MOTHERS REACTIONS TO CHILDRENS NEGATIVE EMOTIONS - RELATIONS TO CHILDRENS TEMPERAMENT AND ANGER BEHAVIOR

The relation was studied between mothers' reactions to children's negative emotion and children's temperament and anger behaviors. Mothers reported their reactions to their 4- and 6-year-old children's negative emotions in a variety of contexts; mothers and school personnel rated children's dispositional emotional intensity, negative affectivity, and attentional regulation; and children's behaviors when angered were observed at school. Maternal minimizing/punitive responses were associated with maternal perceptions of children's low attentional control and high negative affect, as well as children's tendencies to escape rather than vent emotion when angered. Maternal distress reactions were correlated with ratings of children's high emotional intensity, negative affect, and low levels of venting when angered. Encouragement of the expression of emotion and problem solving were associated with children's high perceived attentional control and, for the latter, with children's tendency to escape when angered. Maternal comforting was correlated with children's constructive verbalizations rather than venting when angered.