components that parenting involves (Zhang et al., 2019). For instance, cultural groups that promote emotions and public display allow parents to communicate with their child’s emotions and present how the child should regulate them using both verbal and non-verbal communication. On the contrary, individuals from cultures where emotional expression or preservation is upheld may be oriented toward instilling emotional controls or restraint therapy.
In addition, appreciation of cultural differences in children’s attachment and emotional socialization should be highlighted to provide an emotionally healthy environment in diverse cultures. It gives us an opportunity to admire different parenting practices and realize how good it is to support different sets of values among different cultures that result in the psychological growth of the child (Zhang et al., 2019). As well it allows people to be aware of and understand the kinds of culturally sensitive interventions that are appropriate and balance the cultural beliefs and values of the families.
The diagnosis of culture-centered therapies for fostering security attachment and regulated expression of emotions consists of several significant components. To begin with, practitioners ought to embrace cultural humility, embracing that they might also have some bias and biased learnings due to their cultural background, and continually educating themselves on the culture of each family they work with (Sharma, 2020). In this case, partners may be involved in the form of cultural liaisons or consult expertise from identifiable people with a broad understanding of the cultural context of the community they serve. Similarly, the programs need to target cultures and take into consideration the values and beliefs of these families while weaving the proper cultural practices and traditions into the treatment plans (Sharma, 2020). Thus, it can sometimes happen that the existing ones are adapted to the situation or new interventions are developed as they provide lessons to the families’ cultural background but also reflect their particular needs.
After that, the providers need to promote an open and mutual dialogue with families that will engage their participation in the process of the intervention intended for the culturally appropriate strategy as well as get feedback from them. Through this way of working together, families form partnerships where they are not the supporting roles; they become the leading roles in the process, which is appreciated, especially as a culturally related process (Sharma, 2020). Therefore, the primacy of bonds and culture in the formation of emotional relationships between parents and children is indisputable. Recognizing that cultural views and practices affect the pattern of attachment and emotional socializing in children is fundamental to the purpose of developing emotional wellbeing across various cultural settings.
Empirical Insights
The exact nature of the intricate parent-child bond and its impact on the emotional development of children has been revealed during recent empirical studies. Besides, they also teach us several mechanized aspects that are accountable for the skills of emotion control. Topics in the areas of parental fun playfulness, emotional intelligence, and availability are preferred for further study. In Shorer et al. (2019), the data supporting the proposition that playful parents increase offspring’s skills for emotional regulation was explored (Shorer et al., 2019). There was a stark difference between children whose parents were generally playful—this was characterized by spontaneity, creativity, and humor—and those with less playful parents. The former group had better emotional control. The implication of the same fact, however, is that interaction with parents in this way can result in a pleasant environment where suitable coping mechanisms for emotions are developed.
Strikingly, it has become apparent that the main factor without which you cannot learn emotional control in one’s children is the awareness that parents themselves have about their emotions. Recent research analysis found that parents who have emotional intelligence are more tuned to their children’s emotions and have a more remarkable ability to identify and validate the emotional experiences of their kids (Meyer et al., 2014). Acknowledging children’s feelings is the stimulus that creates the emotional atmosphere of openness and acceptance that builds the base for the kids’ emotional management. In addition, children who are better at regulating their emotions are found to have a connection with their parents, which includes kind words, hugs, smiles, and guidance. Children are susceptible to such relationships, so they are more likely to ask for parents ‘guidance and assistance when they feel intimate and have a strong bond with their parents (Shorer et al., 2019).
An experimental study has also shown that there are ways parental feelings represent socialization tactics that can affect the extent to which a child can manage his or her emotions. According to Meyers et al. (2014), scientists believe that parents’ attitudes toward emotions predict their socialization methods, which eventually influence kids’ coping skills with emotions. They found out that parents who stress this area and help their children take the process of emotional self-regulation seriously and tolerate children’s emotional reactions are more likely to use constructive socialization patterns. Such technologies could be helpful in the development of coping-emotion responses that the kids learn through problem-solving, relaxation, and expressing emotions.
As highlighted by Zimmer-Gembeck et al. (2017), secure attachment is usually a central component in which children develop their skills of emotional regulation and dealing effectively with specific life challenges. A child who has the power of safe attachments will build on this secure base as he or she forges his or her way in the world and learns how to manage his or her feelings. From the moment that children experience someone who pays close attention to their development and builds a secure and trustworthy bond, they become better at emotional regulation (Kerr et al., 2021). Nevertheless, children who have an anxious attachment style, identified by a lack of security, ambivalence, avoidance, or disarray, may have a stressful time, and vice versa, stating that it is not easy for them to adaptively manage their emotions, which leads to troubles in handling emotional stress.
The most influential research recently is on how significant relationships between parent and child are while creating a child’s ability to regulate emotions. Parents may be able to create the kind of environment necessary for their child to develop good emotional regulation if they do their best to encourage the child to be playful, aware of their emotions, and develop a close relationship with the child they bring into the world (Kerr et al., 2021). Research that uncovers the connection between the parent-child relationship and a child’s emotional growth can better drive parent- and child-targeted mental health and wellbeing interventions.
Implications
Developing healthy parent-child bonds brings mental health to children, and it has a footprint on the child’s emotional growth and regulation. The admission that these interactions are the determining factors for the implementation of particular interventions and support for children for the preservation of their wellbeing is recognized as essential thing (Rothenberg et al., 2019). First of all, fostering a good parent-child relationship is basically beneficial to the children, as they are protected from any emotional or mental health problems in the future. Empirical studies show that children build positive interactions with caregivers and secure attachment, resulting in an increased ability to regulate their emotions (Zimmer-Gembeck et al., 2017). Clinicians and practitioners can be effective in decreasing the risk of experiencing emotional dysregulation and related mental issues in an individual’s later life if the priority given to interventions is an improvement in parent-child relationships and supportive interactions.
Moreover, working with parent-child relationships can be the central part of family therapy that is meaningful not only for those within the family but also for their immediate surroundings. Moreover, the parenthood bond, which is the union of somebody precious with a parent, not only contributes to favorable social contacts but also makes kids resilient emotionally. Rutherford et al. (2015) suggest that such children develop empathy and trust, which ultimately are the keys to good peer and social adjustment (Rutherford et al., 2015). In other words, programs that are aimed at improving parent-child links may have a domino effect on the social context of society, building emotionally secure outcomes at the neighborhood level.
Furthermore, by utilizing data from attachment studies and developmental theories, medical professionals can tailor their strategies to meet the unique needs of any family. Through understanding and respecting the unique characteristics of various family systems, interventions can be adapted to suit the tastes and cultural norms of the family; hence, the interventions are readily acceptable to people regardless of their cultural origins (Kiel & Kalomiris, 2015). Experts employ such approaches as understanding cultural norms, family practices, and specific places in society for accurate diagnosis of emotional dysregulation and the untangling of its roots, as well as treatment of the issues in their way to the creation of effective coping mechanisms.
The parents can be trained with the necessary skills in order to create the right environment for the development of their children’s emotions, which will add to their development as individuals in the future. Empirically, the effectiveness of the parent-child connections and the emotional outcomes of children have been shown by the parenting interventions, which subscribe more to improving parental sensitivity, emotional attachment, and communication skills (Shorer et al., 2019). Clinicians will help parents by giving them adequate parenting skills and the ability to regulate their emotions. Clinicians can aid parents in the cultivation of a nurturing home environment that will have a positive impact on their children’s mental health.
Promoting good parental-child contact is vital for giving the necessary support for the kids to develop their emotional intelligence and self-control. Building up these family ties by using the proper therapeutic techniques will gradually have downstream impacts on the kids’ mental status and the entire family and is just a repercussion that touches other social persons and the entire community (Rothenberg et al., 2019). Clinical practitioners may achieve maximum outcome facilitation by incorporating evidence-based work alongside cultural elements in their therapeutic interventions.
References
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